Relient K "...is for Karaoke"

Cover albums...novelty albums used to give a band more time to create an album's worth of original material, or a tribute to a band's favorite songs made with pure heart and soul. "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," and boys do too,as truth be told it is pure fun, but music sounds better with you. This 'Baby' is one catchy pop song, and Relient K decide to birth their own version, with a slightly slower pace, piano, and Thiessen's distinctive vocals. Let's add another round, as well as ...It's funny how this "One Headlight" has still kept its bulb burning, without getting old, but this version is an interesting change. It starts twangy with a slightly quicker pace that brings out a Relient K shimmer; some sparse piano, guitar bursts, and although it loses its funky solo, it is replaced with a killer rhythm and arpeggio, and adds their own solo.  Maybe one of the reasons a band makes these types of albums because in their mind it's their way of saying "You're My Inspiration" to those bands they cover. I like the bursts of guitar and the change in tone, and I do enjoy the vocals, but the emotional delivery seems to be lacking. This next type of cover sounds like a piece of cake, based on their quirkiness, and is right up their alley. They do not have to go "The Distance" to make this song their own of this funky spoken-word flavored alternative rock classic.  I do miss that bass in the original, but I am "Crazy" for those guitar arpeggios and "orchestra" bursts in this version. This "Motorcycle Drive By" keeps the same dynamics that cause that engine to run on the road, and move it does; the fire is still burning despite the fact that the match left. Remember that alley we walked through earlier? Well, we somehow came around opt that again because that motorcyclist dropped us off, and who do we meet? "Doctor Worm!" who still is interested in the horns and that light bass-funk, and those fun lyrics.  Gotta love that old "Interstate Love Song," which sounds just as good now, as it did when I first heard it on the radio ( years after it came out, though). The version stays pretty true to the original until they finish with an ending in a style have come to love from them after their 2009 release. "Here Comes My Girl" that drove in from that twangy interstate into my dreams; well she is almost as I had dreamed her, as she is pretty close to the original. How about we go to "Africa." The original trip is beautiful, but I love the energy that this one brings, maybe because my girl is with me. "It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you/There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do," and since the sound is kept faithful, I will do so too.The energy is almost the same, but some was lost when Thiessen came on board to sing this version; the quiet breakdown is much dreamier in this version, and in 'Surf Wax America' the harmonies that wave goodbye will make them proud even though they are nada surfer 'Inside of Love.' What is the general consensus of this record's intentions? I believe that everybody wants to rule the world,' but most would do so with the best of intentions. The aforementioned closing track is a rip-roaring rendition of the original; JAWESOME! At the end of the day, I believe this record was made out of pure love for these songs, and the majority of these renditions soared. Some tracks were successful by making more major changes, and some succeeded by making minor ones. If I could only choose three favorites they would be: Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Crazy, Everybody Wants To Rule The World