Where's Neil when We Need Him?: A Tribute to Neil Gaiman

Where's Neil When We Need Him?, released by Dancing Ferret Discs on July 18, 2006, is listed many places as being by Neil Gaiman, but, in actuality, the CD is a compilation of songs about Neil Gaiman's writing. Several of the songs are by bands signed to Dancing Ferret, but the majority of the songs come from bands who are not on that label. What the bands do have in common is an appreciation for the work of Neil Gaiman.

Songs on the album make reference to many of Gaiman's novels, including Coraline, American Gods, Stardust, and, of course, the Sandman series of comics. For those unfamiliar with Gaiman's writing, the liner notes, written by Neil Gaiman and Patrick Rodgers, the producer of this album, provide a guide to the specific works that the songs are referencing.

It is hard to pick a favorite song off of this album, especially when the artists involved include so many of my personal favorite bands. "You Better Leave the Stars Alone," by Ego Likeness, is near the top of my list of favorites, particularly special to me because it is a song about Stardust, one of my favorite Neil Gaiman novels. I also recently got to see Ego Likeness play live, at Dragon*Con 2006, and their performance of this song during their show was a wonderful treat for me.

The Crüxshadows' contribution to the compilation, "Wake the White Queen," references "Mirrormask," a film written by Neil Gaiman, which was released in 2005. This song neatly summarizes the plot of the movie in the Crüxshadows' typical danceable style. Voltaire, along with his band, The Oddz, contributes "Come Sweet Death," one of the songs about The Endless of Gaiman's Sandman series. Death has always been my favorite character of the series, and combining her natural charm with Voltaire's voice makes this song nearly perfect in my book.

"Raven Star," performed by Lunascape, is another song about Stardust, and another one of my favorites. And though I haven't had a chance to read Gaiman's books The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish or The Wolves in the Walls yet, the songs "Trader Boy" by Tapping the Vein and "We Won't Go" by Hungry Lucy both are great songs by their respective bands, doing a fine job of making me more intrigued about the books to which they refer.

One of the best surprises of the album is "Coraline" by Rose Berlin. According to Rodgers' liner notes, the track was originally meant to be performed by the band Curve, but as the vocalist for Curve was on hiatus when the song was due to be recorded, the songwriter, Dean Garcia, instead brought in his teenage daughter to perform the song. After hearing this track, I can only hope that Rose Berlin will continue her singing career, whether her songs are about Neil Gaiman's works or other topics.

Two of the songs, "Magda Treadgolds Märchen" by Schandmaul and "Vandemar" by Joachim Witt, are entirely in German (as are their websites), but even for non-speakers of that language, the songs still carry some value, if nothing else for the mood they inspire. In both cases, the language of the song is entirely appropriate to the topics at hand.

While many lesser known bands are featured on this CD, a few bigger names have made their way onto the album as well. Rasputina gives us "Coraline," a song about the book of the same name, and Tori Amos' song "Sister Named Desire" was remastered for this CD. This is not surprising, given Tori Amos and Neil Gaiman's long-standing friendship. (In fact, the title of the album was taken from a Tori Amos song, "Space Dog.") Hopefully Where's Neil When We Need Him? will help some of the lesser known acts receive the recognition that they deserve.