Contrary to what The Rolling Stones said forty-four years ago, sometimes it is the song, not the singer and the proof of that indisputable truth lies in the nineteen tracks that make up Classics – the new album by Rhythms del Mundo.
On paper, it's easy to balk at the presumptuous nature that Classics upholds because the songs on it are indeed classic; entirely comprised of covers, the likes of Michael Jackson, The Eagles, Lou Reed, Jack Johnson, David Bowie, Queen, Nirvana an more get a thorough working over by acts including Fall Out Boy, The Killers, Jack Johnson, Cat Power and Editors to name only a few, all backed Rhythms del Mundo's warm and vibrant Cuban/Latino soundscapes.
You're skeptical – I can tell – and why wouldn't you be? The classic songbooks of acts widely regarded as the gods of rock, totally re-contextualized, retro-fitted and recast into forms of ethnically-fueled music? I'd be skeptical too. In fact, I can't believe I'm about to say that Classics is the best –and best-rounded – compilation I've heard in years; it is the dictionary definition of remarkable.
So how does one orchestrate a 'remarkable' album of uncharacteristically performed covers of multi-platinum selling hits?
The secret here lies in RDM's redeveloped, re-imagined delivery. What the band has done here is take a series of songs that (unless you've been in a coma for the last forty years) are universally known and loved and, while they do leave the basic and instantly recognizable attributes of them in place, reworked both the tempos and timbres of the songs so they have a different feel which opens them up. That more open design is what allows different voices to walk into them (as happens here) and be able to do justice to these songs without necessarily trying to slip into someone else's shoes and still suit; by altering the cut ever so slightly, Rhythms del Mundo sees to it that one size can fit all.
Some of those performances are pretty inspired too and, in each case, that success is entirely dependent upon what the artist in question makes of it. Some, like The Rolling Stones' take on “Under The Boardwalk” and The Killers' version of “Hotel California,” just make sense; the songs lend themselves to a south-of-the-border swing marvelously – they always have – and Mick Jagger and Brandon Flowers produce able performances that do The Drifters and Don Henley justice. Some are sublime; Shanade's impression of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” echoes Tori Amos' and KT Tunstall's rhumba-ed “Because The Night” is easy – both put the spin on their songs that any listener would expect and it works well, but that's no surprise. The surprises (and there are many) come when a singer really sinks his or her teeth into something that would widely be regarded as sacrilege and not only walk away unscathed, they set a new standard with the material with RDM as the driving force.
Some purists will be infuriated at the gall of some of these covers but, if they just relax and check their dogmatic thinking at the door, they'll discover the clarity and pristine care taken to make some of the songs here work. For example, Jack Johnson's take on John Lennon's “Imagine” is elating in its tenderness as the somber overtones of the original cut are supplanted by Johnson's nothing-but-love whisper; Keane actually manages to make a decent play for both Freddy Mercury and David Bowie's vocal parts on “Under Pressure” and the Kaiser Chiefs' carnal tug on “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” is positively infectious, but the biggest surprise comes through in Fall Out Boy's rendering of “Beat It;” in their version, singer Patrick Stump pulls out one of the most inspired (and true) vocal performances of his career and, even with the southern twist put on the song here, the band still nails every bombastic surge. In each of these cases, no one reasonably expects those performing the songs to replicate the material – that's not the point and never was – but it's still a stroke of magic how well the songs go over because of just how different they become with the smallest of changes and how welcome ears become upon hearing them.
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Rhythms del Mundo's Classics is out now and available here on Amazon .
