Ultraelectromagnetic Jam: The Music of the Eraserheads

by mcg

Ultraelectromagnetic Jam It was boring to watch the Eraserheads on stage. As they themselves admitted in interviews, they are not the most ‘telegenic’ bands during the time. Pogi rock ruled (rules?) the scene. They were the exception. There were no rock star poses, Mick Jagger struts or the Who type equipment destruction from any of the band members during their live gigs. In fact watching them play so intently, face down or eyes closed makes you think they’re really not that comfortable on stage. Yet, their performances are either sold out or almost always SRO.

It’s a roundabout way of saying the attraction to the E-heads has always been the music. While also not the most technically adept, a fact that they have also admitted in the past, they still managed to turn the OPM scene on its head. When they displaced Ariel Rivera from the charts back in the 90s, no one could make head nor tails of the band that produced ‘Pare Ko’. They already had a following with the Diliman crowd with Pop-U when they came out in 1993 with their first commercial album, Ultraelectromagneticpop! With catchy hooks, a pulse on the young people’s issues and a very Pinoy sense of humor, they convinced the entire country it was time to shake up the music scene. Back then, theirs was a unique sound in the midst of heart-wrenching, warbly ballads and sugary-pop music by singers slash artistas. The attraction to the Eraserheads was all about their music.

So it came as a surprise upon hearing the tribute album Ultraelectromagnetic Jam: The Music of the Eraserheads by various artists that 1) there’s already a tribute album for a band that, while broken up, its members are still very much active making music, and that their albums are still readily available in stores, and 2) it doesn’t do justice to the music which inspired the anthology.

To say that it is uninspired is an understatement. A good tribute album serves not only to remind the listeners how good the originals were but also to showcase the style of the particular artist covering the song. See the excellent If I Were A Carpenter. You need artists which have their own styles, a unique voice which will imprint the song with their signature and show the song in a new light. By that criteria, only veteran Rico J. Puno in Ang Huling El Bimbo, and the Radioactive Sago Project’s rendition of Alcohol manages to pull it off. And as much as I like them, Brownman Revival only did a passable reggae-tinged version of Maling Akala. Isha’s Torpedo is also memorable only for the fragility of her voice which manages to highlight the theme of the song: frustration. Which so much talent collected for the album, that’s exactly what I felt – this coulda been a contender.

Who picked the songs? Kitchie Nadal’s Ligaya was totally wrong for her. And with her chuckling through the line “ilang ahit pa ba ang aahitin” it only magnifies how inappropriate the song was for her. It’s not just about mixed genders of persona in the song. I could totally see her doing Shirley for the sheer “rocking out” possibilities. Even South Border’s With A Smile is unremarkable. The genius of this song is how easily it lends to the audience singing along with it. If you’ve been to an Eheads gig, you’d know this. South Border missed the mark – it was just another warbly lab song. Even Sponge Cola’s cover of the anthemic, uncensored Pare Ko, sounded hollow. It just was not out of the ordinary.

It’s easy to see why some criticized this album as just another marketing ploy to pillage the Eheads catalog and push the newer bands out there. The compilation isn’t particularly bad. It’s just not that good either. I’d still rather listen to the originals than put some of these songs in repeat on the CD. I’d rather hear and remember them as they were redefining pop music and not, as this album did, subsumed by it.

It’s ironic they had to include Para Sa Masa, a song which to me was more of the band’s complaint of the majority of its fans not wanting them to do grow musically and keep them in that happy happy pop music box:

“mapapatawad mo ba ako / kung hindi ko sinunod ang gusto mo
pinilit kong ihaon ka / ngunit ayaw mo na namang sumama”

Of course in this album, it is exactly that — a USA-For-Africa/Band-Aid sing-along which turned the original melancholic song into happy-happy-oh-don’t-worry-about-you-guys-we-totally-get-what-you-want anthem.

More thoughts on the album at Kristine and Luis are Listening and Gelay’s Log (who btw, has changed her address. She’s at http://www.derpinsel.com. Kindly make the appropriate changes to your links).

More Eraserheads at the Eraserheads Project.

Ultraelectromagnetic Jam: The Music of the Eraserheads Track Listing:

01. Alapaap – 6 Cycle Mind
02. Magasin – Paolo Santos
03. Spoliarium – Imago
04. Overdrive – Barbie Almalbis
05. With A Smile – South Border
06. Tikman – Sugarfree
07. Ligaya – Kitchie Nadal
08. Torpedo – Isha
09. Superproxy2K6 – Francis M.
10. Huwag Kang Matakot – Orange And Lemons
11. Pare Ko – Spongecola
12. Huwag Mo Nang Itanong – MYMP
13. Hard To Believe – Cueshe
14. Alcohol – Radioactive Sago Project
15. Maling Akala – Brownman Revival
16. Ang Huling El Bimbo – Rico J. Puno
17. Para Sa Masa – Various Artists