Tribute album

A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. It's concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.

There have been tributes or covers recorded since before the first albums became technically feasible; Enrico Caruso's 1907 recordings of Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera "Pagliacci" are one early example. The birth of the 'modern' tribute album is often credited to record producer Hal Willner with the "Amarcord Nino Rota" LP in 1981. He followed up with tributes to Thelonious Monk, Disney cartoons, Kurt Weill, Charles Mingus and Harold Arlen.

Some tribute albums are created with a further conceptual twist than a simple collection of covers. These include:

* Albums which aid the artist whose work is being covered. These include "Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye," a tribute to Roky Erickson, whose cult fame has not led to financial success, as well as the 2CD "Orphans of God", a tribute to Mark Heard, a singer/songwriter whose work has been praised by fellow artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Victoria Williams, Sam Phillips and T-Bone Burnett. Victoria Williams is also the subject of such a tribute CD titled "Sweet Relief".
* Albums consisting of one artist performing only songs by another artist, such as "Great Zeppelin", a tribute album for Led Zeppelin, performed solely by Great White or "Wicked Grin," a collection of Tom Waits songs performed by John Hammond Jr.. The Persuasions, The Inmates, Les Fradkin, The Smithereens, and Laibach have each recorded tribute CDs entirely consisting of songs by The Beatles.
* Albums consisting of cover songs performed in a different style of music than that of their original performers. These include "Is It Rolling Bob?: A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan" and "Goth Oddity 2000: A Tribute to David Bowie", as well as the "Pickin' On..." and "String Quartet" series of instrumental artist tributes done bluegrass and classical style, respectively. Other examples include reggae, Cuban and ambient lounge compilations consisting solely of songs by The Beatles.
* Albums which recreate a specific album with cover versions of songs from that album. These include "Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours," Booker T. & the M.G.'s' "McLemore Avenue", which covers all the songs from The Beatles' "Abbey Road", Les Fradkin "Pepper Front To Back" which covers the entire "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album as a CD of Guitar Instrumental rock and "More Oar: A Tribute to Alexander "Skip" Spence," which recreates Spence's only album "Oar".
* Albums consisting of cover songs sung in another language. These include "Tributo a the Cure - Porque No Puedo Ser Tu" (1999) and "" (1997).
* Albums consisting of cover songs performed by artists who "influenced" the band being covered, rather than those influenced "by" that band. These include "".
* Albums made to commemorate the loss of a cherished artist. These include "So Amazing: A Tribute to Luther Vandross", recorded shortly after his death.

Some albums titled and marketed as "tributes" to well-known musical figures are effectively sound-alikes or knock-offs, recorded by anonymous session musicians or performers of no distinction.

List of tribute albums

* ABBA
**"Abba-esque" (Erasure, (1992)
**"Abbamania" (1999)
**"A Tribute to ABBA" (2001)
* AC/DC
** "Fusebox" (1997)
** "Thunderbolt: A Tribute to AC/DC" (1998)
**A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC (performed by Hayseed Dixie), (2001)
**"Graveyard Classics 2" (performed by Six Feet Under) (2004)
* Aerosmith
**"" (2000)
* Badfinger
**"Come and Get It: A Tribute To Badfinger" (1996) [ [http://www.walterclevenger.com/badfinger.html Come and Get It: A Tribute To Badfinger ] ]
*Syd Barrett
**"Beyond The Wildwood" (1987)
* Bathory
**"" (1998)
* The Beatles
**"All This and World War II" (original sound track, 1976)
**"The Chipmunks sing the Beatles Hits" (1964)
**"Let It Be" (Laibach, 1988)
**"Pepper Front To Back Les Fradkin (2007)
**"Revolution No. 9: A Tribute To The Beatles" (1997) [ [http://www.answers.com/topic/revolution-no-9-a-tribute-to-the-beatles?cat=entertainment Revolution No. 9: A Tribute to the Beatles 1997: Album review and songs from Answers.com ] ]
**"Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father" (1988) [ [http://www.discogs.com/release/501843 Various - Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father ] ]
**"This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul" (2005)
**"With a little help from their friends—Songs of Lennon/McCartney" (K-Tel, 1986)
**"When They Was Fab - a Tribute to the Solo Beatles (Hallmark, 2002)
* Black Sabbath
** "Nativity in Black"
* Blind Guardian
** "Tales From the Underworld" (2003)
* Burzum
**"Visions – A Tribute to Burzum"
* Mariah Carey
** "Butterfly Melodies" (2005)
* The Carpenters
** "If I Were a Carpenter" (1994)
* Cartoon Theme Songs
** "Saturday Morning" (various artists, 1995)
* Bruce Cockburn
** "Kick At the Darkness"
* Leonard Cohen
** "Famous Blue Raincoat" (1987)
** "I'm Your Fan" (1991)
** "Tower of Song" (1995)
* Cold Chisel
** "" (2007)
* Phil Collins
** "" (2001)
* Noel Coward
** "" (1998)
* Daniel Amos & Terry Scott Taylor
** "" (1999)
*dc Talk
**"Freaked!"
*Dead Kennedys
**""
**"What Were We Fighting For? A Tribute to Dead Kennedys"
*Death
** "Demonic Plague - A Tibute to Death" (1999)
* Deep Purple
** "Deep Purple Tribute" (Cactus Jack, 2003)
* Depeche Mode
** ""
** "For the Masses"
** "Color Theory presents Depeche Mode"
** "Devotion - A Tribute to Depeche Mode"
* Miles Davis
** "A Tribute to Miles"
* Ronnie James Dio
** "" (2000)
*Disney
**"Stay Awake (album)" (1988)
* The Doors
** "" (2000)
* Bob Dylan
** "" (2001)
**"If Your Memory Serves You Well" Les Fradkin (2006)
* The Eagles
** (1993)
* Eyehategod
** "For the Sick" (2006)cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:jzfqxqqrldde | title="For the Sick: A Tribute to Eyehategod" | work=Allmusic| accessdate=2008-04-26]
* John Fahey
** "I Am The Resurrection"
* Finn Brothers
** "She Will Have Her Way" (2005)'
* The Grateful Dead
** "" (1991)
** "" (1997)
* Green Day
** ""
* Guns N' Roses
** "Appetite For Reconstruction - A Tribute to Guns N' Roses" (1999)
** "A Rock Tribute to Guns N' Roses" (2002)
** "" (2004)
** "The String Quartet Tribute to Guns n' Roses" (2004)
** "It's So Easy - A Millennium Tribute To Guns N' Roses" (2006)
* Mark Heard
** "Orphans of God" (1996)
** "Strong Hand of Love" (1994)
** "11th Street Tales" (2000)
* Jimi Hendrix
**"" (1993)
* The Hollies
**"Sing Hollies In Reverse" (1995) [ [http://www.eggbert.com/reviews/hollies_review.html Reviews - Sing Hollies in Reverse ] ]
* Elton John and Bernie Taupin
** ""(1991)
* Integrity
** "" (2007)
* Iron Maiden
** "Transilvania 666" (1999)
** "Numbers from the Beast" (2005)
** "" (performed by The Iron Maidens) (2005)
** "Route 666" (performed by The Iron Maidens) (2007)
** "The Root of All Evil" (performed by The Iron Maidens) (2008)
** "" (2008)
** "The Piano Tribute To Iron Maiden" (performed by Scott Lavender) (2005)
** "" (2008)
* Jandek
** "" (2000)
** "" (2005)
*Jawbreaker (active 1988-1996)
**"" (2003)
*Robert Johnson
**"Me and Mr. Johnson"
* Joy Division
** ""
* Judas Priest
** "A Tribute to the Priest" (2002, Nuclear Blast)
*King Diamond
** "Church of the Devil - A Tribute to King Diamond" (2000)
* Kiss
** "Gods Of Thunder-A Norwegian Tribute To Kiss" (2005)
** "" (1994)
** "" (2008)
** "" (performed by Hayseed Dixie) (2003)
** "Lick It Up - A Millennium Tribute To Kiss" (2008)
** "Spin the Bottle - An All-Star Tribute to Kiss" (2004)
* Led Zeppelin
** "Encomium" (1995)
** "Pickin' on Led Zeppelin, Vol. 1-2" (2003)
* John Lennon
** "" (1995)
*Lynyrd Skynyrd
** "Skynyrd Frynds" (1994)
*Megadeth
** "Megaded - A Tribute to Megadeth" (1999)
* Metallica
** "A Garage Dayz Nite" (performed by Beatallica)
** "Beatallica" (performed by Beatallica)
** "Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band" (performed by Beatallica) (2007)
** "Cult" (performed by Apocalyptica)
** "" (performed by Iron Horse)
** "" (performed by Iron Horse)
** "Inquisition Symphony" (performed by Apocalyptica)
** "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos" (performed by Apocalyptica)
** "A Tribute To Metallica" (performed by Die Krupps) (1992)
** "A Tribute To The Four Horsemen" (2002)
** "Kerrang! Presents Remastered (Metallica's Master Of Puppets Revisited)" (2006)
* Charles Mingus
** "Mingus" (Joni Mitchell, 1975)
* Joni Mitchell
** "Back to the Garden" (1992)
** "" (2007)
* Van Morrison
**"" (1994)
* Nationalteatern
** Nationalsånger - Hymner från Vågen och EPAs torg
* Nirvana
**
* Oingo Boingo
** "" (2005)
** "" (2006)
* Gram Parsons
** "" (1999)
* Dolly Parton
** "" (2003)
* Pantera
** "The Art of Shredding: A Tribute to Dime" (2006)
* Phish
** "Sharin' in the Groove: Celebrating the Music of Phish" (2000)
* the pillows
** "Synchronized Rockers" (2005)
* Pink Floyd
** "A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd" (2003) [http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/afairforgery]
** "Back Against The Wall (by Billy Sherwood and a host of various artists, 2005)
** "Dub Side of the Moon" (2003)
** "Echoes of Pink" (2002)
* Pixies
**"Where Is My Mind? Tribute to the Pixies" (1999)
* The Police
** ""
* Queen
** "' (1996)
** "A Guitar Tribute to Queen" (2004)
** "" (2005)
* Radiohead
** " (2006)"
** "Radiodread (2006)"
* Ramones
** "Ramones EP" (performed by Operation Ivy) (1987)
** "Ramones" (1992)
** "Rocket To Russia" (1994)
** "Rocket to Ramonia" (1996)
** "File Under Ramones" (1999)
** "We're A Happy Family - A Tribute To The Ramones" (2003)
* Rheostatics
** "The Secret Sessions" (2007)
* David Lee Roth
** "Just Like Paradise - A Millennium Tribute To David Lee Roth" (2005)
* Serge Gainsbourg
** Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited
*Sick Of It All
** "Our Impact Will Be Felt"
* The Smashing Pumpkins
** "" (2001)
** "A Gothic-Industrial Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins" (2001)
** "" (2001)
** "" (2005)
** "Ghost Children/Friends and Enemies" (2006)
* The Smiths
** "The Smiths Is Dead" (1996)
* Soundgarden
** "Black Days: Midwest Movement Tribute to Soundgarden" (2006)cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9ftxqtdldae | title="Black Days: Midwest Movement Tribute to Soundgarden" | work=Allmusic| accessdate=2008-04-26]
*Suicidal Tendencies
** "Suicide in Venice - A Tribute to Suicidal Tendencies" (2000)
* Steve Taylor
** "I Predict A Clone"
* Terry Scott Taylor & Daniel Amos
** "" (1999)
*Testament
** "Jump in the Pit - A Tribute to Testament" (2000)
* They Might Be Giants
** "Hello Radio" (2006)
* Thin Lizzy
** "A Tribute to Thin Lizzy" (performed by Rude Awakening) (2007)
* Van Halen
** "" (2006)
** "Panama - A Millennium Tribute To Van Halen" (2007)
* The Velvet Underground
** "Fifteen Minutes - A Tribute to the Velvet Underground" (1994)
* Venom
** "Promoters of the Third World War - A Tribute to Venom" (1997)
* Tom Waits
** " (1996)
** ""
* The Who
** "Who Covers Who?" (1994)
** "" (2000)
** "" (2001)
* Brian Wilson
** "" (2002)
* XTC
** (1995)
* Neil Young
** "", featuring Sonic Youth and The Pixies (1991)
* Warren Zevon
** ""
** ""
* White Zombie
** "Super-Charger Hell" (2000)
* Rob Zombie
** "The Electro-Industrial Tribute to Rob Zombie" (2002)
* The Zombies
**"The World Of The Zombies" (1994) [ [http://www.theposies.net/releases.htm The Posies | Releases ] ]

References