Everclear – The Vegas Years – music review

Artist: Everclear

Title: The Vegas Years

Label: Capitol

Rating: 4/10

Corporate line:
“The Vegas Years” features 15 instantly recognizable classic rock hits and other enduring tracks performed by Everclear. Includes memorable hits originally recorded by Tom Petty, Van Morrison, Cheap Trick, Neil Young, and more!

Best cuts:
Nothing worth mentioning.

The rest:
“Rich Girl” – The original Hall & Oates tune wasn’t great in my opinion and Everclear’s is just as lame. Art’s over-effected voice during the verses is unbelievably annoying.
“The Boys Are Back In Town” – Everclear’s version sounds weak.
“Night Train to Memphis” – A local band made up of amateurs could record a comparable song. Everclear did a great job at annoying the hell out of me with their version.
“Brown Eyed Girl” – It shares the same melody as the original but none of the vocal prowess or soul that made it such a hit for Van Morrison.

Finally:
It’s really funny to watch a show like American Idol and hear the contestants get criticized for not making the song there own. That exact sentiment went through my mind track after track of “The Vegas Years.” There is nothing original. Everclear did what amounts to a Xerox copy of the original songs. Did they add some layers or tweak something here or there? Sure, but at the end of the day the difference between the original and their version is so tiny only the band would be able to testify to the changes.