The concept of a band releasing an album of covers of its own earlier successes is a little strange. In fact, it might come accross as an admission that your best stuff lies in the past, and that's something that I think most early Blues Traveler fans would agree with.
But I guess, in a way, it might also be a vessel to reinvent yourself. Tap into your roots to try and grow new branches. I probably wouldn't have purchased this album if I hadn't found it second-hand (I didn't even know it had been released!) but I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I enjoyed their last album Bastardos! (though i'll concede that's not saying much...)
Anyway, Cover Yourself is an interesting exercice. Blues Traveler rearranges some of its classic hits (Runaround, Mountains Win Again...) and some slightly more obscure tracks from their back catalog. There's a genuine attempt here to break the mold of these earlier tunes, either by going for a totally different vibe or by changing the tempo completely. Overall, instrumentations are completely reworked.
And I have to say, at the end of the day, I found it quite pleasant. Songs like Mountains Win Again or 100 Years are very very cool in these new versions, the funky vibe in Hook gives it a very different feel from the high-octane original. Overall, the versions are a lot more keyboard heavy than the original (unsurprisingly, as the band didn't have a keyboard player at the time) but also a lot sparser, which I like a lot. Popper's harp playing, incidentally, is not all over the place and shines all the more as a consequence.
So, in summary, not the album of the century for sure, but a pretty cool Blues Traveler album. If you know the originals, you'll be in for a refreshing experience, if you don't, then they're pretty good songs anyway!
Hey, Chuck Berry is still doing the same-o-same-o and getting paid for it. Johnny B Goode is a real classic. Oh, Blues Traveller ... real classic... um... never mind.
Posted by: BS Detector | March 10, 2009 at 02:37 AM