Pat Boone spent much of the '80s and '90s out of the secular media spotlight, but in 1997 he made a splash - charting at #125 on the Billboard Top 200 chart - with In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a tongue-in-cheek collection of Heavy Metal covers. Joining Boone on the record were some of the original artists like Ronnie James Dio and Alice Cooper. It was Dick Clark's idea that Alice Cooper and Pat Boone present the award for 'Hard Rock/Heavy Metal' at the 1997 American Music Awards. Much of the singer's Christian contingent failed to get the joke. What about a heavy metal album? (Excerpted from liner notes.) Dave Siebels (Musical Director) and our band of youthful musicians and I were killing time between planes in England in 1987. One of the guys suggested again, 'Hey Pat, why don't we go in a studio and do some recording together?' Dave said, 'What about a heavy metal album?' And we all had a hearty laugh at the absurdity of the suggestion. But Dave was serious... The news hit the wire services, and our phones lit up; Larry King, Howard Stern, Entertainment Tonight, 48 Hours, People Magazine. Bruce Resnikoff of MCA called me and said, 'If you're serious about this metal project, we want it.' Even before we were joined by Sheila E., Lenny Castro, and Dweezil Zappa, the other all-star jazz players felt they were in 'hog heaven,' playing together on these fantastic charts, live-to-two tracks at Ocean Way Studios. That's pretty much the way it went. The buzz was out, and we were visited by Alice Cooper, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham, Billy Preston, Paula Kelly and others. Ronnie James Dio, upon hearing that we were doing his Holy Diver (on his birthday) also came by and joined in. It was a party, a slammin, raucous and musically heavy spine tingling celebration. Who knows? Maybe this unprecedented mix of milk and metal may win over a whole new audience for these very worthy songs. That's my hope, so party hearty, dude. Pat Boone AMAZON.COM Monty Python have got nothing on Pat Boone. You want absurd, this is the pinnacle. No comedy writer in his/her dreams could have dreamt up anything even half as stupid. The mere idea of Pat Boone, Mr. Squeaky Clean himself, (ahem) crooning heavy metal tunes is bad enough, but it gets so much worse. Big name arrangers were brought in to take crunchy power chords and squealing guitar solos and turn them into jazzy riffs and big band horn blasts. Even a few of the artists whose material is covered make guest appearances. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore plugs in on "Smoke on the Water," while vocalist Ronnie James Dio gives a shout out on his band's "Holy Diver." This musical "idiodyssey" actually works a few times. I'm not immune to the kitsch value that the swingin' versions of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)," Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary," or Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" provide. These songs almost sound like they were written for this kind of overblown, slick swing. Very scary. As for the rest, well, let's just say that aside from the fact that they don't really work too well in this format, Boone just ends up sort of speaking the lyrics and sounding completely goofy. If that's not comedy enough for you, surely the extensive liner notes explaining (rationalizing?) why Boone felt the need to make this record are the topper. I liked this guy a lot better when he was pals with the Parents' Music Resource Center. Can't wait for In a Grunge Mood--sometime in the 21st century. --Adem Tepedelen REVIEW Monty Python have got nothing on Pat Boone. You want absurd, this is the pinnacle. No comedy writer in his/her dreams could have dreamt up anything even half as stupid. The mere idea of Pat Boone, Mr. Squeaky Clean himself, (ahem) crooning heavy metal tunes is bad enough, but it gets so much worse. Big name arrangers were brought in to take crunchy power chords and squealing guitar solos and turn them into jazzy riffs and big band horn blasts. Even a few of the artists whose material is covered make guest appearances. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore plugs in on "Smoke on the Water," while vocalist Ronnie James Dio gives a shout out on his band's "Holy Diver." This musical "idiodyssey" actually works a few times. I'm not immune to the kitsch value that the swingin' versions of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)," Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary," or Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" provide. These songs almost sound like they were written for this kind of overblown, slick swing. Very scary. As for the rest, well, let's just say that aside from the fact that they don't really work too well in this format, Boone just ends up sort of speaking the lyrics and sounding completely goofy. If that's not comedy enough for you, surely the extensive liner notes explaining (rationalizing?) why Boone felt the need to make this record are the topper. I liked this guy a lot better when he was pals with the Parents' Music Resource Center. Can't wait for In a Grunge Mood--sometime in the 21st century. --Adem Tepedelen --Amazon.com See more
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