Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign To Save Darfur
Warner Brothers, 2007
REVIEW BY: Paul Hanson
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 09/17/2007
This release is a two-disc collection covering a diverse musical landscape. It's a who's who of mainstream musical acts as U2, R.E.M. and Aerosmith rub elbows with Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Jaguares, and Youssou N'Dour. The common thread is that all of the songs on this album are covers of John Lennon songs.
Aerosmith's take on "Give Peace A Chance" turns into reggae, thanks to
All of the songs on this album could easily be pushed onto various sub-genres available on mainstream radio. The radio station that typically plays Green Day's "American Idiot" could play "Working Class Hero" instead - the angst in both songs are the same - and a station that plays U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" could substitute "Instant Karma" without a lot of difficulty. The songs on this release rival the Van Halen tribute compilation Everybody Wants Some, a disc I hold up as the pinnacle of compilations. Both collections have enough diversity in the bands chosen to represent the original artist's work respectfully.
Avril Lavigne singing "Imagine" is a change of pace for her. I’m familiar with her Let's Go album thanks to my kids; here Lavigne sounds comfortable stepping away from her typical style of material and adding instruments like piano and violin. On the second disc you get Jack Johnson playing the same song. The contrast between the two versions is sharp enough that including the same song twice doesn’t seem like filler.
I will readily admit my ignorance about the crisis in
This album represents an initiative by leaders of the mainstream rock world to raise funds to help those in