The thing about cover albums I guess is that you’re trying to hit two groups of fans – those who love the artist doing the reworking of the classics and those who love the original band. For a current artist it’s a fine line between pleasing the fans who want new original music and making sure you do the original’s justice. It’s rarer these days that an artist chooses a singe artist to cover but we have been there before.
Back in 1998 Great White released ‘Great Zeppelin – A Tribute to Led Zeppelin’ – a live record that became a fan favourite, honored the great influence Zeppelin had on the band and cemented Jack Russell as one of Rock’s great vocalists. Three years later the band broke up. Twenty three years later Jack, with his new band ‘Jack Russell’s Great White’ are following that album up with a another 14 track trek through more of Zeppelin’s catalogue. Interestingly two tacks ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Living Loving Maid’ make the cut this time after appearing also on that original release, but we’ll get to that later.
You could argue looking at the tracklist that ‘II’ is a more rocking tribute to the masters than the original album especially when it opens with the familiar one-two of ‘Whole Lotta Love’ where Jack immediately connects and the band do extreme justice to the timeless classic. And the wail of ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ is solid as a rock too before we move into teh groovier territory of ‘Misty Mountain Hop’ – it’s an opening trio that leave you in no doubt that this collection will be giving the 1998 collection a run for its money. Indeed Russell’s voice seems to have lost nothing over the two-plus decades and even gained a richness that he didn’t have as prominently in the early years.
The funky ‘Dancin’ Days’ and an awesome bluesy rendition of ‘No Quarter’ aren’t to shabby either and if you’re fan of the originals then you’ll find it hard to not enjoy what the guys are doing with these ‘sacred’ tracks. As you might expect though it’s an epic like ‘Kashmir’ that really brings home the love in the room, it’s a groove you can only recreate this wonderfully well by being truly immersed in the originals not just a casual observer!
The mid-section of the album sees Jack’s Great White tackling a few ‘less obvious’ tunes (If ever you could level that label at this catalogue) – first ‘Houses Of The Holy’ comes in with its pounding groove and then ‘that’ riff! It’s a song were everyone gets to have fun not lest the wonderfully toned guitar! ‘Trampled Underfoot’ up next is a great mix of bluesy organ and one of those songs you wished you listened to a bit more regularly but it’s Dicki Fliszar’s spotlight on ‘Moby Dick’ that really let’s loose! And ‘The Rover’ is a classy slow building example of just how well this album works.
It’s then time for the first of the tunes that appeared on the first volume all those years ago the sublime and ubiquitous ‘Stairway To Heaven’ – of course everyone knows it and of course it’s going to attract a lot of attention not least because it appears on both volumes. But as that first volume was a live recording its interesting to see the ‘studio’ version which sees a little less sizzling energy and a little more laid back approach. Both make the grade for me. Oddly with the other repeated track ‘Living Loving Maid’ I think I still actually prefer the live recording, but really that’s just because it’s that kind of song – one made to be heard in a crowd of people losing themselves in the music.
One of my favourites here comes near the end in ‘Heartbreaker’ which really hits the nail on the head and to close with that followed by ‘Living Loving Maid’ and “Communication Breakdown’ takes the album out in real style. Beautifully played, fully appreciated and a hell of a lot of fun. Thanks Jack and Co!
8.5/10
Track Listing: Whole Lotta Love | Good Times, Bad Times | Misty Mountain Hop | Dancin Days | No Quarter | Kashmir | Houses Of The Holy | Trampled Underfoot | Moby Dick | The Rover | Stairway To Heaven | Heartbreaker | Living Loving Maid | Communication Breakdown
