Here Comes the Sun: A Reggae Tribute to the Beatles (Madacy, 2002)

Following on the heels of the enjoyable The Tide Is High compilation comes the Reggae Rocks series, each album spotlighting reggae covers of an individual rock 'n roll act and featuring a humorous take on a classic album cover (see above).  Unless you've lived under a rock somewhere where there are a bunch of rocks (like Rockville), you will likely know many of the songs on this Beatles tribute (I personally wasn't all that familiar with "Norwegian Wood" or "In My Life," to be honest.).  As such, there are generally two lines of thought when it comes to reggae covers of mainstream songs you know and enjoy: 1) you look forward to the song because it's a tune you already like, and you think that the reggae edge might give it a nice twist, or 2) you fear that the reggae beat will ruin a classic and make it sound corny.  If you fall into the latter group, you probably would never listen to this album or even read this review, so why am I even talking to you?  I never liked you anyway, and you still have my Air Supply CD...Oh, sorry, where was I?  The Beatles' light, catchy pop melodies can be incorporated into reggae nicely, but they also run the risk of turning into happy poppy reggae fluff.  The first few tracks of Here Comes the Sun tend to sound like the latter -- notably "She Loves You," "A Little Help From My Friends," "We Can Work It Out," and "Come Together" -- leading me to hypothesize that the more up-tempo the track here, the less suited it is to a laid-back reggae rhythm.  Thus, slower tunes like "Imagine," "Something," "Yesterday," "Here Comes the Sun," "Hey Jude" (although Toots & the Maytals' version is a spiced-up ska cover), and "Let It Be" (although I still prefer Sesame Street's "Letter B") meld splendidly with the reggae groove, as Reggae Rocks breathes new life into these classics.