War Child - Heroes, Vol. 1

iTunes Review

There are two interesting ideas happening here: One, this compilation was conceptualized by Astralwerks and the humanitarian charity organization War Child for proceeds which will fund protection for children living in global war zones. And two, they asked 15 music legends like Bob Dylan, the Kinks, Mick Jones, Paul McCartney, and others to personally select one of their iconic songs and then pick a younger contemporary artist to cover that song. Beck taking on “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat” per Dylan’s request makes for the perfect opener, turning the tune into a fuzzed-out, punked-up, blues-glam, dance hit that’s so different from the original, you’ll forget the lyrics were first penned for Edie Sedgwick. Conversely, the Kooks don’t deviate too far from the Kinks’ blueprint of “Victoria,” save for a slightly faster tempo. And with a little help from Mick Jones, Lily Allen turns The Clash’s “Straight to Hell” into what sounds like a female-fronted version of Big Audio Dynamite. Duffy’s sultry and soulful take on Macca’s “Live and Let Die” is good enough to warrant a remake of the 1973 James Bond film by the same name.