726. Adrenaline Mob / Dearly Departed. 2015. 3/5

I jumped at this in excitement, thinking that it was the new album from Adrenaline Mob. I loved Omertá on its release, and was a little less excited by its follow up Men of Honor. Then I discovered this was a mixture of covers and acoustics and the like, and not an actual new album. Oh well. Still, I went ahead and made the purchase, and here we are.

In a similar vein as Covertá I believe almost all covers albums have only a limited listening half-life. If the songs are any good, you'll always go back to the original versions. All of the covers here are done well, and I enjoy the Mob's interpretation of them. The Pat Travers Band's "Snortin' Whiskey" is performed in a high energy style, an honorable rendition. Choosing to reinvigorate a classic such as The Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" - also without a fiddle, which perhaps can be seen as little difficult - was a somewhat brave move. With lead guitars taking the place of the fiddle, it's a reasonable effort that perhaps just proves how good the original version is. The "Black Sabbath Medley" is much more in the genre that Adrenaline Mob feels comfortable in, and their homage to the songs within the medley here are terrific. The same can be said for Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down", and good rocking version of the song that generally doesn't come near the original version, but is more than listenable.
The three acoustic version of Adrenaline Mob songs - Crystal Clear", "Angel Sky" and "All on the Line" are open to the listeners' preference. For me, why would a band like Adrenaline Mob want to have acoustic versions of any songs, let alone their own? Sure, instrumentally it sounds great, but it isn't my style, and I'd rather hear the full on version of these songs than these versions any day. The album is rounded off by the old fill-in standard of "Radio Edit" of "Dearly Departed" (perhaps allowing them to segue into the title of this album) and an unreleased song, "Gets You Through the Night", which is better than average for a cast off.

Like I said, I was expecting a new album. I've enjoyed this (for the most part) but again it is going to be an album that gets played while it is still new and current, before being placed back in the CD rack, possibly only to be thought of when you are looking for that rare jewel at a party, when you say "Oh, you know that song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia? Well I bet you haven't heard THIS version!"

Rating: "Killing yourself to live!" 3/5