Out Magazine - Julien Tomasello

The queen of growling and groovalicious pop is receiving a tribute fit for royalty. Pete Burns and his band, Dead or Alive, are the subject of Rocket: A Tribute to Dead or Alive. Produced by Irish quartet Empire State Human, the 16-track disc showcases an international selection of synth and electro-pop recording artists as they reinterpret tracks from Dead or Alive’s two-decade oeuvre, from the huge hits to lesser-known gems. The result is an eclectic and electric listening experience that highlights Dead or Alive’s formidable lyrical talents—an aspect of the band that has been overshadowed by frontman Pete Burns’s outrageous gender-bending appearance. When attention is paid to the songs rather than the singer, the music emerges as very accomplished songcraft, especially when the writing is about the gay experience. Particular highlights from Rocket include U.K. artist Astromill’s take on “Isn’t it a Pity,” which she transforms into a delicious female-empowered anthem; American group Tristraum’s beautiful and seductive recreation of “Baby Don’t Say Goodbye” is highlighted to full effect by the group’s androgynous and yearning vocals; and U.K.-based Baxendale’s cover of “Come Home With Me Baby” takes the already-in-your-face sex appeal of the song and mixes it into a fun and funkadelic ode to the one-night stand that would make Burns proud.

Synthpop.net - Jason Baker

This tribute to Dead Or Alive was released as the first release from Section 44 records, coordinated and executive produced by Empire State Human. Dead Or Alive is best known for the hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"
as is apparent quickly on listening to this tribute album, they had many other songs that are just as unforgettable

Astromill launch off the album with "Isn't It A Pity", and this project just continues to impress.My previous encounter with this project was on the last volume of the Electricity series, and the combination of her unusual vocals and this song is a perfect match. The effects added to the vocals in the chorus are perfect. An excellent cover.

Andromeda Rising is a new UK artist who wants to make "commercial pop music with BITE". On this track, the music is very understated, with the vocals being very dominant over the music in the mix, which I am not a fan of at all.
The vocals are done in a sing/speaking hybrid approach that I didn't really care for though, which made it hard for me to enjoy the song.

Audiodoll's demo fell far short of impressing me, but this track makes up a lot of ground for me. "Son Of A Gun" is geared very well towards Andrea Ashdown's vocal style here, and it works really well. That, and the production quality here is much improved over that of her demo album. A well-rendered track that I quite enjoyed.

Baxendale, a UK based band, follow with "Come Home With Me Baby", and while I couldn't find confirmation of this on the Official Dead Or Alive site to know for sure, there is some usage of the F-word on this track. Not sure if it was added by Baxendale or in the original song, though. Other than that matter, I though this was a enjoyable cover (but a bit of a heavy 'glam' feeling to the song).

Fr/Action, the solo project of David Friede (1/2 of Ganymede), contribute a futurepop flavor version of "My Heart Goes Bang", and this cover sounds like it'd fit right onto a album of original Fr/Action material. I vaguely remember the original of this song, and I love this new spin on it!

Heaven Bent, who just recently released their debut album "The Time Is Near", which showed the band's unusual brand of Electro-Gospel music. However, with their rendition of "Hooked On Love" leaves behind the gospel music influences. It's straight electropop, and a good rendition of it, too.

Empire State Human are next with "Special Star", and it's just another excellent track from the band. ESH is working towards the release of their new album "Cycles", and this track is a great preview of the sound of that album. A great track!

Tristraum surprise a little with their cover, with the lead vocals sounding totally different than the other tracks I've heard from them. But the new sound to the vocals is very good.. I like the blend here with Krystyna's backing vocals, but I can't decide for sure who's on lead vocals. Still, it's a great track.

Shadow Valley is the side project of 1/2 of Alpinestars, and this minimalist electropop rendition of "Something In My House" stays just this side of too sparse, musically. The bassline and extra synth work added in about 3 minutes in really improve the track greatly, but the earlier portion of the track just feel too empty and sparse.. the minimal approach was not what was needed here.

The Electroluvs, who have digitally released a album "MK1" through Ninthwave Records, give their interpretation of "What I Want", and this track repeats the mistake of the previous one, and magnifies it. This version of the song is just too stripped down, with a rather canned percussion line and some very simple synth work in the background. Combine that with the almost spoken vocals and I'm left very thankful this one only clocks in at 2 & 1/2 minutes...

The Dignity Of Labour follow, and the version of "In Too Deep" presented here is easily one of the best tracks on this compilation. Lush, melodic and very dancable, this song is simply excellent. No Doubt about it.. this cover is wonderful.
Giallo, whose previous project was Count To Infinity, seems to be perfectly suited for "Sex Drive". Giallo is the more experimental musical outlet for John Giacobello, and he really seems to take this track and make it his own. While I'm not a fan of his work, I have to recognize true talent, and it takes true talent to cover a song and really make it your own.

Spray, probably best known for their "I Am Gothic" single, here a given the unenviable take of covering DOA's biggest hit, "You Spin Me Round". Given that the only previous cover I had heard of this track was No Comment's extremely disappointing rendition on the "New Wave Undercover" compilation, I was wary of another cover of this track. But Spray come through magnificently, with a excellent, faithful cover of the song. Just superb.

Qubiq offer up a very different take on "Black Leather" from Andromeda Rising, with lots of robotically distorted vocals in the chorus and a more straightforward pop approach to both the vocals and music overall. I guess it's easy to see which version I prefer.
Ganymede, with "Lover Come Back To Me", show a lot less influence in the music than I had noticed from their last album from the Fr/action side project. This is pure Ganymede synthpop, with the distinctive vocal style and very melodic lead synth lines you've come to expect from them.

The tribute closes with Royal Visionaries rendering "Stop Kicking My Heart Around", and Royal Visionaries seems to have really found themselves now. Both the vocals and music are top-notch, with Steve doing the best job vocally I've heard from him so far, and the music is also excellent. A great track to close with.

Overall, this is a extremely well put together and compiled tribute. While not all the tracks worked as well as I might have hoped, overall it presents a very solid and respectful tribute. Well worth your time and money, and very recommended!