Various Artists
War Child: Heroes
Four Stars
Astralwerks/EMI
Key Tracks: ‘Atlantic City’, ‘Straight to Hell’
Apr 20, 2009
It’s a winning concept: Sixteen legendary musicians ”” including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen ”” pick acts to cover their classics, to benefit war-affected children. Beck bounces through Dylan’s “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” with blazing distortion, while Peaches strips the Stooges’ “Search and Destroy” down to sexy bass and krautrock beats. And the Clash’s “Straight to Hell” now twinkles like a barbed-wire Christmas tree thanks to Joe Strummer’s goddaughter Lily Allen, who enlists Mick Jones to sugarcoat the song with unsettling results.
