Cover to Cover Anthology Vol. 1-3

One of the things that I like the most about a covers album is usually the mix of songs that I have some familiarity with and songs that are essentially new to me. The “Cover To Cover” series fits snugly into that bed by giving minor tweaks to their covers but usually hewing close to the original. Songs such as U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name”, Styx’s “Come Sail Away”, and Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street” are all personal favorites of mine and though the MPG covers here are fine none come out IMO as better takes on those songs. But one thing does come through clearly and that is that Neal Morse, who supplies the majority of lead vocals across all 3 covers albums, is a bit of a vocal chameleon; he matches pitches and surprisingly often sounds like the artist he’s covering while keeping his distinct tones. I’ve only encountered one other artist who has those chameleonic vocal qualities (only moreso) and that is Michael Roe of the 77’s. On this anthology there are probably more songs that I am unfamiliar with and so can’t compare with the original. But there’s nothing that they have covered that has made me interested in diving into the original and that’s too bad. But there are some happy accidents (or intentions) here too. Some songs go together in cracking fashion and on disc 1 we are treated to 3 songs in a row that play off each other fantastically well with The Monkees’ “Pleasant Valley Sunday” followed by what feels like its sister in the Moody Blues’ “Tuesday Afternoon” which caresses into Blind Faith’s “Find My Way Back Home”. Each song, brilliant in its own right, is bolstered by its placement order against the one before. This just doesn’t happen enough on most albums so is a delight here and whenever one comes across it.Another thing that is appreciated about this collection is that drummer Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater) has taken the time to write a brief explanation of how or why each song was chosen, a thought or two about it or the recording process, and an identification of the original artist. It’s not surprising that this trio would cover a Cream or King Crimson or Yes song but it’s a little surprising that they cover an Osmond’s or Bee Gees song! As the saying goes—variety is the spice of life! There are several guest musicians throughout like Phil Keaggy, Paul Gilbert, and Jim Hoke so check out to see if one your favorites makes an appearance.

Discs 2 and 3 are fine. Disc 1 on track #9 "Find My Way Back Home" has a scratchy sound from 1:35-6:49 (the end of that track). This noise is not in the 2006 release of the Cover To Cover album. It may not bother you (it bothered me terribly) but at least you have been warned. I have contacted the record label who says it's in the master. Shame on the label for releasing this! Other than that one track the rest of the disc is fine as are discs 2 & 3.

What a great cover anthology it’s almost like finding some of the songs for the very first time and greatly appreciating other songs on this collection really fresh excellent creative fun My favorites pleasant valley Sunday kicks my ass Baker Street is unbelievable and I saw the light Todd Rundgren really cool versions

Este paquete de covers musicales respecta mucho a los temas originales! La selección en general de los temas es muy variado pero en general muy bueno. Esta paquete conviene porque incluye los 3 CD's de Covers, con un costo inmejorable. Muy recomendable para todos los amantes de la música de este genio llamado Neil M!!!!

Never heard of any of these previously,despite being a fan of covers albums if done right. Only loses a star for there being too many 80's British pop songs from bands I'd never want to collect. Rate it 5 stars for musicianship all day long. Suspect will hit the skip button a lot in future unless happily playing in background. Prog is surprisingly sparse over these discs, but there are many fine moments when the band are really on fire, particularly when the tracks go over 6 minutes. Was surprised by Can't Find My Way Home which blew my mind and showed the quality of these guys.Great versions of TULL/N.YOUNG/CRIMSON/PETTY/BOWIE and THE WHO. Noticeable that first album uses mainly Morse on lead/backing vocals but by the 3rd there are harmony vocals that might make you join in with.

This is just brilliant! I already had the first of MPG's covers CDs and that one has been resequenced and remastered in this package. Not sure that the resequencing was necessary, and the remastering isn't particularly amazing, as the CD sounded great in the first place, but the whole package is a superb collection of prog, rock, pop, and a couple of soul tinged tunes, with consistently fine playing (as expected), and it sounds like the band had real fun making these.There are a couple of flies in the ointment. The inclusion of The Police's Driven To Tears, which is probably one of their weakest tracks (in my opinion), is a mystery to me, as there are far better Police songs they could have covered, and the last track on CD3, a cover of Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz ends the collection with a bit of a damp squib, especially following the frenetic penultimate track, Tom Petty's Running Down A Dream, which would have ended the collection on a much exhilarating note.That said, as a package, this is instantly likeable, even if you've never heard of any of the artists involved. There really is something for everyone here.

Very enjoyable selection of seventies rock and prog classics but also well known songs from other genres including even a random Squeeze cover! I especially love the kicking version of The Osmond's Crazy Horses , Boz Skaggs Lido Shuffle and Bowies Life On Mars and there is so much more besides. You may expect there to be more 'prog' than there is but for me it wasn't a problem. There is also a nice booklet where they give their reasons for the song selections. Worth having.

Musicianship excellent. Production superb. Value good.I like the proggy stuff from these guys more, but a change is as good as a rest. I even can put up with Neal Morse banging on about his religionThis set of disks does remind me of a 1970’s wedding reception though.. hey ho silver lining anyone?