A super long time ago when I reviewed Michael Buble, I referenced Mr. Cheese. And for some reason, I always think of Old School when Wilson and Vaughn first reunite with Jeremy Piven's character. CheeeeEEEEEEssssee. Hopefully someone else gets that. But this guy knows exactly what his intentions are. Not make fun of alternative style tracks, but present them in a new way. I will say, the first time I heard anything by him, I thought it was brilliant. After about 10 full studio albums now, the routine does get a little old. It's always the same thing, a swing/acapella version of your favorite tracks. I hate to use this word with any artist - because it's probably the ultimate insult, but this is a novelty. There is no real musical value to this album, it's just something you might toss in with friends to maybe get a laugh every now and again. It's totally worth checking out, especially if you've never heard this style before. But in the grand scheme of things, don't rush out and buy it, because you'll never really listen to it. It's like buying a comedy album. Sure, it's good for some laughs. But how often do you really want to put that on as opposed to real music? Rare. Right. Good answer. Anyway, it came out in 2000, hasn't sold many copies - blah blah blah. Give it a shot, you might enjoy a couple tracks.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Nookie / Break Stuff
2. Guerilla Radio
3. Come Out and Play
4. Closer
5. Wrong Way
6. Bullet the Blue Sky
7. Creep
8. Last Resort
9. Rape Me
10. What's My Age Again?
11. Smack My Bitch Up
12. Fight For Your Right
13. Only Happy When It Rains
14. Suck My Kiss
15. Holiday in Cambodia
16. Rockafeller Skank, The
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks: (just because they're my favorite in real song)
1. Creep
2. Rockafeller Skank
3. Closer
FINAL RATING:
2.25 out of 5 stars
the first time i heard richard fucking cheese i was 16 and on a roadtrip vacation with my family in dubuque, IA. why dubuque? because my father was feeling 'adventurous.' wanted to see something different.
ReplyDeletedubuque was one of the best family road trips ever, and it's all because of richard cheese. mom got the cd from a friend at work who also shared a passion for all things rock and roll, and we popped it in for fun. at first it was surreal. then 'come out and play' came on and we heard richard cheese shout 'lahaim!' in the middle of the song, and ferocious giggles ensued. then 'rape me,' which i find to be one of the more hilarious cheese covers. then, the pinnacle of the album - 'smack my bitch up.' with the band intros and the awesome solos, how can you not love it? moreover, how can that not be in your top three? i also dig the incorporation of a well-loved children's show theme song in with 'closer,' one of the most not child-friendly songs ever. our whole weekend in dubuque was spent laughing over different parts in richard cheese songs and alienating iowans (which honestly, we would have done with or without the cheese).
listen to a few more richard cheese albums and you'll never hear the original songs the same way again. his covers of 'me so horny' and 'baby got back' and 'the sickness' will make you forget the originals and you'll walk around signing the lounge version forever. his covers are even more awesome if you can pick out the subtle jokes or musical parallels, like when he throws in a tony bennet 'what a night!' yell or starts the song out with piano that sounds very much like 'one for my baby.'
i would give this album probably closer to three stars just because some of the references are pretty clever and you really have to be a music fan to appreciate a lot of it. same with his other albums. and the lounge version he did of the darth vader imperial march from star wars... awesome. i've always wanted that march for my theme music, to play when ever i walk into the room. now i also have a version for happy hour.
Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy some Cheese. And I have listened to almost every album he's put out. And obviously, I appreciate all things music - hence why I started a blog. But it surprised me that even you don't get a little tired of the routine. I mean sure, he mixes some new stuff in from time to time, but when the cd ships - it's not all that much different than the one before. That's what brings it to the novelty status.
And yeah, a few here and there are a little extra special, but some are just boring. The cover of 'Guerilla Radio'? What's special about it? He sings the same lyrics as the real song, no crazy extra adds...it's kind of plain. I don't know...it's just not something that I would listen to more than once every couple of weeks, and mainly something I'd play for people who'd never heard it to get a quick laugh.
no it's not something you can listen to all day everyday for a month, but the first few times you listen to it it's damn hilarious.
ReplyDeleteyou know what i DID get sick of though was Dick Cheese's political tangents during his live show. if the albums had been political, fine, i'd have expected the political rants. but i didn't pay for his diatribe on the politics of the day, i paid for tiger stripe suits and jazzy covers of 'more human than human' and 'me so horny.' regardless of the artist's stance, it's likely that about 50% of the audience isn't going to agree. so just shut the crap up and play 'down with the sickness' already.
Politics and music don't mix. Agreed.
ReplyDelete