CoC : Pat Boone - Pat Boone in a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy : Review

Pat Boone - _Pat Boone in a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy_
(Hip-O Records, 1997)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)

This is the most hilarious album I've heard since William Shatner's _The Transformed Man_. This album isn't quite as pathetically funny, because Boone is actually an accomplished singer who has some knowledge about things like timing and melody. In any case, this is an album of metal and hard rock covers done in big-band style, many of which turned out better than the originals. Included are such cuts as "You've Got Another Thing Coming", "Paradise City", "Smoke on the Water", "Holy Diver", "Stairway to Heaven" (as a jazz waltz), and "Enter Sandman". Given the inherent difficulties of translating hard rock and metal songs to a big-band style, the songs actually follow surprisingly close to the originals. For example, the fast lick in the middle of the chorus of "Crazy Train" was transcribed for a trumpet (or some similar instrument). However, a few sections were altered, usually adding to the comedic value. A case in point is the altered quiet part in the middle of "Panama": "Think I'll just reach down... ease the seat back... fasten my :seat belt:." Unlike most joke bands (GWAR, AC, etc.) which get old very quickly, this album remains funny long after you've first heard it, which I think has mostly to do with the fact that it's difficult to tell whether it's intended to be serious or a joke. Pat Boone has said about this album that his critics simply didn't get the joke, but I for one found it extremely amusing.

(article published 9/4/1997)