Like many of Cleopatra's tribute albums,
Tribute to Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Reconstruction is unnecessary, but at least it doesn't contain such bizarre match-ups as their
Garth Brooks and
U2 salutes. At least that's what it looks like if you scan the artist listing. Here, contemporaries of the Gunners --
Faster Pussycat,
Bang Tango,
L.A. Guns,
Pretty Boy Floyd,
Bulletboys,
Quiet Riot,
Warrior Soul, etc. -- tackle the classic 1987 debut
Appetite for Deconstruction. So far, so good -- a tribute album hair metal fans would be interested in. It is also the tribute album that Cleopatra has decided should be remixed by their industrial terrorists. In other words,
KMFDM,
Pigface,
Die Krupps,
Meeks,
Sheep on Drugs and
Electric Hellfire Club, among others, turn it into a Cleopatra album. That may be worth a chuckle or two to industrial-metal fans or to Cleopatra aficionados, but it also means it's as dull and purposeless as their other tributes. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine