A classic tribute album of Western music. A highly recommended pick.
What comes to mind when you hear the term “tribute album”? Generally, a tribute album focuses on a legendary artist or band—sometimes a lyricist or composer—with multiple artists performing covers of their classic songs.
In this article, I’ve chosen a timeless, highly recommended tribute album in Western music featuring contributions from various artists and bands.
Tribute albums aren’t often introduced in this way, so please enjoy this opportunity!
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A classic masterpiece among Western music tribute albums. One highly recommended pick (11–20)
(You Can Never Tell) C’est la VieChuck Berry
In 2017, Chuck Berry sadly passed away at the age of 90.
He was one of the most important artists in the history of rock and, as a founder of rock ’n’ roll, was revered by countless musicians—so much so that John Lennon once said, “If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’” Even if you don’t know Chuck Berry by name, many people have likely heard his classic “Johnny B.
Goode,” the song Marty McFly—played by Michael J.
Fox—rips on guitar in the beloved film Back to the Future.
Here I’d like to introduce Chuck B.
Covered: A Tribute To Chuck Berry, a 1998 tribute album collecting covers of Berry’s masterpieces.
You can enjoy a wide array of artists, from so-called rock giants like Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, and The Kinks, to country singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris, the rockabilly band Stray Cats led by Brian Setzer, and the legendary rocker Buddy Holly, who died in 1959 at the young age of 22.
Incidentally, the aforementioned classic “Johnny B.
Goode” is covered here by the Jamaican music great Peter Tosh!
D’Yer Mak’erLed Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin achieved record-breaking success that will go down in music history, presented the many possibilities of the hard rock genre with their original and innovative musicality, and continue to influence a wide variety of artists.
Even in the 2020s, unexpected musicians openly cite Zeppelin as an influence, and just looking at the lineup on the 1995 tribute album Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin gives you a sense of the band’s immense impact.
Released in the mid-1990s, the album features many young alternative rock acts of the time—among the most prominent are Stone Temple Pilots, Blind Melon, and Cracker.
Sheryl Crow, who had just rocketed to stardom with her massively successful debut album, contributes a version of D’Yer Mak’er that’s poppy and charming, leaning even more into the reggae rhythm than the original.
Duran Duran’s participation may surprise some, but note that they also released an album that same year titled Thank You, covering songs by various artists, including their rendition of Led Zeppelin’s Thank You.
The album closes with Down by the Seaside, featuring the esteemed Robert Plant in a collaboration with the distinctive singer-songwriter Tori Amos.
Hard luck womanKISS
Kiss is a four-piece hard rock band with a wildly flashy look featuring white face paint, a performance style bursting with entertainment spirit, and straightforward, catchy songs—elements that have earned them a legion of devoted fans worldwide known as the “Kiss Army.” Here in Japan as well, there are many musicians directly influenced by Kiss, such as X JAPAN.
Their tribute album, “Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved,” was released in 1994—the band’s 20th anniversary—and became a popular title that went gold.
The contributors are quite varied, but fitting for a ’90s release, it notably features many alternative rock bands.
The band calling itself Shandi’s Addiction was a temporary project, fronted by Maynard James Keenan of Tool on vocals, with members from powerhouse groups like Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More handling the instruments—an irresistible lineup for fans of alternative rock, so it’s definitely worth checking out.
From Japan, YOSHIKI of X JAPAN participated; there’s also a well-known story that he deliberately chose to tackle a song that wasn’t the one requested by Gene Simmons.
If you’re interested, look into the background around that!
WinterlongNeil Young
Neil Young, from Toronto, Canada, has long pursued a genre-defying career powered by his singular personality, and even now in the 2020s he remains a fully active artist.
Young has influenced many subsequent musicians, and it’s well known that he’s been fervently embraced by artists and bands in the so-called alternative rock sphere—so much so that he’s often called the Godfather of Grunge.
The 1989 release The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young is a tribute album that serves as proof of that standing.
Issued before grunge and alternative rock truly became a commercial movement, the record assembles artists who heralded the dawn of the ’90s—Sonic Youth, Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr., and more—making it a fascinating listen for anyone interested in the history of alternative rock.
Unfortunately, Young himself apparently disliked the tribute format and was reportedly angered by the project.
Even if you’re a devoted Neil Young fan who isn’t particularly fond of alternative-leaning artists, we now live in a time when, for younger music fans, pre-’90s rock has become “old” music.
All the more reason to set aside preconceptions and give this album a fresh, open-minded listen.
VelouriaPixies
The Pixies are one of the greatest bands from the late-1980s early alternative rock scene, known for influencing many artists—most famously the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, who openly said he modeled their musical style.
They initially broke up after releasing four albums, but later reunited and put out new material, and they remain active into the 2020s.
While their sound may seem like catchy, pop-leaning guitar rock at first glance, their band interplay—quirky and idiosyncratic, much like frontman Black Francis himself—is truly unique.
Let me introduce the well-known Pixies tribute album “Where Is My Mind? Tribute to the Pixies.” Of course there are big names like Weezer delivering straightforward covers that showcase their love for the Pixies, but I’d also like to highlight—this is a personal take—the strong presence of bands commonly associated with ’90s post-hardcore and emocore.
For fans of ’90s emo, the lineup is irresistible: The Get Up Kids, Far, Braid, The Promise Ring, and Sense Field.
The album makes it clear just how deeply they were influenced by the Pixies.
It’s a highly recommended listen not only for Pixies fans, but also for anyone interested in the emocore scene of that era!