VARIOUS ARTISTS - review added 3rd December 2008
Album Review: We Wish You A Metal Xmas (2008)
For fans of: hard rock... and of course Christmas songs
Before I start, I should warn you that words struggle to describe how good this is. The final mark will not do the album justice. No release should be worth 100% when you'll only listen to it for a few days a year. But this one is, possibly for pure bravado.
The concept of getting Chuck Billy from Testament to add his death metal howl to a thrash version of 'Silent Night' may seem as bonkers as a purple turkey, but it works beautifully. It sucks to say this, but the central part of this song is one of the best moments in thrash I have ever experienced. This album is a p*ss take though, so what am I supposed to do with that sort of information?
The list of stars involved in this project is so huge it has its own gravitational field. Amongst others there's Jeff Scott Soto, Bob and Bruce Kulick, Chris Wyse, Ray Luzier, Lemmy, Billy Gibbons and Dave Grohl. That's just the line-up on the first two songs. It gets even better further down.
Dio and Tony Iommi's version of 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' genuinely sounds like Black Sabbath. How they have managed to take this jolly festive tune and make it more doom laden than a moaning old biddy reminiscing about how good things used to be I'll never know. Then there's Joe Lynn Turner's 'Rockin' Around The Xmas Tree'. After hearing this the normal version no longer makes sense. Why aren't all Christmas songs done rock style?
Not every song is a success, then again you wouldn't expect them to be. The important thing is the whole release is a massive laugh and the best possible album you could ever have for Christmas. If Twisted Sister's Christmas album in 2006 was genius, this one has a Ph.D, a brain the size of Neptune and an IQ in four figures. Buy it now!
Check out... The look on your family's faces when you put this on during the Christmas meal.
Track List:
1. We Wish You a Merry Xmas
2. Run Rudolph Run
3. Santa Claws Is Coming to Town
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. Silver Bells
6. Little Drummer Boy
7. Santa Claus Is Back in Town
8. Silent Night
9. Deck the Halls
10. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
11. Rockin' Around the Xmas Tree
12. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
13. O'Christmas Tree
14. Auld Lang Syne
Label: Armoury Records
