LIBERTY N’ JUSTICE – The Cigar Chronicles Vol.1 (2013)

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Previously we have presented in this blog the Vol.2 from LIBERTY N’ JUSTICE new double album “The Cigar Chronicles Vol. 1 & 2”.

Now it’s time take a look at Volume 1.

In this one, LnJ’s masterminds Justin Murr & JK Northrup features again a dream team of star guests, but now doing covers of famous songs and acts.

This is not strange for Liberty N’ Justice, as this project always included a couple of covers in their albums, paying tribute to known bands re-working their hits in their own melodic hard rock way.

But on “The Cigar Chronicles Vol. 1 – The Covers” the song selection is not shorter than… bizarre. I’d say, unmatched by any covers disc I have ever come across.

Never have I found a melodic hard rock project that so unashamedly tackled everyone from U2 to Whitney Houston to the Bee Gees and Village People to Hanson, for crying out loud!

But you know what, it works most the time, in fact; Rocks!

CJ Snare of Firehouse (who also helped with the production of the disc) rips into a killer modern hard rock take on of U2’s monster hit “Pride”, and Lionel Richie only wishes he had the pipes of James Christian (House of Lords) who simply transforms the slick ’80s pop of “Dancing On The Ceiling” into a surprisingly fun melodic hard rock track with a nice groove.

I would challenge just about anyone to identify what Seann Nichols and Twisted Sister’s Eddie Ojeda warped “Ice Ice Baby” into. For that matter, Stevie Rachelle (Tuff) brings an angry, sleazy edge to “I Can’t Dance” that I don’t think Genesis probably ever considered, and he pulls off another of the top tracks on the disc as a result.

Talking about great versions, it’s a pleasure to hear Kip Winger not only absolutely making his own the great (and wisely arranged) acoustic take on “Stayin’ Alive”, but to also hear it turned into something that was nearly unrecognizable until the chorus kicked in is truly amazing to discover. Hands down to one of the best tracks on this collection.

“Iris”, which was already a decent crossover rock hit for the Goo Goo Dolls, is reworked and buzzed-up a bit on the guitars and Tony Harnell’s vocals bring a power to the track that was not as evident in the original. This version is definitely a harder rocker with less top 40 aspirations and more of a rock attitude.

Likewise, Phil Lewis and Chris Green turn in a nice effort on “You’re So Vain”, going in a definitely more Faster Pussycat-than-Carly Simon version on this classic tune. This LnJ arrangement is more modern feeling than Pussycat’s version, and Green’s guitar has a fuzzed-up tone that definitely alters the feel of the track, and Lewis’ vocals slither all over this number oh-so-snidely, really giving it a grimey, dirty touch, which is nice.

One of the more surprising moments here is the cover of Whitney Houston’s “Queen Of The Night”. The ‘tough chick’ vocal approach of Selena McVey really dominate this song which also features some tasty guitar work from Brooke St. James of Tyketto fame. The programmed drums in this track works pretty well to give some depth to the track which I think may have come across as pretty sparse sounding with a human drummer.

There are a couple of songs that don’t quite hit the mark for me, but even these are at least given an honest effort and not just dialed in for a paycheck. These are N’Sync’s megahit “Bye Bye Bye” with its semi-industrial sound, although Cinderella’s Jeff LaBar, as usual, does an interesting guitar approach here, and Chaz West’s angrier vocal style definitely changes the boy band’s pop tone.

I’m also not 100% sold on this version of “YMCA”, to be honest. This is a viable effort to update it and turn it into a hard rocking number, but without the campy approach of the original, I think the effort is lost in translation despite my love for just about anything that Kelly Keeling does vocally.

Overall, while I still prefer the Vol.2 (The Originals) of “The Cigar Chronicles” package, this is a very nice contribution from yet another incredible cast of performers and musicians.

One thing that really turns this project successful is the very good production. JK Northrup handled it with CJ Snare twisting the knobs and doing the mixing. Each of these songs is crisp and clear with solid, clean production that doesn’t vary in sound quality, volume level or clarity from track to track.

That is one of the most annoying things with a lot of covers or tribute albums; the production is quite bad. Not the case here, as Mr. Northrup and Mr. Snare prove they are more than capable and experienced.

People who are looking for tired sounding reproductions of their all-time favorites need to look elsewhere as nothing here is left untouched or unaltered in an attempt to pump new life and new feel into these tracks.

And believe me, most of them are really, really good and rocking.

The Cigar Chronicles Vol.1

The Covers

1. “Ice Ice Baby”

Seann Nicols (Adler’s Appetite / Tarsha) & Eddie Ojeda (Twisted Sister)

originally recorded by Vanilla Ice

2. “I Can’t Dance”

Stevie Rachelle (TUFF)

originally recorded by Genesis

3. “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”

CJ Snare (Firehouse), George Lynch & Jeff Pilson (Dokken)

originally recorded by U2

4. “Stayin’ Alive”

Kip Winger (Winger) & JK Northrup (King Kobra)

originally recorded by The Bee Gees

5. “YMCA”

Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge), Chris Dickens (Mission Of One) & Neil Zaza

originally recorded by The Village People

6. “Iris”

Tony Harnell (TNT / Westworld) & Alex Grossi (Quiet Riot / Hotel Diablo)

originally recorded by The Goo Goo Dolls

7. “You’re So Vain”

Phil Lewis (LA Guns) & Chris Green (Rubicon Cross / Furyon)

originally recorded by Carly Simon

8. “Queen Of The Night”

Selena McVey & Brooke St. James (Tyketto)

originally recorded by Whitney Houston

9. “Blame It On The Rain”

Andrew Freeman (Hurricane), Pete Fry (FarCry) & Eric Ragno

originally recorded by Milli Vanilli

10. “Bye Bye Bye”

Chas West (Bonham) & Jeff LaBar (Cinderella)

originally recorded by N’Sync

11. “Dancing On The Ceiling”

James Christian (House Of Lords)

originally recorded by Lionel Ritchie

12. “Stuck In The Middle With You”

Larry Worley (FearNot), Ron Bumblefoot Thal (Guns N’ Roses), Andy Robbins (Holy Soldier/Joe Lynn Turner) & Anthony Gravley (Windup Rocket)

originally recorded by Stealers Wheel

13. “Mmmbop”

Jamie Rowe (Guardian / AdrianGale), Anthony Gravley (Windup Rocket), Roxx Hunter

originally recorded by Hanson

Justin Murr: Bass, Keyboards

JK Northrup: Lead and Rhythm Guitars, Bass, Drums

Eric Ragno: Keyboards

Michael Feighan: Drums

Background vocals: Phil Vincent, Richard Kendrick, Giancarlo Floridia, Michael Stover, Frankie Cleaver, Bryan Cole

BUY IT !

www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cigar-Chronicles-Vol/dp/B00B8X49WS