Various Artists - Beer, Blokes and BBQ's (Album)
“Hey Gary, our CD sales haven’t been so strong the past few months.”
“Yeah, I know. Maybe it’s time to release another compilation album. We can call it Beer, Blokes & BBQ's.”
“Yeah! But what type of music should we put on?”
“Aaah, let’s just put a bit of everything, that way it appeals to everyone.”
This is the type of conversation I imagined went on in the Sony BMG offices prior to the making of this CD. Yes, this is another one of those compilation CDs with a rather tenuous link to the theme of Beer, Blokes & BBQ’s. With 39 tracks spread over two discs, it really seems like there’s a song to please everyone.
Disc one starts off promisingly enough with Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother. There’s some more Aussie rock with Silverchair’s Freak, Leaving Home by Jebediah and Drinking Beer is Awesome by Regurgitator. But about halfway through disc one, it’s like time has been turned back 20 years. All of a sudden, the songs are Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, Down Under by Men at Work, and Come on Eileen by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
It’s like that with disc two, starting off with Black Betty by Spiderbait and Go With the Flow by Queens of the Stone Age. Then halfway through it’s get out your air guitars as we travel back in time for More than a Feeling by Boston, and Europe’s The Final Countdown. This compilation has more than its fair share of guilty pleasures.
I’m not sure about the thought process that went into choosing the songs and the order of them. It would have been nice to mix up the songs a bit more so the transition from Limp Bizkit to Robert Palmer is not so obvious. It seems like the first half of the CDs is when you’re chilling with your mates, then the second half is when your dad comes and starts playing his records. But just because the songs are old, doesn’t mean that they’re not fun to listen to. Does anyone even pay close attention to the music at BBQs? Maybe the strange song choices are a strategic move, so when you’ve decided that you’ve had enough of entertaining at your BBQ and you really want everyone to go home, you put on a bit of Shine by Shannon Noll. Suddenly, everyone decides to leave, and you’re left amazed at the genius of the CD.
