When I first heard Hasbro would be producing a brand new album for the 40th Anniversary of The Transformers: The Movie, I was quietly curious. But at the same time I was also intrigued. And as they slowly trickled out a few songs leading up to SDCC this year, I took them in, but refrained from judgement until I could hear the entire album.
But that didn't stop me from buying just about every version available the day it went on sale. I mean after all, what kind of collector would I be if I didn't get a few different variations?
Having just returned from a summer break last week, I finally had a chance to sit down and open my package from Reigning Phoenix Music. I couldn't help but order the vinyl (of course), the CD, and the tape (because why not) and for funsies, the t-shirt. **Also of note: this is the first sealed cassette tape I've bought in probably 20+ years**
And because I had a couple of errands to run the other day, I grabbed the CD, slipped it in my car's ancient player (because I still own a car that was manufactured in 2007 😂) and took a listen. I'm not sure it's fair to judge the album upfront without a little explanation, so I thought it might be better to go through each of the tracks one by one and give them a rating. I figure a five point scale is a good barometer, with one being the worst and five being the best. But of course, I'm no music guru so take all of this as my own personal opinion and not a serious musical critique.
Track 1 - The Touch - The Knights of Unicron featuring Stan Bush
I'm not sure who the Knights of Unicron are, whether they were an existing band under another name or a group Hasbro brought together for this project, but I can say they are confident musicians and they definitely have some talent. Also, these are big shoes to fill. On this track Stan Bush sounds just as good as he did in the 80's. He still has it. Some of the riffs are a little odd, but I like a little variation in my song covers. The point is not to be exactly the same as the song 40 years ago. And I think this track accomplishes that well.
Rating: 4/5
Track 2 - Instruments of Destruction - Knights of Unicron featuring Francesco Cavalieri
I had never heard of Francesco Cavalieri before, so I had to look him up for this. Turns out he's a singer for an Italian band called Wind Rose, which does a blend of metal and fantasy music. His voice sounds great on the track and I feel like this is a good cover. Some of the emotion from NRG is lost here as Cavalieri I think works to pronounce the lyrics a little better (I could never understand half of them as a kid!) But overall a solid performance.
Rating 4/5
Track 3 - The Death of Optimus Prime - Vince DiCola
This is the only track on the album that doesn't feature the Knights of Unicron and it shows. In fact, this is probably the only track that I would say is arguably better than the original. DiCola is in fine form here, updating his original work to something more ethereal and powerful than I've ever heard before. I actually got chills and almost teared up listening to this version. 100% the best song on the album by far.
Rating 5/5
Track 4 - Dare - Knights of Unicron featuring Stan Bush and Vince DiCola
I went into this one with high hopes. And maybe that's where I went wrong. I love the '86 version of Dare so much that it's hard to disassociate from it. And make no mistake, Stan and Vince do a great job here. But I feel like a lot of the song is overshadowed by the Knights playing harder than necessary. Especially the bridge (is it called a bridge? I dunno. You know the part. Where Blitzwing shows up only to end up kicking his own ass via Shrapnel. That part) that you can't even recognize. Maybe that's not the Knights, but I feel Vince and Stan could have pulled off a far better version of this song on their own and maybe they just weren't given that leeway. But the rest of the song works well and is easy to listen to.
Rating 2.5/5
Track 5- Nothin's Gonna Stand in Our Way - Knights of Unicron featuring Sebastian Bach
Thankfully I DID know who Sebastian Bach was before writing this review, lol. Having listened to a lot of Skid Row growing up, his voice was instantly recognizable, even 40 years later. He brings a good energy to this track and the Knights do a good job with the riffs and the melody. While nothing stellar, this is a good cover and well worth the listen.
Rating 4/5
Track 6 - The Transformers (Theme) - Knights of Unicron featuring Brittney Slayes
Having never heard Slayes' voice before, I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. The theme is a notoriously difficult song to sing due to its strange timing and almost speaking-like lyrics (an artifact of the original composers not understanding the description of the toys wasn't supposed to be in the song). But Slayes does a fantastic job here. Her sultry voice brings just the right tone and she nails every bit of this song. A great update and another winner on the album.
Rating 5/5
Track 7 - Escape - Knights of Unicron
Unfortunately, this is another one that should have been left to DiCola to update on his own. The Knights do a passable job, but nothing really stands out and some of the more interesting synth bits to the song are lost to heavy guitars. There are better versions out there.
Rating 3/5
Track 8 - Hunger - Knights of Unicron featuring Mark Osegueda
Another lead singer I did not know, but Mark heads up the band Death Angel. Also I'm not a huge music buff so it should not be an insult to anyone when I say haven't heard of these people. But Mark does a great job with our favorite Sharkticon tune here. His voice is a fitting update to what Spectre General brought to the original track and I really enjoyed how well everything sounded. Solid addition.
Rating 4/5
Track 9 - Autobot/Decepticon Battle - Knights of Unicron
I feel like a broken record here (pun intended) because this is yet another one I feel should have been left to DiCola. I'd say this is slightly better than track 7, just because there was less synth to begin with and a lot of the heavy bits mesh well with the Knights' strong guitars. That being said, there's nothing special about this update and I've heard better covers over the years. If you're going to bring DiCola back, why not let the man cook? A disappointing addition unfortunately.
Rating 3/5
Track 10 - Dare to be Stupid - Knights of Unicron featuring Torch
Obviously, without Weird Al at the helm, this track takes on a completely different sound. And Torch does a passable job with it, but they were given a near-impossible task: Cover a Weird Al song but keep the same style. Had this been covered in say a jazzy or symphonic style (just because it needs to be THAT different), someone could pull that off. But keeping it in the Devo/Rock style hurts the track because you just find yourself wanting to listen to Weird Al. As far as I know, Weird Al still includes this track in his setlist when he performs. But I guess he was just too pricey to bring back for this project.
Rating 3.5/5
Overall, not a bad outing. But with only one standout track on the album and a couple of duds, it's hard to say this is a worthy successor to the original. While I appreciate Hasbro doing this in the first place, it does feel like some corners were cut, though I'm not sure the reason. The album could have definitely benefited from a lot more Vince DiCola and a lot less Knights of Unicron. In fact, I think Vince just recently re-released his "Protoform Sessions" album that was originally available back in the late 90's and early 00's. (I remember grabbing my copy at Botcon '01!).
And if you're looking for a solid update to TFTM: the Album, I'd highly recommend Studio 573. They have a full album of not only updated songs to the movie (including a hilariously updated Dare to be Stupid with new lyrics) but also music from the three seasons of the cartoon as well. And I have to say, if you like synth, the updates to the songs feel more natural. However, if you're more of a metal fan, I think the Knights will do you just fine on this album.
I also have to wonder why Hasbro didn't partner with the Cybertronic Spree for this project. When I first heard of the album that was my natural inclination, given they literally do free promo for TFTM at all their concerts. Again, it feels like corners were cut.
And yet. I bought every version available. I even got a couple of extras. All without hearing one song on the album? Why?
 |
| Might have gone a little overboard |
Because I wanted to support the effort. I love TFTM and not only did I love the art, but I really wanted to try to encourage this kind of thing in the future. Maybe it wasn't a grand slam, but I definitely appreciate the effort! The art on the cover is amazing (and the variant Megatron cover is GORGEOUS), the booklet has some cool Hot Rod fishing art as well AND all the lyrics to the songs, finally! And like I said, there are some really good songs on there. But it feels more like two-thirds of a good album rather than a finished product. And so I'd say maybe listen to the songs on Youtube before purchasing if you're worried about that.
Or, if you just want an excuse to buy a cassette because you're sick of touch screens, here's your chance 😜
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