Track 1-I Am the Walrus-Great remake. Yes Gowan sounds more comfortable with this song. I guess covering Lennon is better suited for his vocal style than covering Dennis.
Track 2-I Can See For Miles-True to the original. One of the few songs that I had even heard of before BBT. Tommy does a good job with it, but his vocals are overpowered by the instrumentation. Sort of a shame actually, since Tommy's voice is so distinctive and has held up well over the years.
Track 3-Can't Find My Way Home-MUCH better and clearer vocals from Tommy on this one. Nice acoustic guitar work. One of the few mellow tracks on the album. A good song, but not a great one. Still overall a nice track.
Track 4-It Don't Make Sense (You Can't Make Peace)-Sit down everyone...GREAT vocals from JY. Yes, I actually said that. Not the best song to cover, but with JY's signature singing and the style of the guitar solo in the middle of the song, this song honestly sounds like it could have been on Crystal Ball or Equinox. I kid you not. (See I can give credit to JY, when credit is due.)
Track 5-I Don't Neen No Doctor-If you are looking for a song that RAWKS, this is it! Gowan shines on this one, perhaps his best vocals ever. One of the few on this album that are going to the Ipod.
Track 6-One Way Out-Good version, nothing daring which if you like the Allman Brothers version, you'll like this one.
Track 7-A Salty Dog-When I listened to BBT for the very first time, I tried to pick out which songs were the type that grab you from the start and stick with you. This was that song. Second best Gowan vocal ever. (would go on the Ipod, but I use it to run and would need to stop and sit down for this one). Not the greatest song ever mind you, but about as good as you can get within the limits of the original.
Track 8-Summer in the City-You've heard the original, so you've heard this one. Insert Tommy's vocals and amplify the guitars and you've got this song. Not too bad overall.
Track 9-Manic Depression-Didn't like the original, this song makes it 2 for 2. For me, the first stumble on the album. Gonna hit the skip button with this one. I know some people rave this one, but it ain't my cup o' joe.
Track 10-Talkin' About the Good Times-This may be the most interesting song on the album. There really isn't a true lead vocalist. Tommy and Larry use harmony vocals the ENTIRE song. Makes for a really original sound. I would say that Larry is slightly more dominant, but you can hear Tommy throughout.
Track 11-Locomotive Breath-Solid JY vocals on a song I don't like. I don't blame JY, I blame the song itself. Once again not one I would have chosen to cover.
Track 12-Find the Cost of Freedom-Nice Harmony vocals, boring song. See track 11 statement. Fortunately its barely over a minute long.
Track 13-Wishing Well-Strong Tommy vocals + Good song = Heavy rotation in the car.
Track 14-Blue Collar Man @ 2120-Not the radical departure that I expected. However, since I own it almost 10 times on various live, hits and studio albums, at least this time I got a version that I didn't already have.
Overall a solid record. Musically and Vocally strong. Not the material I would have liked to hear them do, but that's me. Not as strong as Cyclorama, but worth the $7.95 and then some. If you are on the fence, fall to the side of picking it up.
Scott
