Album Review: Children Of Bodom – Skeletons in the Closet

Posted on 09.21.09 to Album Review by JD

Skeletons in the Closet is the first  cover album by Finnish  metal band Children of Bodom. Most of the tunes in the album have already been released, including the infamous Britney cover from their 2005’s Are You Dead Yet?. In fact, out of it’s 17 songs, only four are actually unreleased: Hell Is For Children, Antisocial, War Inside My Head, and Waiting.

As far as the song choices go, they cover a great territory of the music realm. Some are pretty obvious, since they’re a metal band (Sepultura, King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Slayer), others could be chalked up as the band’s wide array of influences (Scorpions, Ramones, W.A.S.P.) while others seem to be very tongue in cheek, at least at first glance (Pat Benatar, Kenny Rogers,  Billy Idol and of course, Britney Spears).

Some of the not so obvious choices (Somebody Put Something In My Drink, Talk Dirty To Me) translated easily to the cob realm, while others like Oops! I Did It Again went through a major makeover by the band.

The whole concept of the band’s covering Oops! I Did It Again doesn’t sound like it should be taken seriously, but it sounds great. It’s heavy as cob and it’s catchy as Britney. The production work on it is really good too.

The band has already chosen Lookin’ Out My Back Door as the record’s first single. It’s videoclip strikes as a reflection of what could have been the band’s approach to the album: playing kick ass music and having fun while doing so.

It’s an album worth checking out either if you’re familiar with the songs or not because if you are, you’ll be curious about the band’s take on the songs. If you’re not, at least you know it’s a release from a band that does not disappoint.

The album will hit the stores on September 22nd.

The tracklist is as follows:

Lookin’ Out My Back Door (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Hell Is For Children (Pat Benatar)
Somebody Put Something In My Drin (Ramones)
Mass Hypnosis (Sepultura)
Don’t Stop At The Top (Scorpions)
Silent Scream (Slayer)
Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) (Kenny Rogers)
Hellion (W.A.S.P.)
Aces High (Iron Maiden)
Rebel Yell (Billy Idol)
No Commands (Stone)
Antisocial (Trust/Anthrax)
Talk Dirty To Me (Poison)
Ghost Riders In The Sky (Stan Jones / Johnny Cash)
War Inside My Head (Suicidal Tendencies)
Oops! I Did It Again (Britney Spears)
Waiting (King Diamond)

Browse Timeline

• « CONTEST: Revocation – Existence Is Futile (Relapse Records)
• » VIDEO: Gwar – Let Us Slay