Fozzy (CD - 2000)

Additional personnel: Chuck Barry, Andy Sneap, Butch Walker, Marvelous 3.

Recorded at AudioArt Studio, Smyrna, Georgia. Includes liner notes by Shoji Mochizuki.

Audio Mixer: Andy Sneap.

Recording information: AudioArt Studio, Smyrna, GA.

Although the concept of Fozzy -- an American metal band trapped in Japan for 20 years finds that its material has been stolen by other artists -- suggests parallels with Spinal Tap, there's one very important difference: Spinal Tap wrote all its own original material, whereas Fozzy sticks exclusively to covers. So, in practice, when it's divorced from the story line of the accompanying web broadcasts, Fozzy just feels like an excuse for Chris Jericho and Stuck Mojo to perform their favorite early-'80s metal songs. But, considering that Fozzy is in reality a rap-metal band fronted by a professional wrestler, the album is surprisingly not bad. Jericho is a more than competent vocalist, and despite an occasional tendency to go a little too far over the top ("Over the Mountain" and the spoken intro to "The Prisoner"), he generally acquits himself well. The band, meanwhile, injects enough technical flash and showmanship to sound like a genuine early-'80s metal outfit. What's more, the all-around enthusiasm for this music is readily apparent (either that, or faked really well); it's played straight all the way through, with no attempts to make anything into ironic kitsch. So, all in all, the project turned out as well as was probably possible. Still, since these are all covers of fairly familiar items, Fozzy the album can't really stand on its own; it will likely be appreciated mainly by fans of the web series or of the people involved. ~ Steve Huey minimize