When two of progressive music’s biggest names and one of the genre’s best unsung bass players released their first Cover to Cover project in 2006, drummer Mike Portney wrote this in the liner notes: “No matter how old I get or how much success I’ve had … I still LOVE playing covers.” That sentiment still rings true 14 years later.
The trio of singer/multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic), Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater, Sons of Apollo) and bassist Randy George (Ajalon) has packaged its third collection of classic rock covers from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s — cleverly titled Cov3r to Cov3r — in a special three-disc set featuring 36 songs recorded during sessions for several of Morse’s solo albums. The original Cover to Cover and its follow-up, Cover 2 Cover, have both undergone remastering and resequencing. The first volume leans heavily on post-Beatles tunes and songs by such likely suspects as David Bowie and The Moody Blues, while the second volume includes less obvious and more obscure selections from The Osmonds and Bee Gees. Cov3r to Cov3r, meanwhile, bounces from prog (King Crimson’s “One More Red Nightmare”) to pop (a double dose of Squeeze) to a giddy, off-the-hook version of Gerry Rafferty’s timeless “Baker Street.”
It also is the first installment in the covers project to feature guest vocalists. Current Yes front man Jon Davison sings that band’s “No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed,” and Portnoy’s daughter, Melody, duets with her dad on Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy.” These guys are fans as well as world-class musicians, and you can hear their passion in these faithful yet inventive interpretations. (Cov3r to Cov3r also is available as a standalone release.)
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