Neal Morse (vocals, keyboard, guitar), Mike Portnoy (drums, vocals) and Randy George (bass, keyboards) are each widely acclaimed as progressive rock musicians. On their Cover to Cover series, the trio has covered songs from such greats as Paul McCartney, Cream, The Who, Jethro Tull, Steely Dan and many more. Cover to Cover Anthology (Vol. 1-3) brings together all 3 albums, including the brand new Cov3r to Cov3r as well as remastering and resequencing versions of the first two releases, across 3 CDs...

When I review albums I generally put four on my ipod and listen to them on repeat for several listens, before putting them aside while I listen to some other albums, only to return and give them a few more plays before I even consider writing anything. This also means that when I first play them through I have no idea what I'm listening to.

When the first track on this album started, almost the second the vocals started I thought: "This sounds a little too much like a U2 song." It didn't take me too long o fathom that it was 'Where the Streets Have No Name' and that this was a covers album. In fact, Cover To Cover Anthology is a collection of three cover albums by Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Randy George.

As the songs rattled along it was interesting to hear that some were incredibly faithful interpretations, whilst on others they allowed themselves to play around with the format a little.

Blind Faith's 'Can’t Find My Way Home' stood out for me, as I haven't heard it since I watched the movie Fandango back in the '80s and if I'm being honest I wasn't even aware that it was that much of a notable song. I don't think I'd ever heard it before or after seeing the movie.

Over the course of these 36 tracks (2 hr, 58 min, 32 sec) there will be loads of songs you'll love and maybe others that you'll grow to enjoy... but there are definitely more highpoints than low. Personally, I loved this album and I know I'll be enjoying it for years to come.

Track listing:

Cover To Cover:
01. Where The Streets Have No Name (U2)
02. I’m The Man (Joe Jackson)
03. What Is Life? (George Harrison)
04. Badge (Cream)
05. Maybe I’m Amazed (Paul McCartney)
06. Day After Day (Badfinger)
07. Pleasant Valley Sunday (The Monkees)
08. Tuesday Afternoon (The Moody Blues)
09. Can’t Find My Way Home (Blind Faith)
10. I’m Free / Sparks (The Who)
11. Where Do The Children Play (Cat Stevens)
12. Feelin’ Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
13. Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)

Cover 2 Cover:
01. (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love & Understanding (Elvis Costello)
02. Lido Shuffle (Boz Scaggs)
03. Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)
04. Driven To Tears (The Police)
05. Come Sail Away (Styx)
06. Rikki Don’t Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
07. Lemons Never Forget (The Bee Gees)
08. The Letter (Joe Cocker)
09. I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
10. Teacher (Jethro Tull)
11. Southern Man/Needle And The Damage Done/Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young)
12. Starless (King Crimson)

Cov3r To Cov3r:
01. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Yes)
02. Hymn 43 (Jethro Tull)
03. Life On Mars (David Bowie)
04. Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
05. It Don’t Come Easy (Ringo Starr)
06. Baby Blue (Badfinger)
07. One More Red Nightmare (King Crimson)
08. Black Coffee In Bed (Squeeze)
09. Tempted (Squeeze)
10. Runnin’ Down A Dream (Tom Petty)
11. Let Love Rule (Lenny Kravitz)

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Nick Smithson