Baltimoore - Ultimate Tribute

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Lion Music
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 55:32:00

I always wonder why bands want to play cover songs. A lot of songs are just too good to top, so why bother trying? The majority of the rest of the songs weren't very good in the first place, so why repeat them? That leaves us a relatively small number of songs that are fit for cover attempts: the songs that were written well in the first place but were never performed well.

Unfortunately most cover songs are of the first category: they were done very well in the first place, which makes it hard to give whoever did the cover a fair review. This is also the case with this Baltimoore disc. For example, it is hard to judge the quality of a great song like "Kill The King" (Rainbow) without listening to the original in your mind. However, Baltimoore is not doing that badly as the musicianship is decent, singer Bjorn Lodin is okay (even though a bit annoying on the long run), the songs are performed skillfully and I can't complain about the recording quality. Baltimoore's version of Michael Schenker's "Samurai" is probably the best song on the disc, not only because Lodin reminds of Graham Bonnet's voice, but also because of the help of Patrik Johansson's backup vocals. The worst part of the album is AC/DC's "Riff Raff" simply because the vocalist kills the song for me.

For the record, here are the songs performed:

1. Rainbow - Kill The King
2. Montrose - Rock Candy
3. Nazareth - Beggars Day
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
4. MSG - Samurai
5. Jimi Hendrix - Freedom
6. Kiss - She
7. Deep Purple - Love Child
8. Mountain - Mississippi Queen
9. The Sweet - Solid Gold Brass
10. AC/DC - Riff Raff
11. Thin Lizzy - The Rocker

Having said that the songs are done pretty well, there is no denying that this disc as a whole is somewhat of a redundant product, as I liked the originals just fine the way they were. Also, in the case of Baltimoore (and I guess this is a compliment) it seems a waste of talent to put time and effort in such cover songs. Finally, the artwork is minimal which gives the disc a bit of a cheap look, but for those who like cover songs or for those I-must-have-everything-related-to-any-of-the-bands-above-fans it may be worth the money.

[This review originally appeared February 2004 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
Kill The King / Rock Candy / Beggars Day / Never Say Die / Samurai / Freedom / She / Love Child / Mississippi Queen / Solid Gold Brass / Riff Raff / The Rocker

Musicians:
Bjorn Lodin - vocals
Thomas Larsson - guitars
Weine Johansson - bass
Ian Haugland - drums

Discography:
There's No Danger On The Roof (1989)
Freak (1990)
Double Density (1992)
Thought For Food (1994)
Original Sin (2000)
Best Of Baltimoore (2001)
Ultimate Tribute (2004)

Genre: Rock

Origin SE

Added: November 27th 2004
Reviewer: Erik Van Geel
Score:
Artist website: www.baltimoore.net/
Hits: 2695
Language: english