Sadly, the tribute album has gone from being an honor bestowed upon an artist complimenting their brethren to a cash cow market ripe with no-name imitators and studio musicians churning out marginal renditions of artists' catalogs (often with just a debut album to go on for material) at breakneck pace. Thankfully, this tribute to
Sublime bucks that trend and the rewards pay off tenfold. An impressively diverse cast of musicians from a wide range of styles and genres participate, showing just how much
Sublime's music transcends classification and direct pinpoint influences. Hip-hop (represented brilliantly by
Michael Franti and
Spearhead's "What I Got"), Latin (
Ozomatli,
los Lobos), indie rock (
Mike Watt,
Camper Van Beethoven), and funk-rock (
G. Love,
Fishbone) make up just some of the artists whose contributions are nothing short of stellar. It's a fitting tribute to a band whose time in the spotlight was so painfully cut short, but whose influence and impact will be measured for generations of punk fans to come.
–
Rob Theakston, Rovi