My co-worker and I were having a discussion about Fearless Records’ serial anthologies, Punk Goes… I was telling him that so far, my favorite in the series was the Punk Goes… Classic Rock, which was released April of last year. He then informed me that they released another in the series a few months ago.
Punk Goes Pop Vol.3 lives up to expectations. The songs in this anthology, though not exactly original, have been remade enough so that they are distinctly the band’s work.
Tracklist:
- Down – Breathe Carolina
- Hot N Cold – Woe Is Me
- Bad Romance – Artist vs Poet
- In My Head – Mayday Parade
- Right Now (Na Na Na) – Asking Alexandria
- Paper Planes – This Century
- Heartless – The Word Alive
- Bulletproof – Family Force 5
- Blame It – Of Mice and Men
- Run This Town – Miss May I
- Airplanes – The Ready Set
- Dead and Gone – Cute Is What We Aim For
- Need You Now – Sparks the Rescue
- My Love – We Came As Romans
Opening the anthology with “Down” was a great idea since that song must have been the song of the summer for a lot of people. Breathe Carolina’s version was upbeat and accessible.
The rendition of Bad Romance to me stays a little too close to Lady Gaga’s original, so I wasn’t that impressed. Mayday Parade did their best to make “In My Head” their own, but the guitar riffs and drumlines fell short.
“Paper Planes” was very enjoyable, and so was “Airplanes,” although the latter’s vocals were a little reminiscent of the Backstreet Boys.
Who knew that all “Need You Now” needed was a change of genre? Sparks the Rescue did a particularly good job, I think.
The anthology closes with “My Love” by We Came As Romans which manages to be organic while staying to the song’s original theme. And honestly, if you had your player on repeat (like I did), circling back to “Down” makes so much sense.
Overall, the anthology is a good buy. The songs will get you rockin’ to the same songs you might have tired of ages ago.
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