Siam Shade Tribute is a tribute album to Japanese rock band Siam Shade, the band which broke into the visual kei scene back in the 1990's. Siam Shade Tribute is released on October 27, 2010 and consists of covers of their songs performed by Western artists.
Siam Shade had some good songs but all of them are sung in Japanese. In this album all songs (except track 11) was re-arranged with English lyrics.
Here's a track-by-track view of the songs that I liked on this album.
- Don’t Tell Lies performed by Sebastian Bach (ex-Skid Row)
Don't Tell Lies originally came out on Siam Shade's third album. It was also one of their heaviest songs. The song turned out fine with Sebastian Bach's powerful vocals and the English lyrics went well with the song's tune.
- 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou performed by Jani Lane (ex-Warrant)
Any anime fan would know this song. 1/3 Junjou na Kanjou was the sixth ending song to the anime Rurouni Kenshin. Probably Siam Shade's most popular song. With Jani Lane's performance, it was good. The lyrics goes well especially with the "Give me smile and shine days" part.
- Setsunasa Yori mo Tokuhe performed by Richie Kotzen (ex-MR.BIG, ex-Poison)
I've heard Richie Kotzen sing with Mr. Big before. Richie shows his singing skills and of course, his simple yet awesome guitar riffs.
- LOVE performed by Eric Martin (MR.BIG)
Now, I've got my hands down on this one. Just like the songs on his Mr. Vocalist series of albums, Eric Martin did an awesome job on the vocals and the dramatic lyrics didn't turn out being too cheesy. The lead guitar riffs are good as well.
- Kumori Nochi Hare performed by Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER)
A rendition of the 1999 single, Mark Slaughter did good on this one. I'm not satisfied with the lyrics though.
- Dreams performed by Mike Ruocco (Cinder Road)
Dreams is originally from Siam Shade's fifth album. A song that's upbeat, very catchy and could make you want to jump and sing along with the chorus. The version by Mike Ruocco turned out great. The lyrics focuses on "Not giving up" and fits perfectly on the tune. The only downside is that I think the song is too short whenever I listen to it.
- Triptych performed by George Lynch (ex. DOKKEN)
This is an instrumental. George Lynch demonstrates his superb skills with the lead guitars. This version sounds exactly like the original, similar to how Daita Ito played it, except with a heavier sound and some added riffs.
- 1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou performed by Acid Black Cherry
This song comes as a bonus track. The only one sung in it's original Japanese lyrics. What makes A.B.C.'s version of 1/3 is their rendition of the intro. Yasu's vocals also sounds reminiscent to Hideki Imamura's, thus making it sound like a perfect reincarnation of 1/3.Yes, I can say that I liked this one is better than FLOW's rendition, sorry guys.
Overall:
Siam Shade Tribute, it was a good experience hearing Western artists give tribute to one of Japan's influential rock bands. Some fans may hate the English versions and some fans may love them but if you loved Siam Shade, give the Tribute album a listen, you decide on how you will like it.
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