“Forever Free” A Sublime Tribute Album
“Forever Free”
A Sublime Tribute Record
Baseline Music
Whether or not you want to argue the the band’s merits or their place in the punk canon, Sublime left an impression on almost everyone who heard their songs on MTV or saw the band stumble through a performance during their short career.
Baseline has taken it upon itself to cull together a reasonable tribute album featuring largely unknown bands and a spattering of punks from yesteryear. Most of the bands do a good job covering the tunes while spinning their own style into the tunes. Never Heard of It does a solid job with “Same in the End,” while If All Else Fails does a pretty good punked up version of “Wrong Way.” Guttermouth murder April 29, 1992 with Mark’s horrible B-52s impression. Some bands just need to call it quits. They haven’t been cool since “Musical Monkey.”
The highlight of the record is Ozomatli’s cover of “Ebin.” Anyone who has ever seen the band live knows that the 20-some members produce the best live hip-hop ever, and they rule on this number. It has elements of the original, but they just rock it out, throwing in a new verse for kicks.
The only bad thing on the record, besides Guttermouth, is the lack of real hits. Besides “Wrong Way,” none of the MTV classics are on here, including “Jail Bait,” which is referenced in the liner notes. Too bad, the added tracks could have drawn a few new listeners who might actually have gone out and bought a Voodoo Glow Skulls record (yes, they’re on here.)
Doesn’t Rock l Kinda Rocks l Rocks l Really Rocks
