Which yet again begs the question: What really is "alternative" nowadays? After all, the genre is such a fickle lover, with a propensity for ditching erstwhile number-one alternative acts (a misnomer, I'm sure) in favor of younger, fresher faces -- and not necessarily sound.
Then again, how can you be a has-been when you haven't even been, eh?
Whatever. Record company execs presumably don't have time to discuss or debate such intricacies. Certainly, if the fans go for "alternative," why argue over technicalities? Give 'em what they want. Never mind if the tag "100% Alternative" is a tad too cheesy for comfort. At least the self-professed alterna-fans that comprise a good part of the tape/CD-buying public will feel good about adding this title to their catalog.
Though one might have issues over some of the choices in this locally compiled, 18-track offering from BMG (in cooperation with Beverly Hills & Company) 18-track collection, it is at least fairly representative of today's crop of musicians -- alternative of otherwise. Plus, 18 songs is a way generous number of singles.
Just like other compilations in the music biz, Cranked is sure to help BMG showcase the more obscure acts in its fold, what with the drawing power of its somewhat senior, more established artists. That's well and good, as far as the receipts go.
The compilation kicks off with the timeless Tom Jones, teaming up with Swedish sensation Cardigans to reprise Talking Heads' Burning Down The House. The result is more Tom Jones than Cardigans, but it would have been more interesting, methinks, the other way around. Other veteran efforts in the album are Blondie's Nothing Is Real but the Girl and the Commitments-type A Straight Line of the late Michael Hutchence of INXS. Don't forget Shirley Manson and the rest of the pre-007 Garbage with 2.0's Push It. How alternative are they, anyway?
But of course, what is a halfway decent "alterna-fest" without the regulation power chords and sludge? Grunge-y Lit's radio hit My Own Worst Enemy is here, as well as Welsh rockers Stereophonics -- doing a Smashing Pumpkins/Collective Soul impression. Guano Apes' Open Your Eyes reminds one of Seed with a little bit of Korn. The dudes must have a thing for grain.
Well look who else is here. The Verve Pipe tries a follow-up to Freshmen. Teen trio (or are they still?) Ash once more deliver its DIY rock withWildsurf, which sounds like a souped-up Weezer.
Maybe I'm really getting old, because everything sounds like everything to me. Those Bastards Souls calls Yo La Tengo to mind, while Glow's Mr. Brown exhumes Herman's Hermits.
I have always been partial to Eve 6, so Open Road Song hits the spot just right. Needless to say, this is best listened to while weaving your way through traffic.
Blessid Union of Souls sings about Leonardo (I guess you know which one), Pavarotti, Cindy Crawford, and "the guy from Fargo" in a light track called Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me).
However, Lola (If You Ever...) by the Natural Born Hippies is a painful listen as it is clearly a Beatles rip-off. Shame, shame!
I would recommend, though, that you look for an album of Kent. Based from its delicate Radiohead-cum-Travis flavored 747, the group is a must-hear.
Then again, it might just be me.