Ok, c’mon Trev, be objective here…
Do not come across like a teenage girl at a ‘One Direction’ reunion concert screaming ‘Oh they are so dreamy! I want to have their babies!’
Be harsh mate, be scathing, pull apart song by song to find any fault so that you can give a frank assessment of this CD….
… fuck it, I can’t! Its just too good!
Ahem. I got my Cybertronic Spree CD this week. I kinda like it.
About the Band
For those that don’t know, Cybertronic Spree is a true fan success story. A bunch of singers and musicians came together about six or so years ago, dressed in awesome looking self-made Transformers costumes and sang songs from the Transformers 1986 movie.
It proved popular. Amongst us TF fans it proved really popular. So much so that they started getting gigs, appearing at various conventions and even earlier this year got their own IDW Comic Cover variant.
And so a Crowdfund Project is born!
So riding on the wave of that popularity they decided to Crowdfund a CD where they played 10 of the songs from the 86 movie. CD title appropriately ‘Transformers 1986‘.
The reaction was better than they could have hoped. It all sold out fast. I mean, really fast! So then they reopened the Crowdfund and then that all sold out.
So they now had the money and went to work recording their album. Digital copies to those who contributed to their Crowdfunding went out about a month ago.
As much as I would have loved getting a signed poster, my funds at the time meant I was only able to order the CD. And when it came to writing a review I wanted to review the CD, as I knew the digital copy I received would not do the music justice played over the shitty little speakers on my computer.
So having received the CD this week, I set up my sound system in the disused outdoor carport on the farm, where the acoustics are puzzingly good and I could crank the volume to max, pulled out a deck chair, cracked a beer and sit back to listen to the music.
It did not disappoint.
The Music
This is a fucking awesome CD! Damn they did a good job. Whilst this CD is primarily a Crowdfunded fan project, you can tell that these are all singers and musicians who know what they are doing and have a genuine love for the material.
As someone who has the soundtrack to the 86 movie and knows every song by heart, it was so cool to hear these songs faithfully redone but with the twist of having new musicians and, most importantly to differentiate them from the originals, new vocalists.
Damn Arcee has a set of pipes on her! Don’t get me wrong, Spike is a good backup vocalist and Hot Rod can sing his arse off, but Arcee has a voice that can pick you up and pound you flat with its power! I’ve always loved female vocalists who sound like they could kick my arse. I shudder to think of the poor singer inside the costume – how many TF Fanboys must there be out there she is currently starring in the fantasies of (my own efforts to get my good wife to dress as a Transformer have always met failure, as public record will testify). As all the original songs were sung by men, to have Arcee singing half the songs and providing backup vocals on many others gives the songs a new and unique twist, breathing new life to tunes you’ve been listening to for the past 33 years.
Full credit to the musicians too, The guitarists (Unicron & Hot Rod) provide those tasty big 80’s riffs big time and Rumble the Drummer pounds those skins like a true professional.
This CD hits all the right notes for me. The Touch gave me goosebumps, Dare gave me a nostalgic lump in my throat. I didn’t understand why they chose to have Hunger as the last track on the album until I heard the end. That massive instrumental finale right at the end of the song kicks so much arse you wanna put your fist through a wall, headbutt a tank and yell to the world that every other sci-fi genre sucks Quintesson Balls compared to ours!
So yes, I liked this CD.
Cybertronic Spree, all I can say to you is (cue eye-rolling song lyric references):
You’ve indeed got both the touch and the power
You’ve got the passion and the pride. It can’t be denied.
When it came to getting this CD made you let nothing stand in your way and us fans count ourselves among the fortunate ones.
And if you ever decide to tour internationally, I can guarantee you a sold out show in Sydney. The tendrils of Big Angry Trev will twist throughout the Aussie Fandom to hound TF geeks out of parents basements, comic stores and online chatrooms across the land to fill a venue in your honour (with extra security to keep the fanboys off Arcee).
All I ask in return is that you let me get on stage and do the ‘AAAAAAAA-AAAAA’ at the end of Instruments of Destruction 😉
Extra Merchandise
As I mentioned, I was only able to afford at the time the CD. However fellow Transformer Enthusiast and Skydiving Superstar Brendan was able to get some more of the merch.
Got something to add to this review? Pop it in the comments section below!
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