Album a Day (EP Edition): Emilie Autumn - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun & Bohemian Rhapsody Double Feature EP

No slam on Lady Gaga, but those in the Goth/Industrial scene know that what Gaga is doing is basically what artists in their realm have been doing for years. In fact, I'd say the "real" Lady Gaga is someone closer to the scene's own Emilie Autumn who has been pushing the boundaries for years and displays the level of talent that Gaga showed on Saturday Night Live (when she turned off the techno and just sang with a piano) on a constant basis. This isn't to say I'd like to compare Emilie Autumn to Lady Gaga as I think it should be the other way around since Autumn is certainly the more talented of the two. Emilie Autumn was labeled a prodigy at age 9 and left music school at 14 because of disagreements with the school over her non-traditional ways, showing her early penchant for rule-breaking that is displayed on this wonderful EP. Normally an established artist like Autumn might release a cover as a b-side or the main track on a single but with a few original tracks. While there are a few originals here (and good ones at that), Autumn puts two covers at the forefront of the disc with Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, and just for kicks there's also a third cover in the form a live version of The Smiths' Asleep. Both of the main cover songs on the album are really good and I love the bold choice that Autumn makes by covering two songs that are not only popular but so closely associated with the artists that originally played them that ot only can it be risky to attempt but in the case of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody just technically challenging to play. Though Bohemian Rhapsody is the more difficult of the two, Autumn really shows off her vocal skills when belting out the main chorus of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. You do begin to wonder why the choice of these covers. I think in the case of Girls Just Wanna Have fun it makes plenty of sense given Autumn's love affair with music and just wanting to be able to do it on her own terms. I suppose you could also point to Bohemian Rhapsody for the similar qualities that Autumn likes in her own music including classical elements, lyrical showmanship, etc but I think there's also something in the lyrical content that drew Autumn in (perhaps something worth exploring in a future interview were that to happen). In addition to the original cover of the Lauper classic there are four remixes with the standouts being the Asylum Remix by Inkydust and the Teatime Remix by Autumn herself. Both versions give the song more of traditional club feel which can be nice just for throwing down if you're DJing. Both versions are good but I lean more towards the Autumn remix because of the great snare drum about two-thirds of the way through the song. I'm not a huge fan of the live Smiths cover just because its so short that don't really have time to get in to it but I think it serves well as an intro to the live original song, Mad Girl, that follows it. These two tracks probably should have been one similar to the Suffer The Little Children/Hell Is For Children medley from Pat Benatar's "Live on Earth" album. The other original song on the album, Gentleman Aren't Nice, is a really great quintessential cabaret song from Autumn and is a nice counter-point to girls just wanting to have fun (a good note to end on). Favorite Tracks: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Bohemian Rhapsody, Mad Girl (Live), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Teatime Remix by EA), Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Asylum Remix by Inkydust), and Gentlemen Aren't Nice