Pat Angello Fan Club Music Blog

Everyone loves cheese! Especially when it’s covered in four-letter words!

Richard Cheese and his band, Lounge Against the Machine, have made a living (OK, secondary income) off of taking pop, rap, and rock tunes and adding a dollop of cheese to turn these classics into lounge music. And I have to say that it’s brilliant!

Aperitif features cheesy versions of:

1) “Me So Horny” (2 Live Crew)
2) “People Equals S***” (Slipknot)
3) “Welcome to the Jungle” (Guns ‘N’ Roses)
4) “Brass Monkey” (Beastie Boys)
5) “Let’s Get it Started” (Black Eyed Peas)
6) “Man in the Box” (Alice in Chains)
7) “Been Caught Stealing” (Jane’s Addiction)
8) “The Girl is Mine” (Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney)
9) “You Ought to Know” (Alanis Morissette)
10) “Enter Sandman” (Metallica)
11) “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (U2)
12) “We are the World” (USA for Africa)
13) “Do Me” (Bell Biv Devoe)
14) “American Idiot” (Green Day)
15) “Add It Up” (Violent Femmes)
16) “Somebody Told Me” (The Killers)

Are you hungry yet? If not, let me tell you why you should be. Cheese has an absolutely incredible voice (other than the drunken last track, which may be an act – who knows!). In fact, my sister-in-law actually thought I was listening to Sinatra when she got in my car the other day! And they also have a knack for adding the classic little touches, much like the brilliant Weird Al. Oh, yeah – Al’s a genius! I’m serious!

I thoroughly enjoy hearing the lounge voice on filthy rap songs like “Me So Horny.” The way RC sings this tune makes you wonder how people ever listened to it in the first place – what an insanely stupid song!

“Welcome to the Jungle” has got to be my favorite song here. I really love the quick “Lion Sleeps Tonight” reference – pay attention! I would have to say that it is perfectly structured and very detailed.

Who doesn’t bark along with the dog at the beginning of “Been Caught Stealing?” Well, Richard can’t seem to get the thing to shut up – hence the unfortunate incident caught during the recording in the studio.

I actually won a contest (this is pretty much an all request CD) for suggesting “Enter Sandman” as I’ve been waiting for the Cheese to do a little Metallica or Megadeth (this is their 4th CD). Adding an Andrew’s Sisters style intro (ala “Mr. Sandman Bring Me a Dream”) is a great way to lighten up a metal song!

I’m convinced “We Are the World” is on here for a quick Michael Jackson/children joke. Oh, and I’m pretty sure “American Idiot” is more of a tribute to Green Day and their Liberal views as RC is a bit on the left side. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!

The only disappointment would have to be “Add It Up” as it never got to the fun “momymomomamamomymum” part. I guess nothing is perfect, but I’m still enjoying every bite of this CD.

One more quick thing I noticed – the fake “other albums” in the record sleeve! I really wish there were 3 more CDs out there, because once you have one piece of cheese, you’ll want more!

You can probably pick up this CD in a decent music store near you, but you may have to ask for it. After trying 3 different sections in one store, an employee pointed me towards the Easy Listening section. Ah, never thought of that! Or, make it easy on yourself and just hit the website.

4 out of 5