the bee's knees:

There have been few bands to catapault fan's rabid devotion and utter obsession more than The Smiths. I won't go into *too* much detail because there is a wealth of information readily available. Needless to say, they were one of my favorite rock/pop bands of all time and their music remains legendary and fascinating.

But...my god, there have been a slew of horrendous tribute albums to The Smiths over the years. Again, I won't go into much detail because the less said the better when it comes to that sort of thing.

This particular Smiths tribute is from the now defunct 24 HR. Service Station label, out of Tampa, Florida (USA); and (according to the liner notes) a portion of the proceeds were donated to a local zoo and their efforts to save the Florida Manatee.

The bands featured on "Godfathers Of Change Vol. 1" are almost all local Florida bands (with some exceptions from California, Chicago, and other points on the map). The music generally stays within the quirky orchestral pop vein, with a few other genres popping up here and there. and most of these groups are unknown to me at the time of buying this cd and even now (Q-Burns Abstract Message being the only name that i recognize). But this small fact doesn't take away from the overall quality of this tribute.

Honestly, I am not a big fan of tribute albums (unless Anton Maiden is somehow involved); but "Godfathers Of Change Vol. 1" impresses me because every band represented here shows a great balance between interpreting these great, timeless, classic songs of The Smiths along with injecting their own unique style and personality. Surely, if you're a Smiths fan and have been horribly embarrassed and even insulted by many of the Smiths tribute albums out there, then you at least owe it to yourself to give this one a fair chance.

get disc one here
get disc two here