Andrew W.K. - Fly Gundam!

In 1979 “Mobile Suit Gundam,” the first Gundam series, and the first ever “real-robot” anime was released. Unlike many works of science fiction the original Gundam was actually very well thought out and in many ways very believable (there was science actually present amongst the fiction). Unlike many war dramas, Yoshituki Tomino had a great talent for writing complex war strategies and relatable characters on both sides of the battle for us to deeply relate too and care about. Unlike almost every Gundam series that followed the original “Mobile Suit Gundam” is intelligent, mature and just fantastic.

You know who else is a fan of “Mobile Suit Gundam?” Andrew W.K.

If there was ever a youtube.com moment that demanded a double take of my attention it was discovering tracks from Andrew W.K.’s “Gundam Rock” album. I was browsing youtube.com trying to find a good version of “Char the Great,” (he is by the way) when I found a link to Andrew W.K. – “Char the Great.” Thoughts like “what really?” ran through my head, and sure enough it was real, and it was awesome. To my surprise, and delight, Andrew W.K. had not just taken a random anime song and done a random cover, no, he took a classic anime and redid the entire soundtrack.

The original soundtrack to “Mobile Suit Gundam,” is good. Perhaps the original Gundam’s soundtrack is not so amazing that I would consider it a must listen, but it is good enough that if you watched the show I am sure you would enjoy the score that went with it, very jazzy songs, and as I understand it, a cult classic in Japan; a cult classic in Japan, not in North America.

It takes a special kind of nerd to make an all metal, all English, version of the “Mobile Suit Gundam” soundtrack and that is exactly the kind of person we are dealing with. After discovering the album “Gundam Rock,” and taking a few moments to realize that I was in fact not dreaming, the craziness of it all really sank in, and I realized that Andrew W.K. is probably the world’s most badass nerd... ever.

Char Aznable (The Great)

In my personal opinion the best song from the “Mobile Suit Gundam” soundtrack has always been “Char   the Great,” now I am biased since like most people Char Aznable is my favourite character. Every time   Char appeared in his red Zaku that steady drum beat would play and the trumpet would lead the violins in, and the violins would lead that sassy saxophone in. It was always so cool, the song was a like a quick salsa   instrument in space, and for some reason that really seemed appropriate for Char the “Red Comet.” Again I   am biased but I feel the best song on “Gundam Rock,” is still “Char the Great,” but if I am to share only one song with you it should be the main theme, “Fly Gundam!” I just thought it necessary to give “Char the Great,” an honorable mention.   

“Fly Gundam!” is the main theme from the original Gundam series, and predictably the song is about the Gundam itself. Now like any cover we have to ask if it honoured the original, and Andrew W.K. being the fan that he seems to be has stayed very true to the original, he even pronounces Gundam “Gundamuo” like the original, which is something I’ve never understood, “Mobile Suit Gundam’s” opening theme “Fly Gundam!” has always pronounced the mobile suit as “Gundamuo.” Just the way it sounds works for the song, and it has always been charming in its own silly way, but always a tab bit mysterious, why is the show’s opening theme pronouncing its own title incorrectly? There was a passion in the original that Andrew W.K. has matched in his cover, and sure, it may seem funny for a singer song writer, to get passionate about a robot cartoon, but again that has always been part of the charm, and at this point Andrew W.K. getting excited should be assumed.

Now the second question that needs to be asked of any cover, did Andrew W.K. make the song his own? He translated all the words into English and made it into a hard rock song, enough said right? Those actions are interesting and awesome, and in that order.

Basically all I have to really say is “Andrew W.K. ‘Gundam Rock,’ this exists.” This is the kind of person we are dealing with, and now you know the extremes of Andrew W.K.’s rock craziness.

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

Honorable mention, "Char the Great"

Andrew W.K. - She is Beautiful

Most people know who Andrew W.K. is. He is a hard person to ignore. What with the flailing limps, the wild hair, the rock star status, the screaming vocals, the intense energy, the bizarre motivational speaking tours, with all that, he is quite the character. He one rocks out quite like Andrew W.K.

I remember when Andrew W.K.’s first album “I Get Wet,” came out and people were comparing him to professional wrestler Al Snow. Al Snow and Andrew WK did look somewhat alike, and they were both crazy, but one key difference is that most people actual remember who Andrew W.K is.

After “I Get Wet” come out there was a few years where “Party Hard,” was THE partying song. The crazy thing is “Party Hard,” is really just one of many songs that Andrew W.K. has specifically about partying. It’s really cool someone has found the right amount of intensity to write songs about happier themes, namely partying. On the same album there is also “It’s Time to Party,” and “Party Till You Puke,” other partying songs by Andrew W.K. include “Long Live the Party,” “Big Party,” “Party Music,” and of course “Party, Party, Party,” and those are just the songs that have the word “party” in the title. Which raises the question does he have any happier songs about partying?

Makes me laugh every time.

I also remember when “I Get Wet,” came out how his songs were popping up everywhere. They were in commercials, video games, and movies, and I sort of vaguely remember my favorite Andrew W.K. song “She is Beautiful,” appearing in a variety of films, most of which I never saw but for some reason I remember. Since “She is Beautiful,” is my favorite Andrew W.K. song, let us focus on that one.

I have always loved unorthodox love songs. I think we all adore unorthodox love. It is a very special thing when you can find someone weird in all the same ways as yourself and jives with your own unique strangeness, but if you are thinking like that while hearing “She is Beautiful” then you are over thinking a very simple song. “She is Beautiful” is about one thing, a crazy man roaring about how much he likes a pretty girl. That is a good theme for a song. Out of all the hard rock songs out there few are about telling a girl you like her, not counting ballads of course, but then again most rock ballads are not hard rock songs.

There are probably only a handful of songs in existence that are similar to “She is Beautiful,” a raw love song... no not a love song... “I think you’re pretty” song, that’s a better way of putting it. Basically “She is Beautiful,” is a manly way of rocking out and hitting on a girl at same time. This would be an ideal song to sing to a cute girl at karaoke, in fact that’s a pretty good idea, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner; it’s obvious really. The world could use more songs like that. The world could use more Andrew W.K.

I think if you removed Andrew W.K. from “She is Beautiful,” you would still have a good rock song. The drums are heavy and lead the song well. The opening guitar rift is distinct and memorable, and so are the frills throughout the song. Still this is a good example of the importance of a good front man, Andrew W.K. brings that something special to everything his does, call it intensity, insanity, or both, Andrew W.K. is an awesome dude. Can anyone imagine a more fun front man than Andrew W.K.? There are better front men for sure, and many better singers, but there are few, if any, who rock out as hard and entertain as intensely as Andrew W.K.

Andrew W.K. is a special man who has given us something special to enjoy. I’ll wager few of you know the extremes of Andrew W.K.’s rock craziness, but more on that later this month.

- Colin Kelly