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ROCK SUPERSTARS V. 2
GUNS N ROSES TRIBUTE
BLUE DOLPHIN BLCK-86064
Produced by: Tommy Farese
Released: OUT NOW
Closest Relative: Nothing
GENRE: Hard Rock
OVERALL: 29%

  1. Welcome To The Jungle
  2. Paradise City
  3. Sweet Child O Mine
  4. It's So Easy
  5. Patience
  6. Out To Get Me
  7. Nightrain
  8. Mr Brownstone
  9. My Michelle
  10. Knocking On Heaven's Door
  11. You Could Be Mine

Volume 2 is pretty similar to Volume 3. That damn drum sound is till clapping away over the tracks, totally annoying the crapper out of the listener. The backing band is basically the same. Dominic Esposito and Tommy Farese handle most of the vocals. Al Pitrelli is on guitars on three tracks.
Why the guys thought they would hand out punishment to just Guns N Roses tracks I am unsure of, but punish them they have.
The guys are all fairly faithful to the original versions, taken from the GNR catalogue. But mainly they pale in sound comparison, considering the money poured into the Gunner's albums' verses what's been put into these. It all might have benefited from a better mix though.
Welcome To The Jungle has a little of that Axel rasp in Esposito's vocals. But the production is a third rate once compared to the awesome original.
Paradise City has a totally different guitar sound and the drums are they again, plus the backing vocals make the song sound like a gothic tribute. Farese sounds OK until he tries the Axel scream.
Sweet Child O Mine is OK, but it has to be a cover, give my Sheryl Crow any day. She has a better drum sound too!!
It's So Easy is bogged down by a poor mix. Too much going on in the song and none of it clearly.
Patience sounds like a Rod Stewart tribute, not a GNR one...nice guitar from Pitrelli, but the vocals of Farese are very average.
Out To Get Me & Nightrain - same as It's So Easy.
Mr Brownstone has Farese doing his best psychedelic Axel impersonation. Funny, GNR were never really that psychedelic!?
My Michelle is one of my favourite Gunner tracks. A very cool song. On this album Esposito is singing and as bad as it is, I quite like it. Thrashy, punky, loose and totally un-produced.
A cover of a band's cover. Not a good idea. For that reason alone, Knocking On Heaven's Door should be missed, but it's an OK version. Nothing really to do with Guns N Roses.
You Could Be Mine was going to be hard, because there is now way the production team here was ever going to come close to the original. But it ain't that bad, one of the better tracks on the album.
BOTTOM LINE: Another album that should only be purchased for beer drinking or at least by absolute die hard GNR fans. Nothing else in it for anyone else.
PRODUCTION: 25% SONGS: 45% VIBE: 20%ATTITUDE: 25%
ESSENTIAL FOR: Only extreme die hard Guns N Roses fans
DISCOGRAPHY: . Rock Superstars Volume 1 . Rock Superstars Volume 2 . Rock Superstars Volume 3

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