Artist: Queensryche 
   Title: Take Cover
   Label: Rhino Records

Now it’s the turn of Queensryche to bring out their covers album, but at least they’ve given it a title that slightly hints at what they’ve done.

It makes a change to get a real diverse mixture of songs ranging from Black Sabbath to an Italian operatic of all things, the band giving the songs their best shot with some working, some not quite hitting the mark, probably leaving their fans scratching their heads in confusion.

Opening with ‘Welcome To The Machine’, you can easily guess it’s a Pink Floyd track due to the distinctive drumming and saxophone that Floyd tend to use lately along with its drawn out guitar solo and glum lyrics. I’d like to think Messrs. Gilmour and Waters would be quite pleased with the outcome, though what their fans would think…

Now its not everyday rock band do songs from musicals, so it’s a bit of an eyebrow raiser with their version of ‘Heaven On Their Minds’ taken from the classic ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, which the band have done as if its always been a run of the mill rock track!  With Michael Wilton and Mike Stone giving an up to date sound via guitars and drummer Scott Rockenfield doing his Chad Smith (of RHCP) touch throughout, proving that the song as a whole wouldn’t be out of place on a ‘normal’ Queensryche album, it’s that good.

As the album goes on with ‘For What It’s Worth’ (Buffalo Springfield) and funky rock sounding ‘For The Love Of Money’ (The O’Jays), the more Geoff Tate’s style of singing begins to sound like the missing link between rock and the late crooner Anthony Newley to me! Sorry Q. fans.

There’s no mistaking the intro to Queen’s ‘Innuendo’ with the military drumming before crashing into dual guitar work making the song sound heavier than the original though the Spanish sounding section of the song is almost perfect, so full marks for that. Freddie would be a happy man with the resulting version.

Possibly the closest cover done to the original is The Police’s ‘Synchronicity II’, though again Tate’s vocals just don’t do it for me personally, but one thing proven by this version is how much of a good rock song the original was even though it’s supposed to be one of The Police’s weakest in their day, so on the other hand just what can be said about the operatic ‘Odissea’? Maybe, why? ... It is so far away from what fans would maybe expect. I think it’s a track that should be skipped over time and again, even though it’s only just over three and a half minutes long.

Talking of long, ‘Bullet In The Blue Sky’, the only live song on the album goes on and on and on…to the point where if I had hair, I’d be pulling it out by the roots, it’s that monotonous.

Sorry lads but not the perfect way to end the album even though I’d say it’s one of the better covers albums around at the moment due to the choice of some of the songs, so as per usual I wouldn’t be surprised if only the most die hard Queensryche fans added this to their CD collection.

*Review by Bob

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.