Review: Donnie Vie "Extra Strength"

In 1991, a virtual masterpiece of pop rock perfection was born, delivered by the "Rodney Dangerfields" of the genre (they got no respect), Enuff Z'Nuff. "Strength" was pure pop perfection, underscoring how closely Donnie Vie and Chip Z'Nuff truly mirrored their songwriting heroes, Lennon and McCartney. One is hard pressed to find a track on "Strength" that doesn't have you humming along in no time. The album actually received excellent press and reviews for the most part, but did not light the charts on fire. A great history of Enuff Z'Nuff has recently been written up and you can read more about it here.

But let's get back to the present day. Donnie Vie has been releasing solo work since 2002, with his debut being a fantastic extension of the pop genius that excites Enuff Z'Nuff's fan base. His latest effort is a most unusual and intriguing experiment: he has re-recorded stripped down versions of one of the best Enuff Z'Nuff records in their extensive discography. These "re-interpretations" have been captured on this 2007 CD simply entitled, "Extra Strength."

For the most part, I found it difficult to get into most of these songs because the original tunes are so deeply etched into my memory. I just can't get the bias out of my head! Some of the new renditions work better than others, simply because some of the songs lend themselves to an unplugged version than others. "Heaven or Hell" works great the way he's revised it, and so does the beautiful piano-driven ballad "Goodbye." But "Mother's Eyes," one of my favorite Enuff Z'Nuff songs, doesn't work at all. And I would have anticipated that one to be especially great in this format. Additionally, "Baby Loves You" would have made for a great bluesy shuffle, but it is "re-interpreted" with just electric guitar and a vocal...it sticks out like a bad sore thumb. And some songs sound too similar to the original (for example, "Time To Let You Go").

Some non-Strength tracks are also on the record. A nice cover of "In My Life" is here, but mimics the original too closely and doesn't sound very well produced (is it me or does the volume drop dramatically when this track comes on?). Also, a great harmonica-laced rendition of "It's No Good" is here...a song from their 1997 effort "Seven".

So my conclusions from this unique experiment are mixed. About half the songs simply don't work for me and I would choose the original over it any day. But the others that do work REALLY work and are a wonderful and refreshing complement to the original tracks.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12

Enuff Z'Nuff official site.