The Militia Group — !POLICIA! "A Tribute To The Police", Various Artists
I usually enjoy tribute albums such as this, although more for novelty value than the sheer quality of the songs. The Police is a band that I personally love; I was brought up on a diet of the band as a kid when my dad would play their albums on long car journeys and I don't think anyone would begrudge me for saying that the songs still stand the tests of time. With the current fashion seemingly to churn out these tributes left, right and centre, it was obvious a Police record was going to come out eventually and the good people at The Militia Group have been entrusted with its safe keeping. Now usually these guys can do no wrong, but this compilation is a real let down.
Many of the tracks on offer are far too straight-laced - just simple covers of the original with bands seemingly reluctant to put their own take on things (eg Watashi Wa's version of 'Message In A Bottle'). Then there's the bands who go too far and whilst they make the songs sound like one of their own (eg Copeland's 'Every Breath You Take'), it just doesn't quite work. At least the latter is better than the Puff Daddy version mind you. It would be easier for me to list off the good songs, rather than list all the bad versions. Ok, there aren't any good songs. However, there are ok ones; tracks which are fun to listen to and at least bring a smile to your face (see fallout Boy's really fun version of 'Roxanne', to me the real standout song). Motion City Soundtrack and Limbeck do ok too, while Brandtson perform 'King of Pain' with vigour.
All too often though, this record just falls into the realms of cover cliches - either taking the version too far from the original and stripping the reasons why it was so good in the first place, or merely covering it note for note. In glimpses this is a lot of fun and if you know the originals and want something to keep you interested in the short-term, then this is the record for you. But if you try and take this seriously, or even compare the newer versions to the originals, you'll be sorely disappointed.
www.themilitiagroup.com
Paul
