When I was twelve years old, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. The reason was not because I had just moved to a new area, nor because I hadn’t received my acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, nor because I was a chubby, awkward, redheaded girl who was in middle school. No, it was because my mutant powers had failed to develop.Some exposition: whenever my parents allowed my sister and me to watch television when we were young, we undoubtedly watched some sort of superhero or adventure program. Whether it was X-Men (my favorite), Spiderman, Batman (both the Animated Series and Batman Beyond) or Power Rangers, I felt like I was destined for some sort of mutant-vigilante greatness as soon as I hit puberty (through some grand lapse of logic.) Instead of turning into a psionic, asskicking goddess like my hero Jean Grey, and as much as I could’ve used telepathy to get through middle school, I stayed perfectly normal. Disappointed, I hid away the dreams that 90′s cartoons set in place, only indulging every so often with comic books and terrible movie adaptations. Fast forward eight years, however, and Powerglove’s Saturday Morning Apocalypse is placed in my hands. And then, like being hit in the face with Mjolnir, it all came rushing back.
I may no longer want to be a mutant (the idea of losing my family in exchange for powers was a bit much), but Saturday Morning Apocalypse is a work of bizarre, enjoyable art. Through some sort of alchemy, a band that usually does power metal covers (really, REALLY good power metal covers) of video game songs managed to take fifteen second theme songs from Transformers to The Flintstones and turn them into four minutes of mind-bending badassery. Other childhood songs such as “Heffalumps and Woozles” sound like they were made for multiple guitar solos and spooky orchestration. However, my heart still resides with my favorites: the X-Men theme is absolutely perfect, the Pokemon theme made me want to catch ‘em all (again), and Batman: The Animated Series has become my go-to song when I need a bit of vengeance and a bit of the night in my life. The one disappointment is, surprisingly, the rendition of ”This Is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas, but it is more than made up for. Would I recommend this album to metal purists? I’m not sure- my metal knowledge is limited, and it seems more suited for us (wo)manchildren who want to relive the glory of childhood caped crusaders and people who just really love high quality covers. It’s worth a listen, even if you’re not a metal fan- anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s will have a moment of being pummeled with nostalgia as soon as they listen in….wishing I was seven again has never been more brutal.
About the author
Intro to Radio Instuctor - Jacob is given young minds for molding. He then molds them. This is what he does.