Band:	Cloux
Album:	Metal Version Vol.1
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	2008
A review by:	wrathchild

01. The A-Team
02. Magnum PI
03. Riptide
04. Chips
05. Knight Rider
06. Hawaii Five O
07. The Munsters
08. Dexter
09. MacGyver
10. Hunter
11. Street Hawk
12. Rocky (Gonna Fly Now) [bonus]
13. Indiana Jones [bonus]
14. Help (The Beatles) [bonus]
15. Alive (Mondotek) [bonus]

Every guitarist, if not any musician, has thought about this, about how cool and fun it would be to come up with metalized versions of theme musics from the shows you used to watch when you were a kid. And even if you're still a kid! That's what Cloux did with the first volume of Metal Version, by covering themes from famous 80s shows.

Therefore this album is made of very short tracks, less than 2 minutes each except for the bonus tracks (though they are shortened I think). That's not much but the originals weren't made for extended playing anyway and it's largely enough to bring all those memories back to your mind. I had a great time rediscovering The A-Team, thinking about all those Knight Rider episodes I saw - yeah I was a fan - and of how cool Richard Dean Anderson was considered back then when he played the role of MacGyver (needless to say that if you discovered this actor thanks to the Stargate series, you are obviously too young to enjoy this cover album). There's one track missing to complete my personal experience of 80s TV shows: Airwolf. But since this album is subtitled " Volume 1 ", who knows...

Musically speaking, well, it's just what it's meant to be: metal versions. You'll have no problem recognizing a theme since the tracks never really differ from the originals, except they're all made up of heavy guitars. Cloux' guitar mastery made him possible for him to convert everything for the guitar. Cause even if it's an homemade record, it's not just him playing alone in his bedroom like what you can see popping on Youtube everyday. Cloux' really done a serious work, adding several guitar layers when needed, with the proper sound settings. Drums, though programmed, are enjoyable.

Though not a "real" album, this record should appeal mainly to those of us who were kids back in the 80s. And perhaps if you're a bit nostalgic too. If so you'll have a very good time listening to some of the covers in there (my fav track being The A-Team, though it wasn't my fav TV show). Thanks for the fun Cloux!