Various Artists – Machine Shop Mixtape Vol. 1

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I head about Machine Shop Mixtape Vol. 1. Sure, it had some good bands on it, but the fact that it was all mixed by DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill I thought the songs would be mixed. I figured hearing songs from bands like Pennywise, Papa Roach, No Warning and Mudvayne all chopped up and really mixed might sound pretty cool. So i picked it up to give it a try, but what I got instead was just a regular old compilation album.

Because when it all comes down to it, Machine Shop Mixtape Vol. 1 is just simply a rock compilation CD with a wide selection of well known bands like Team Sleep, Stutterfly, Jack’s Mannequin, Audioslave, Vaux, Mudvayne, Funeral For A Friend, Motion City Soundtrack, Dredg and Staind. The songs themselves are not mixed, rather they are just the same songs you would hear on the artist’s album. The only song that is evidently mixed slightly is Pennywise‘s Disconnected – and that’s only by adding some effects in the background during the breaks. Instead, DJ Muggs put his skills to use in between the songs by adding little intros and outros to each song. Sometimes its talking, like the band introducing the song or the CD or something. But for the most part, he has added little effects in the background, ending one song and leading it to the other. Normally, he takes sounds from real machines shops: banging, clanging and crashing; and occasionally have these digitalized female voices that sound really cool. These little effects do help the CD flow nicely as it kind of gives a more “live radio” feel to it all.

But the fact that that’s the main selling point of the compilation is somewhat weak. It’s not something that will make you really want to go and buy the next volume of the compilation. Because its interesting, but not that big of a role. It would’ve been better if DJ Muggs went the extra step and actually mixed the songs.

Nevertheless, once you get past everything with DJ Muggs, you get to what the compilation really comes down to: the songs. Really, Machine Shop has picked a nice range of easily accessible radio friendly rock bands on here with an odd few more adventurous or less known bands here and there. So the final verdict is this: if you like radio friendly rock, then you’ll like this album. Then again, it is free (from street teamers at certain concerts and colleges), so there really is no harm in grabbing yourself a copy if you can.