Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

It would seem many people are upset over all these 'poser' bands covering these punk classics, but it seems that they got so bogged down in complaining that they didn't actually listen to the music, which is actually quite good. Sure some of the bands might typically be not worth listening to, they go out of character here to pay homage to the bands that did these great songs.

Institutionalized: Senses Fail does an excellent job in portraying the angst and frustration from the original version (by Suicidal Tendancies)

Suburban Home/I Like Food: This one stays roughly similar to the original(s) except it gets a little more over the top. It's one of my favorites on the album, possibly because I enjoyed the originals anyway.

Astro Zombies: I'm certainly not a fan of MCR but I must admit they did a good job representing the Misfits here. It sounds a lot like the classic but with a little original flair.

Search and Destroy: Emanuel was excellent at covering Iggy and the Stooges here. It sounds almost like the same song except with better recording quality. I like it a lot.

Sonic Reducer: Now here's a song that everyone will have heard of even if they haven't heard of any of the others. Sonic Reducer is legendary, and Saves the Day actually covers it well. While it's different than the original, it retains the liveliness the Dead Boys put in it.

Who is Who: Eh, this one is one of the few I think is only mediocre. It's a basically faithful reproduction I guess...

Seeing Red/Screaming At A Wall: Thrice is one of my favorite bands right now, and very different from the other cover bands here. Needless to say, their cover of two Minor Threat songs is very good, they even cheapen the sound quality to make it sound more similar. It's ironic for Thrice to cover Minor Threat, as they tend to be very melodically focused.

House of Suffering: Well I don't like The Bled, but they did a decent job with this song. Tey put a little spin on it but keep what made it good originally.

Time to Escape: Hot Snakes does about the same thing Government Issue did originally, and it works just as well

Start Today: I was worried when I saw a poppy band like Fall Out Boy was doing a Gorilla Biscuits song but to my surprise it actually works well. One of the few cases that a cover band puts their own spin on it.

Wash Away: Alkaline Trio does a great cover of TSOL here, keeping it mostly the same except placing more emphasis on the vocals. Great cover.

Ever Fallen in Love?: Thursday was a perfect choice to cover the Buzzcocks here. The cover is nearly flawless, definitely one fo the best here.

Let's Have A War: Ugh well I wasn't happy with this one. From Autumn to Ashes completely strips this greaf Fear song of its trademark cynicism. It even replaces 'queers' with 'Bush twins' making it more politically correct. The original is much better.

Fix Me: Rise Against has portrayed Black Flag in the past and done a decent job, and here they do it even better. The vocals are appropiately angry and the song is covered well.

In short, if you can get past the bands that cover the songs, you'll see that they actually do them very well, giving us a great nostalgic collection of punk legends.

The music on this CD is great. It seems to me that anyone who is anti-scene and loves "true" punk, made it a point to not buy this CD, and still comment on it. So tip your hats, sharpen the spikes on your belts holding up your checkered, too tight pants, and grease your hair up into your "different" mohawk, because, you are in fact making a scene. Talk about ushering in a new wave of fake people.

well i personally was not as angry to hear about this cd as a lot of people seem to be. i personally dont see why everyone is so mad about this cd...after all im pretty sure that the old punk rock bands had to give their consent for this cd to be made. yes, i will admit that the covers by fall out boy and senses fail are nothing short of terrible, but... there are some good songs on here. hot snakes for instance... a very punk band... especially if you trace them back to the days of drive like jehu. and then theres bad brains...deemed the creators of hardcore by many. it was interesting to hear one of the most popular acts in hardcore today cover the creators of a genre. i also am a sucker for saves the day so i liked their cover too. but i will say that this album does not do the originals justice.

p.s: i hate all of these trendy, sterotypical lables that all of you thrust on these bands. emo...please. screamo...what on earth does that even mean...how does that even begin to describe anything. these terms were given birth by the dogmatic mtv and should never be used in intellegent conversation... ever!!