The Wildhearts - Stop Us If You've Heard This Before Vol. 1

At some point along the line, every band that's been around for any length of time covers tracks by other bands, and these days often put out a terrible compilation of their homage to their favourite bands, who at the sound of their work being butchered must wince to say the least. Covers albums tend to sound nothing like the band covering them, and more like a really bad version of the original.

Guess what? This isn't one of those records thank god! No, because the fifteen tracks on 'Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before Vol 1' sound... well they sound like they belong on a Wildhearts album... which as luck would have it this is!It's always interesting to see what tracks a band will throw together for an album like this, a list normally full of the "usual suspects", and that's where this album is off the a flyer from the get go. It's full of interesting tracks, some from bands that 99% of Wildhearts fans are never going to have heard of. These are the bands, we are told, that the band listen to, and also assured that this is a collection that the whole band have put together.

What's even better though, is that they mix it up. Every member of the band sings lead on at least two songs each, helping to make this a truly unique offering by the band - it's the first time all four members of the band have sung lead on the same album.

If you like the Wildhearts, you're going to like this. If you want to sample some songs by bands you might not have heard of, then certainly this ones worth picking up. If you don't like covers albums, well...

Special mention has to goto the Georgia Satellites, and the cover their track 'Battleship Chains'. Awesome track, and by far the highlight of all of the tracks on offer here.