FUBAR: The Album

• Artist: Various Artists
• Release Date: 2002 05
• Type: Collection (various artists), Soundtrack
• Genre: Soundtrack

Review

The soundtrack to a Canadian mockumentary about a pair of headbangers in Calgary, Alberta, FUBAR: The Album mixes a couple of ringers (Sweet's "Blockbuster," Girlschool's "C'Mon Let's Go") with a much larger batch of modern-day Canadian indie acts paying tribute to the hesher anthems of their youth. The covers are so deadpan and true to the originals that any listeners who don't know the bands' other work are likely to miss the joke. The songs are classic Canadian '70s and '80s hair metal, as well known as Loverboy's "The Kid Is Hot Tonight" (courtesy of Calgary punk stalwarts Chixdiggit) and Rush's uncharacteristically raunchy "In the Mood," done up in its full pomp-rock glory by the always-entertaining Sloan, or as unfamiliar to U.S. audiences as Toronto's "Your Daddy Don't Know," turned into a crunchy slice of glam-pop by Vancouver's New Pornographers, with singer Neko Case sounding like a less histrionic version of Pat Benatar. (Although it's one of the better tracks, NoMeansNo's version of Neil Young's "Hey Hey My My" is only tangentially related to the album's concept.) Ironically, the four weakest tracks are the ones by Creeper, the band led by Paul Spence, who plays the film's alpha headbanger, Dean. These tracks sound like the efforts of a band who actually don't particularly like metal, with a slight parodic edge that clashes with the more straightforward tracks. Overall, though, FUBAR: The Album is both a fun listen and a handy introduction to the world of Canadian metal. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide