VARIOUS ARTISTS – Girls Got Rhythm!

Girls Got Rhythm is another tribute album in a long line of tribute albums, but this one has the novelty of each song being performed by all-female tribute bands. Up for canonizing here are Hard Rock and Metal stalwarts AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Jimi Hendrix, Kiss, and Ozzy. Punk Rock legends The Misfits and The Ramones are covered too.

Most (all?) of the bands performing on Girls Got Rhythm aren’t well known outside of the tribute circuit, so this album will probably gain them some recognition.

As far as tribute albums go, Girls Got Rhythm doesn’t break any new ground in this heavily-trod territory: most of the songs will be quite familiar to even casual Hard Rock and Metal fans, and all of them stick very closely to the originals. The novelty lies in hearing how well the women rockers handle these very manly songs.

The first two tracks on Girls Got Rhythm show that these ladies mean business: Thundherstruck’s “Thunderstruck” (AC/DC) and The Iron Maidens’ “Run To The Hills” (take a guess) are just as powerful and energetic as the originals. “Run To The Hills” is particularly good, with The Iron Maidens totally doing justice to this classic.

The rest of the tracks on Girls Got Rhythm don’t quite measure up to “Run To The Hills,” but most of them are done pretty well. Once again, though, if you’re looking for novelty songs or covers that are so far removed from the originals you can’t recognize the source material, you’re going to come up empty with this tribute: all of the songs trod closely to the originals, perhaps a bit too slavishly for some tastes, with every riff, drumbeat, solo, and vocal refrain being right where they’re supposed to be. But, that’s not the fault of the bands involved, that’s just how cover albums work.

It won’t take listeners very long to get over the “novelty” of hearing women do these cover tunes, mainly because most of the songs rock pretty hard … you’ll bang your head and sing along in all the same places that you did with the originals. “I Don’t Know” (The Little Dolls) and “The Lemon Song” (Zepparella) are also enhanced by having vocalists who are improvements over Ozzy and Robert Plant, respectively.

Other standout tracks on Girls Got Rhythm are Cheap Chick’s fun “Surrender” and Hell’s Belles’ “Back In Black,” with smoking guitar work and vocalist Jamie Nova sounding a lot like vintage Brian Johnson. Kissexy’s “Lick It Up” is well-done too, albeit a little more stripped down than the original. Not that that’s a bad thing.

The two Punk covers on Girls Got Rhythm, “Last Caress” (The Misfits) and “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker” (The Ramones), are done respectably, although they’re both rather short and a bit unremarkable. If nothing else, they add some variety to the album.

Girls Got Rhythm takes its concept and makes the most of it; the end result is a strong cover album.

Tracklisting

1. “Thunderstruck” – ThundHerStruck (AC/DC Tribute)
2. “Run to the Hills” – The Iron Maidens (Iron Maiden Tribute)
3. “Fairies Wear Boots” – Mistress of Reality (Black Sabbath Tribute)
4. “Surrender” – Cheap Chick (Cheap Trick Tribute)
5. “Love Gun” – Black Diamond (KISS Tribute)
6. “Last Caress” – Ms. Fits (Misfits tribute)
7. “Back in Black” – Hell’s Belles (AC/DC Tribute)
8. “I Don’t Know” -– The Little Dolls (Ozzy Osbourne Tribute)
9. “The Lemon Song” – Zepparella (Led Zeppelin Tribute)
10. “Lick It Up” – Kissexy (KISS Tribute)
11. “Dog Eat Dog” – Whole Lotta Rosies (AC/DC Tribute)
12. “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” – The Ramonas (Ramones Tribute)
13. “Foxy Lady” – Foxey Lady (Jimi Hendrix Tribute)