Album Review — Inglorious

Inglorious — Heroine

Inglorious is back with their second release of 2021 with an all covers record. But this isn’t just any covers record, the band has decided to cover 11 different female artists and to donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity that supports women and young girls that have suffered domestic abuse.

For rock fans, some of the songs are going to be familiar and the band has stayed true to the originals. Heart’s “Barracuda”, Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life”, Halestorm’s “I Am The Fire” and Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You” stick pretty close to the original recordings. Jeff Scott Soto guests on “Bring Me To Life” singing the second vocal part in the bridge.

But it’s the other half of the record that might raise some eyebrows. Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” opens the album and the guitars and grit in vocalist’s Nathan James’ voice makes this a rocker without losing the integrity of the original track.

Miley Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky” is the first single and has been de-discoed with heavy guitars added but again sticks quite close to the original otherwise.

Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limits” maintains its bluesy feel and even includes horns. James has little problem with the more bluesy track.

Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” and Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You” also stick close to the originals with amped up guitars.

The biggest highlights are the last two tracks. Cyndi Lauper’s classic “Time After Time” is mostly acoustic with slight adjustments but still brings the same emotion of the original recording.

The album closer, Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited”, really amps up after the opening verse. James’ vocal is almost unreal as he takes on Morissette’s incredibly high vocal and kills it.

I like everything about this record. I like the song choices. Sure, I would have liked to hear a Pat Benatar track but I like the mix of newer and older material. I like how the band honored the original versions but put their own twist on some of them. But most of all I am just so impressed with Nathan James’ vocal range. What can’t this guy sing? He has taken on some of the greatest vocalists of the last 40 years and both honored them and put his own spin on them. His vocal range is insane to be able to sing these songs.

Whether you are a fan of some of these original artists or not, the band has paid homage to some of the greatest female artists of all time and I think it comes off as a wonderful tribute.

I’m not going to give the album a rating as much of how I rate records has to do with the songwriting and these are all cover tunes. But I really like this record and applaud the band for both paying homage to these great artists and for supporting abused women and children with a portion of the proceeds.

But I will say that you should go get this record, both for the quality performances and to support this cause.

Track Listing

1. Queen Of The Night (Whitney Houston)
2. Barracuda (Heart) *
3. Midnight Sky (Miley Cyrus) *
4. Nutbush City Limits (Tina Turner)
5. Bring Me To Life (Evanescence) *
6. Fighter (Christina Aguilera)
7. I’m With You (Avril Lavigne) *
8. I Hate Myself For Loving You (Joan Jett)
9. I Am The Fire (Halestorm)
10. Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper) *
11. Uninvited (Alanis Morissette) *

*Best Songs