RICHARD CHEESE

RICHARD CHEESE
LOUNGE AGAINST THE MACHINE (2000)
320 KBPS

On Lounge Against the Machine, alt-rock hits get the Vegas treatment way before their time. Vocalist Richard Cheese and his piano trio really know how to warp a song. Rage Against the Machine's "Guerilla Radio" sounds smooth as silk, if incredibly schmaltzy, in the hands of this wayward lounge act. The Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia" gets completely defanged in Cheese's rendition. And it's definitely strange to hear the rage drained out of Nirvana's "Rape Me" and replaced with bland, mindless enthusiasm. The tone of these covers is so far removed from the originals that at times you forget what you're really listening to. At moments like these, Cheese and the boys sound like some anonymous combo going through the motions. But then you'll hear the singer let loose with some foul language or croon a harsh line and it sounds downright strange and funny. Lounge Against the Machine can be tiresome at times, but it certainly takes the piss out of these songs.

1. Nookie/Break Stuff
2. Guerilla Radio
3. Come Out And Play
4. Closer
5. Wrong Way
6. Bullet The Blue Sky
7. Creep
8. Last Resort
9. Rape Me
10. What's My Age Again
11. Smack My Bitch Up
12. Fight For Your Right
13. Only Happy When It Rains
14. Suck My Kiss
15. Holiday In Cambodia
16. The Rockafeller Skank