Heros

When thinking of celebrities, music, and charitable causes, it becomes difficult to not utter "Michael Jackson" and "We are the World" under the same breath, and then quickly forget about it. While we love that celebrities use their star power and dollars to change the world, it simply falls flat. Like any rule, there are always exceptions, and Heroes, presented by War Child, a charitable cause benefiting children affected by the brutalities of war, proves such a counterfactual claim. Heroes arose here in Canada, featuring album art by Stone Roses guitar legend John Squire, whose other artwork includes the iconic posters, singles, and album covers of his own band.

War Child, with assistance from David Bowie and Sir Paul McCartney, helped gather star power and concentrate it into one album. The sheer energy behind Heroes is unprecedented - the 16 groups involved and supporting the project have a combined global album sales number of over 1.4 billion. And it goes without saying that the quality of artists and song is stupendous; the musical substance of Heroes consists of some of the world's biggest artists performing some of music history's biggest songs.

Opening with Leonard Cohen's "Take This Waltz" performed by none other than his son, Adam Cohen, the synthesis of old-meets-new proves to be only good. Most of the other tracks have a decidedly post-punk electronic and indie flavour, which guarantees that you'll have never heard Iggy Pop's "Search and Destory" or David Bowie's "Heroes" quite done in this manner before. Personal favourites include Welsh singer Duffy's cover of Sir Paul's "Live and Let Die", done in a soul/motown tradition; Hot Chip's (relatively) upbeat rendition of Joy Division's "Transmissions"; and The Like's version of Elvis Costello's "You Belong to Me", which remains just as dance-able as ever.

Overall, the variation of styles remains richer than the variation of artists mainly from the UK. But the songs themselves are instantly recognizable, and not butchered by any "artistic liberties" or overproduction. Moreover, the differing genres throughout the album remain balanced, like a good mix tape. I urge you, don't download this one - all proceeds go towards War Child Canada's efforts to give humanitarian aid in the form of education, trauma healing, and skill training in war-torn states in the Middle East and Africa. War Child's Heroes, and its cause, is worth every penny.