his is the story. The producers of the film, I Am Sam, wanted about 20 songs by The Beatles to make up their soundtrack. However, after deriving the cost of the copyrights, they discovered it would be cheaper just to do cover songs of Beatle tunes. With varying tastes among many production assistants, several artists were mentioned. From Danzig to Michael Jackson, artists were bandied about as possiblechoices. When it was all said and done, many names familiar to mainstream audiencesmade the final cut, along with some obscure indie-rockers, as well.


The artists include everyone from Aimee Mann to Nick Cave. This is quite an amazing list of performers who spin their own unique brand of composition to every song. The finest exampleof how not to do a cover was Flickerstick's spot on, but soulless renderingof "Fade Into You" by Mazzy Star. When I first heard them do their rendition, I kept saying to myself, "Jesus...that is how Mazzy plays it. Do something original for Pete's sake." Thankfully, you don't have to worry about that here.


And it's even better that, while these renditions of familiar Beatles songs are somewhat different from the originals, none of these covers are poorly done. The main difficulty I found is some are just not my taste. I have never really been a huge Heather Nova fan, however, with her remake of "We Can Work it Out" it made me stand up and listen. Ben Harper who I pretty much abhor recreates "Strawberry Fields Forever". But he really brings out a playful side to the song that makes me not think of a depressing outlook when I hear it. Some of my favorite remakes come from Grandaddy and Rufus Wainright. Rufus does a cover of "Across the Universe" with such an incredible voice; it makes you question your manhood. Grandaddy covers "Revolution". This interpretation does a good job from backing away from the aggressive Nike advertisement that previously used it. They do a brilliant job of blending in their electronic synthesizers and keyboards intheir typical style.


Cover albums for me are a general disappointment. "The Pixies Tribute - Where is my Mind?" is one that comes to me off hand. This album, however, does a fine job of having each song be both forward and backward looking, at the same time.Each artist has added their own take on the Beatles and, overall, it's a success. Take a chance on this one if you are into The Beatles. It's not bad at all.