Quick Facts :
Overkill - Coverkill. Released 1999, on CMC International. Heavy Metal genre.
Album contains only cover songs, 43 minutes in length.
Full Review:
Coverkill is an interesting album on two particular fronts, as it addresses two interesting issues all bands face. One is cover songs, which is a sticky subject, especially among those bands who have contracts and liken performing cover songs to playing at the hole in the wall bar, and the other is good bands being underrated in general, which Overkill really is.
Cover songs, to me, don’t demean a band at all. In fact, I feel cover songs allow a band to even more accurately connect with their fans by giving them common ground to work from. “Oh man, Overkill digs Sabbath’s Cornucopia. I love that tune.” I think anything that can bring a band closer to their fans in any way is good for them in the long run, and cover songs are one way to create that bond.
Overkill is one of the more underrated bands of the genre. While the band had gone through many changes throughout the 90’s, including several lineup shifts, the Overkill sound had stayed consistent – that fast, pounding thrash metal that was so ubiquitous in the mid to late 80’s, but had faded out of the mainstream by the time the 90’s hit. They were always tight and always rockin’, but never surfaced above the glam rock/Metallica/Megadeth din that was heard during metal’s hay day.
This brings us to 1999, 15 years after the bands creation. Overkill released two albums, Necroshine and Coverkill, the latter being a collection of cover tunes from influential bands. I think they went about it the right way, by releasing a full length album of original material, then the EP style Coverkill, giving fans all that they want and nothing really for anyone to complain about.
Here's the track listing (Favorite cuts are *'d)
1.*Overkill (Motorhead)
2. No Feelings (The Sex Pistols)
3. Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
4. Changes (Black Sabbath)
5. *Space Truckin' (Deep Purple)
6. Deuce (Kiss)
7. *Never Say Die (Black Sabbath)
8. Death Tone (Manowar)
9. Cornucopia (Black Sabbath)
10. *Tyrant (Judas Priest)
11. Ain't Nothin' To Do (The Dead Boys)
12. *I'm Against It / Hole In The Sky - (hidden track) (Ramones/Black Sabbath)
The band’s namesake, Overkill by Motorhead starts off the album, and definitely sets the tons for the album. The thrash/metal/punk roots of the band are shown off almost perfectly on this live recording, and in many ways (Blasphemy!) I like the Overkill version of this tune better than Lemmy and Co.’s.
No Feelings by the Sex Pistols highlights the only slight flaws in the album. I understand Metal, and thrash metal in particular has a very strong tie to punk – but really, the sounds are very different and many metal heads dislike punk, and I KNOW a lot of punkers hate metal. So songs like No Feelings (Punk) sound a little strange in the mix, and are unlikely to please anyone.
Hymn 43 by Jethro Tull is one of the interesting tracks. While Tull definitely knew how to rock, their music had a softer melodic quality to it that Overkill doesn’t quite hammer down. In fact, they hammer it down a little too hard, and it takes a little something away from the song itself.
Black Sabbath’s Changes is a good enough cover, though the band’s singer (Blitz) doesn’t have quite that same Ozzy quality in his voice.
Space Truckin’ by Deep Purple is one of the better songs on the track. If the technology existed back then, I imagine this is how Deep would have wanted to do it. Harder, faster, better.
Kiss, you either love them or you hate them. I don’t love them, this song seems alright, but doesn’t stand out above some of the better cuts here.
Never Say Die, perhaps the worst Sabbath Album with Ozzy at the helm does have one redeeming quality. An excellent title track, which Overkill nails with this version. Nice choice, nice song. It rocks.
Death Tone, by Manowar. I like some of Manowar’s stuff, they tend to be hit or miss with me, and this particular tune definitely misses more than hits.
Cornucopia is another great choice (Do we need to hear more Iron Man and Paranoid covers? No.) from the Sabbath library. Performed exceptionally well, Blitz’ voice has an edginess to it that Ozzy’s didn’t quite have to make this version sounds – again, dare I say, better than the original. Perhaps not better, but I think it has a harder edge to it than the Sabbath sound which fits very well with the song’s subject and tone.
As more of a Maiden than a Priest fan, I don’t often get to talk about Judas Priest. But man, these guys did have some incredible songs, and Tyrant is definitely one of them. And Overkill’s cover here keeps the flavor of the original. The slightly more gravelly guitars I think take away some of the highlights from the original song, but it still is very good.
For Ain’t Nothin to Do, and I’m Against it – see the section on No Feelings. Though of the three punk songs on the disc, I’m Against it is definitely the highlight. Again, not that these are “bad” tunes, and I really like the vocal quality on Ain’t Nothin to Do, which fits the song perfectly, but the mixing just sounds a little strange.
And the Hole in the Sky licks at the end of I’m Against it are just that – about 30 seconds of music licks, so I don’t know if it counts as an actual song.
As far as the intangibles, while the jacket doesn’t contain lyrics, there are notes from the band for every song, including a cool background stories as to why they liked a particular song or a band, which is pretty cool.
”C’mon!!! C’mon!!! C’mon!!! Let’s go Space Truckin’!!" (Space Truckin’)
What I liked :
Good selection of covers, widely done.
Liner notes are cool.
Tight metal sound.
What I didn't like :
Couple of the punk tracks a little weak.
Overall :
If you consider yourself a metal fan, and are into the sound of mid 80’s Metallica and Megadeth, you should get yourself some Overkill. While this wouldn’t be my suggested first stop on the Overkill train, it is a solid album, and if you like the bands covered here, it may inspire you to pick up some of their other stuff.
Mr_D
NOTE: This Epinion was revised 5/5/04. The original follows for comparison purposes.
***
"There are really only two bands, The Ramones and Motorhead" someone said, and this philosophy is the inspiration behind Overkill's latest release of all cover tunes, "Coverkill". "Overkill" itself is a Motorhead song, and the group also covers the Ramones "I'm Against It" while a bit punkish, is still a funny song. Overkill focuses on the classic roots of metal with this album, covering Kiss and Jethro Tull as well as Metal pioneers Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. One of the more interesting tracks on the album is a guitar version of the Black Sabbath song "Changes", very interesting. Another highlight is "Space Truckin'" by Deep Purple. All of the songs on the album are clean except for "No Feelings" by the Sex Pistols, and Overkill adds their very distinct thrash metal flavor and vocal stylings to the mix. For fans of metal and of classic rock and metal, this album is a must have, and for people who are buffs on metal history and influences, this album also provides quite a bit of inspiration on just who influenced today's top metal acts. Check it out.
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