Prior to
Eagles of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote,
Eagles of Death Metal's most notable cover was their version of
Duran Duran's "Save a Prayer," which became a rallying cry for the band and fans after the terrorist attack at their 2015 show at Paris' Bataclan that claimed 89 victims. With these interpretations of songs by artists ranging from
David Bowie to
Mary J. Blige, Jesse Hughes continues to tap into the healing power of well-loved songs. Originally released as The Eagles of Death Metal Presents Pigeons of Shit Metal, a limited-edition covers album that Hughes recorded largely on his own,
Eagles of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote is a expanded collection of his takes on the music that helped him cope with his depression after the attack. Not surprisingly, the set includes a fair amount of hard rock. It's usually a good sign when it's possible to imagine how an artist would cover a song even before it's heard, and Hughes brings a satisfying stomp to
Kiss' "God of Thunder" and thoroughly transforms
Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy" into an
Eagles of Death Metal song. He also shouts out to his dear friends that include his bandmate
Josh Homme with a cover of
Queens of the Stone Age's "Long Slow Goodbye" and Brody Dalle-Homme with a version of
the Distillers' "The Hunger." Though Hughes puts his stamp on typically heartfelt songs such as
Cat Stevens' "Trouble," some of the album's least predictable moments are the most genuine. Hughes steps up to the challenge of covering
Blige's "Family Affair" with some of his finest vocals, while his rowdy, Stonesy vamp on
Love and Rockets' "So Alive" lives up to the song's name in an entirely different way than the original. Conversely, the versions of
Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra" and
Kenny Rogers' early psych-tinged single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)" are relatively faithful but also reflect the mischief lurking in Hughes' own music. There are some surprising letdowns as well: The stripped-down approach Hughes takes on the album leaves "Beat on the Brat" sounding strangely enervated (and serves as a reminder of just how deceptively simple the
Ramones' music is). Though
Eagles of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote is a little uneven, the more personal approach Hughes takes on
Eagles of Death Metal's first studio recordings since the Bataclan is still welcome. ~ Heather Phares