The Anatomy Of

by

Between the Buried and Me

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BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME - The Anatomy of...

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Truthfully I was cautiously optimistic about this CD when I heard about it's inception... a cover album? I mean at this point in their career, BtBAM had grown progressively stronger with each of their 3 previous releases. Then I read their set list and became incredibly excited. Titles like, The Day I Tried to Live, Cemetary Gates, Blackened? Then some even truer classics like Three of a Perfect Pair and Us and Them... these are great and by no means generic covers. Then Again... Between the Buried and Me isn't your generic band either!

After one full listen to this CD I can safely say it is nothing short of brilliance! After multiple listens I can safely say

the bands ability to capture another bands true essence, yet still give it their own sound is executed amazingly. The musicianship is spot on, essentially perfect... and anyone who is familiar with the bands previous work realizes the vast majority of the songs covered are simplistic in nature to what BtBAM usually play. The real winner here is Vocalist (And Keyboardist) Tommy Rogers, whose vocal range is beyond belief. I swear I heard Freddie Mercury, Adrian Belew, and even Max Cavelera coming out of my speakers. Despite his great range shown on albums like 'Alaska', I still think many may have underestimated Tommy's vocal range, after hearing this CD all worries are washed away.

My one complaint is the order... The album opens with Blackened, which although well executed cover, it is an odd representation of what the album has in store. This track has more of a BtBAM Signature Sound then the rest of the tracks... Which is not a bad thing. Just in comparison to such perfectly executed tracks as Bicycle Race, Three of a Perfect Pair or Us and Them it sounds unlike the majority of the other tracks. Truth is Blackened is still a fantastic cover... I just would have preferred a different order either way it is a very minor complaint.

1. Blackened - METALLICA - 4/5

-Like mentioned above fantastic song, but a bit sub par in comparison to the rest of the album. Have to admit the more I listen to it the more I like signature twist BtBAM put on it.

2. Kickstart My Heart - MOTLEY CRUE - 4/5

-Not even a Crue fan, but hot damn! BtBAM Can pul it off...

3. Day I Tried to Live - SOUNDGARDEN - 4.5/5

-On of my favorite Soundgarden songs... Fantastic variation on the vocals, not over done. But a great spin on a great song.

4. Bicycle Race - QUEEN - 5/5

-I thought Freddie was dead! But I swear I hear him on this track, FANTASTIC!

5. Three of a Perfect Pair - KING CRIMSON - 5/5

-Nice to hear someone paying tribute to a criminally underrated band such as KC. Perfectly executed - if you sync this on up with the original they are less than 1 second out of sync.

6. Us and Them - PINK FLOYD - 5/5

-I actually forget I'm listening to BtBAM... Another perfect song.

7. Geek U.S.A. - SMASHING PUMPKINS - 5/5

-Another fantastic song here... And a great pumpkins song to cover.

8. Forced March - 4.5/5

-Earth Crisis was alright but BtBAM make this a classic and even make me want to revisit the Vegan HxC musically catalog.

9. Territory - SEPULTURA - 5/5

-Sepultura were once the high point of Metal... Now BtBAM take their place with another 5 star cover.

10. Change - BLIND MELON - 5/5

-Damn!, this is fantastic. Again Tommy's vocal work is perfect.

11. Malpractice - FAITH NO MORE - 4.5/5

-FNM is clearly a band which has influenced the boys and it shows on this great homage to Patton and Co.

12. Little 15 - DEPECHE MODE - 5/5

-Who would have thought? Perfectly executed.

13. Cemetary Gates - PANTERA - 5/5

-Glad they did this more along the lines than

14. Colorblind [*] - COUNTING CROWS - 5/5

-This covers been circulating for quite some time now... loved it when I first heard it and still love it today.

Favorite Songs: Three of a Perfect Pair, The Day I Tried to Live, Bicycle Race, Cemetary Gates and Us and Them.

-5 Stars

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I caught Between the Buried and Me live in 2006 (opening for Dragonforce and Lacuna Coil if I'm not mistaken), and while I wouldn't consider myself a fan, I definitely thought their use of keyboards and progressive elements set them apart from the rest of the metalcore fold. They made enough of an impression that when I ran across a copy of their covers album I didn't hesitate to pick it up. Besides, who could resist a tracklisting that goes from Queen and King Crimson to Sepultura and Pantera?

I was pleasantly surprised by The Anatomy Of. Aside from an apparent reluctance to move too far beyond the originals' sound, BTBAM did a great job with these cover songs. The covers of Metallica, Sepultura, and Pantera are natural choices for such an aggressive band, and choosing to cover Queen, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd shows a real appreciation for the roots of progressive music. Hell, I was just impressed that a band this young even knew who King Crimson was! I was less thrilled by the Smashing Pumpkins and Counting Crows selections, but those bands have never been my cup of tea. The cover of Motley Crue's Kickstart My Heart is the album's only real dud, but there's only so much you can do with that stinker. Had they chosen Wild Side it might have been a different story. The album's best moment is the cover of Soundgarden's The Day I Tried To Live, and that's largely due to the fact that it's really the only song where the band allowed their own unique sound to come through instead of trying to duplicate the original. Had they done the same with the Blind Melon, Faith No More, and Depeche Mode songs, I'd be giving this album a much higher rating.

The reaction towards this album seems to be pretty mixed. I don't really care whether the band released this album to fulfill contract obligations. They picked a great array of songs to pay tribute to (even though they should have added a Dream Theater song), and executed them well enough to motivate me to check out the band's other albums.