WHO ARE THEY? A veteran crew of German alt-metal rockers — none of whom is named Emil Bulls (supposedly, the handle actually comes from a children’s movie).
WHAT IS THIS? Their dozenth album and first covers set, a weird flex that features revved-up-revamps of unexpected fare like Destiny’s Child’s Survivor, Taylor Dayne’s Tell It To My Heart, Bruno Mars’ Grenade and even The Weeknd’s The Hills.
WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE? A miracle of modern German engineering — and the coolest covers collection since Weezer’s Teal Album. No bull.
WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER TITLE FOR THIS ALBUM? BullsHits.
HOW SHOULD I LISTEN TO IT? With somebody who doesn’t know what they’re in for — and who has a good sense of humour.
WHAT 10 WORDS DESCRIBE IT? Unusual, inspired, ambitious, grand, aggressive, craggy, thundering, massive, intense, distinctive.
WHAT ARE THE BEST & WORST SONGS? The Killers’ Mr. Brightside, Genesis’ Jesus He Knows Me and — talk about striking while the iron is hot — Billie Eilish’s You Should See Me in a Crown all hold up beneath their metallic coating; on the downside, Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell really didn’t need to be recast as a power ballad.
WHAT WILL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY THINK? ‘Why?’ The answer, of course, is: ‘Why not?’
HOW OFTEN WILL I LISTEN TO THIS? Whenever you want to laugh at a metal band that isn’t Steel Panther.
IF THIS ALBUM WERE AN OMELETTE, WHAT KIND OF OMELETTE WOULD IT BE? Imitation crab and Velveeta.
SHOULD I BUY, STREAM OR STEAL? It’s worth a few bucks. Of course, it’s not like they wrote these songs or anything.
