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Album reviews Music

RISE ABOVE

Rating: NN


() Rating: NNOstensibly a Black Flag tribute disc, Rise Above was put together by Henry Rollins as a benefit for the West Memphis Three (www.wm3.org), who many believe were wrongly convicted of murder. This isn’t the usual varied assortment of groups reinterpreting their fave Black Flag non-hit — oh, no, too much chance of hilarious piss-takes. So Rollins chooses the singers — Iggy Pop, Lemmy, Mike Patton, Exene, Tom Araya, Dean Ween, etc — and then has them perform the tunes karaoke-style backed by the Rollins Band. Just to show everyone how it’s done, Rollins hollers lead vocals on seven tracks himself! With the exception of Ice-T’s entertaining Wesley Willis-like romp through Police Story, the original versions remain definitive in every case. Rollins could’ve saved himself a lot of time and effort by just cutting a cheque.

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