Various Artists � Fire Women: A Tribute to the Cult
Label: Versailles Records
Rating: 

Tracks:
Fire Woman - Jizzy Pearl
She Sells Sanctuary - Enuff Znuff 
Sweet Soul Sister - Paul Shortino/Jimmy Crespo
American Horse - Jake E Lee/Tattoo Frank
Edie (Ciao Baby) - Richard Kendrick
Peace Dog - American Dog, w/special Guest Jason  McMaster
The Witch - My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult w/Project.44
Wild Flower - Gilby Clarke
The Rain - Joe Lynn Turner w/Reckless Fortune featuring Arno Hecht
King Contrary Man - Jason McMaster
Coming Down - Corey Craven
Outlaw - Stevie Rachelle & Richard Kendrick
Lil Devil - Jim Martin, Dave Campbell & Anand Bhatt
Memphis Hip Shake- O.C.D.

There have been too many indie tribute albums these past couple years to keep track of them all. Even so, when "Fire Woman: A Tribute To The Cult" was scheduled to arrive on my desk, I was a little surprised, as "The Cult" seems to have only a (excuse the pun) �cult' following. Looking at the song list, I truly didn't know if I'd even heard of any of the songs. Tossing in the disc, that basically is true, although I was in fact familiar with the two lead off tracks on the disc, "Fire Woman" and "She Sells Sanctuary."

This is the first release from the newly formed Versailles Records, and I'm glad to say that this tribute album seems to have a pleasantly different approach than other ones. Sure, it features many of the "regulars," such as Stevie Rachelle, Jizzy Pearl, and Jason McMaster, but it isn't just thrown together to make a buck like several of the others that they've appeared in.  First off, the cover art is super cool, featuring a naked blue Kendra Jade (a famous porn star) with smoke covering her fun spots. The liner is a massive 16 pages long, featuring pictures and bios for each band in the tribute. Not only does Versailles come off as very pro, the packaging gives the appearance that the label is actually trying to promote the bands instead of just exploiting their name. Putting in the disc is a pleasant surprise too, as thank God, there are NO techno remixes!

The lead off track, as I've mentioned, is "Fire Woman," featuring lead vocals by Jizzy Pearl of Ratt/LoveHate/LA Guns fame. It's a cool version, although I'll admit to not always being a fan of Jizzy's voice. It really works here, for some reason his tribute contributions always seem like gems.  The momentum continues with the disc's kick-off single, Enuff Z'nuff's version of "She Sells Sanctuary." This is a cool remake, as the lead singer really takes the song as his own, and the riffs are a bit harder edged than the Cult version as well. Still, it's a pretty faithful cover, just done in a hard-rock way. It's also the full band and not just the lead singer, which is a good reason to make their fans take notice.

With the rest of the songs, I've never heard the originals, so I can just treat each as new music, which is possibly a fairer way to listen to a tribute anyhow. One standout track is former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke's "Wild Flower." If you've never heard his solo work, the cool riffs and singing style accurately represent his under-rated work. Jason McMaster's "King Contrary Man" also sounds a lot like his former band Dangerous Toys in song structure, it's another track I'd recommend. I've never heard of Corey Craven, but I dig his contribution, "Coming Down." Stevie Rachelle does a pretty good job with "Outlaw," and that says a lot as I am probably prejudiced against the cheesy image from his late 80's make-up band Tuff. He definitely has one of the better 80's sleaze/glam frontman voices. If Tuff wasn't signed so late, he might have been a star. American Dog's "Peace Dog" (featuring Jason McMaster) is also instantly likeable.
The songs on this disc are produced very well, some of them took a while to grow on me (such as Richard Kendrick's Ciao Baby and Jake E. Lee's Sweet Soul Sister), as I'm not familiar with the originals or even a lot of the contributors. This is one of the best tributes I've heard (although the subject matter is a little questionable), so I'm very looking forward to future Versailles' releases.

antiGUY: I just have to throw my 2 cents in here. Not to dis my brother Scott who did a great job reviewing this CD but I have a few things I'd like to add. For the record I hate cover songs. Primarily because most bands can't take other peoples material and make it their own. One of the exceptions to that rule is one band featured here, Enuff Z'nuff. They have done quite a few covers over the years (very few officially released) and they always manage to respect the original version while making their take on the song something new and cool. That being said I have to say that this is one of the best tribute CD's I've ever come across. The bands all seemed to have put some real effort into this and the packaging is first rate. Cleopatra Records could stand to steal a page from Versailles playbook on packaging!  The biggest surprise for me was I'd forgotten just how cool the Cult was (ok they are back now and "Beyond Good and Evil" is great, but this is old material covered here). I remember all but one song on this disc and I'll tell you honestly I didn't find a cover here I didn't like. My personal favorite is Jake E. Lee and Tattoo Frank's version of "American Horse". What can I say? I think Jake is one of the best guitarists of a generation of great guitarist and he has not garnished the respect he deserves. (Message to Versailles � What about a Jake E Lee tribute disc?). The other tracks I liked the most were Wild Flower by Gilby Clarke and Joe Lynn Turner's take on The Rain.  The funny thing about tribute albums is they are supposed to be for the fans of the bands being honored but I have a sneaking suspicion that this tribute disc is good enough to actually attract new listeners to The Cult and also expose the artists doing the tributes. I know I am now very interested to see what Richard Kendrick does next. To those reading this, I say give this disc a shot-it's a nice collection of songs and well done covers to boot!

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