Straitjacket - Vices
Shrunken Head Records
Hard Rock
12 songs (49'50)
Release year: 2006
Shrunken Head Records
Reviewed by Marty
Archive review
Straitjacket is a Toronto area based band whose members have quite a history in the hard rock and heavy metal scene over the last 20 years playing in such bands as Mind's Eye, the Black Crowes tribute band Hard To Handle, Van Wailin', The Stone Temple Co-Pilots, Kingpin, Renaissance and Steel Lily. Vocalist Chad Campbell has also performed with the Guns 'N Roses, Queen and Van Halen versions of the Classic Albums Live touring group. The band also consists of the MacEachern brothers James (guitars) and Rob (drums) as well as Mark Piraino on bass.

With the extensive experience that every member of this band has, especially doing cover tunes, it seems natural that they all drifted towards each other and formed a band. The sole purpose of Straitjacket is to take classic rock tunes, "metalize" them a bit and add a little more edge and "party spirit" that may have been missing from the original versions. This approach is hardly new as back in the mid 70's, Van Halen used this gimmick to land gigs in the middle of the disco era. They would do covers of K.C and the Sunshine Band songs that were "Van Halen-ized" and when they had the audience right where they wanted them, hit them between the eyes with a killer original. The material that Straitjacket covers, ranges from classic 70's rock to funk and disco. Included are covers of Tommy Tutone's 867-5309 (Jenny), Sugarloaf's Green Eyed Lady, Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles, King Of Pain by The Police, Drugs In My Pocket by The Monks, The Doobie Brothers Jesus Is Just Alright, Rikki Don't Lose That Number by Steely Dan, Cheap Trick's Dream Police, Play That Funky Music by Wild Cherry, Rick James' Superfreak and Chicago's 25 or 6 to 4. They do a decent job for the most part but highlights include their version of Green Eyed Lady, with it's booming and heavy arrangement and solid bass lines as well as very solid versions of Jesus Is Just Alright, Rikki Don't Lose That Number and Dream Police that sees vocalist Chad Campbell doing a great Robin Zander-like vocal. Here Comes The Sun comes off a little flat and the goofy ranting and raving in a Scottish accent during Drugs In My Pocket gets a little annoying. Both Play That Funky Music and Superfreak are worth mentioning as well and with the heavy, funky grove that the band locks into, they actually sound pretty good.

James MacEachern's extensive studio experience really pays off here as his production here is strong, crisp and very, very good. Chad Campbell has a strong and very versatile voice; interpreting the vocal lines very effectively. His natural voice sounds like a cross between Boston's Brad Delp and Michael Sweet of Stryper fame - in fact, I think these guys would do a great job of covering Boston songs. If future goals include releasing more of these covers albums, you have to wonder; with the talent and experience these guys have, why not do their own material? Cover songs are great for bar bands and if anyone walked into a bar and heard these guys playing these sorts of songs, they would really like their heavier and more "metal" interpretations of the material. I've played this for a few people who all thought they did a good job covering these songs but the questionable part is why release these on CD? Although I liked what I heard for the most part, I doubt this disc will ever get much play again. On the other hand, if they were playing live locally, I would likely go out and see them. This album is good for promotion of the band and a chance to hear them play cover tunes really well yet it would be hard to recommend anyone actually go out and buy this......

Killing Songs :
Green Eyed lady, Jesus Is Just Alright, Rikki Don't Lose That Number and Dream Police
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