This record contains music from the documentary film “Rock School” that
was released on May 31st, 2005. The documentary centers on the
Paul Green School of Rock Music that was started in Philadelphia in
1999 to teach young people to play and perform rock ‘n’ roll. You
can do an Internet search for Paul Green and get information on the
programs offered by the school. They have been expanding
locations and are attempting to open schools across the country after
the success of the first couple of years. The soundtrack is
interesting in that the songs are performed by many of the original
artists along with actual students who appear in the film. The
artists are legends like Alice Cooper, Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan, Yes’
Jon Anderson, The Police’s Stewart Copeland, The Ramones’ Marky Ramone,
Ann Wilson of Heart, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, and Billy Idol.
The material is much better than some band your teenage high-schooler
is in—these are highly competent musicians, well recorded. The
addition of the star-power assists on the songs push them up to a level
that sounds like cover songs, or in the case of the original vocals
(like Heart’s “Barracuda” or Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”), sound like
updated re-recordings. The album is a fun listen, but it’s the
documentary that sounds like it will be the big winner. As it is,
the compilation is a good collection of rock tunes, but anyone truly
interested will either already have this material, or want to seek out
the original material. I do salute the musicians and singers who
perform on these tracks. They’re impressive and show the skill
needed to make a good record. If their material is good, when and
if they decide to do so, their recordings should be well
received.
Songs included are: “Black Magic Woman” with Gregg Rolie; “I
Wanna Be Sedated” with Marky Ramone/Tyson Ritter; “School’s Out” with
Alice Cooper; “Barracuda” with Ann Wilson; “Highway Star” with Ian
Gillan; “LA Woman” performed by The Paul Green School of Rock Music;
“Heart Of The Sunrise” with Jon Anderson; “Rebel Yell” with Billy Idol;
“Don’t Stand So Close To Me” with Stewart Copeland; “Iron Man”
performed by The Paul Green School of Rock Music; “Peace Sells” with
Dave Mustaine; “Hocus Pocus” performed by The Paul Green School of Rock
Music.
-Brian Bloom
