Novelty album of violinist Rachel Barton performing metal/rock covers as part of a string trio. I bought this purely as a cheap curiosity, which I suspect is what the record label intended (minus the cheap part), and luckily I didn't have to pay much for it. The issue with something like this is shared by a lot of prog metal, technical stuff in general, and shred--virtuosity may be impressive on a technical level, but it doesn't automatically make for good listening.
The chosen selections are about what you'd expect for an album like this from the '90s. I was mildly surprised about the inclusion of Rush's "The Spirit of the Radio" and the lack of a Guns N' Roses song (especially given their logo is on the instrument case on the cover). The arrangements are definitely skewed more towards serving the instruments than staying strictly faithful to the original songs, although almost everything is immediately recognizeable (I wasn't familiar with the Soundgarden tune, so no comment, and I could only identify U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from the chorus part).
The main problem I have with the album is that aside from the two actual classical pieces, everything feels overly sparse because it's all being performed live on just three string instruments, and nothing else. Orchestral arrangements might be workable, but most of the songs here just feel too stripped down. Aside from the classical pieces, I did like Metallica's "One," since the heavy/soft contrasts within the song translate well here.
So yeah, I feel violin/string enthusiasts curious about metal/rock arrangements or orchestra kids who were into some of these bands would probably get a lot more out of this than an obsessive metal fan looking for CD deals. Perhaps an ambitious idea at the time, but this is just gonna be a one-listen novelty for me. I'll take The Great Kat over this anytime!
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