Under The Covers, Vol. 1
|
List Price: Our Price: $8.44 You Save: $7.54 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.92 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Under The Covers, Vol. 1
Free Music Review: Sid and Suzie enjoy themselves with the harmonic Sixties
Hit: 3 Stars
Matthew Sweet has fallen somewhat from the Olympian heights of "Girlfriend" (THE best Rock album since 1990) , "Altered Beast", "100% Fun" and "In Reverse". It good to see him get back in the saddle, or back Under the Covers, as the case may be..
Jazz has Standards - songs that everyone knows, that the players put their individual spin on, and that seems like a great new direction for Rock, when I consider the paucity of new (good) Rock ideas around.
Here he sings with Susanna Hoffs, lead of the Bangles. Well Matt's (and for that matter Susanna's) music always sounded like the sixties, the real thing, the Golden Age of Rock (and Pop). So it was only natural they would go back to this period to redo some favorite oldies. I get the feeling these are very personal favorites - many are classics, perfect for their exaulted harmonies, songs everyone knows "It's all over now, Baby Blue", "Warmth of the Sun" "and your Bird can Sing" "Different Drum" (the Michael Nesmith song that catapulted the Stone Poneys shy backup singer Linda Ronstadt to national attention in '69), "Cinnamon Girl", "Run to Me", "The Kids are All Right". A few are classics to which they bring little new. A few ("Care of Cell 42") leave me scratching my head wondering why they chose them out of the thousands of great sixties songs they could have covered. Some are so obsure, I never heard them, but are refreshing "She May Call You Tonight".
But, all in all, the is more gold than dross.
As you might guess, the CD has wonderful multilayer harmonies. The songs seem to feature Hoffs - there is less true duet or lead by Sweet than I might have expected. Sweet seems to arrange and often sings backup harmonies here, rather than lead.
Matt brings some of his assertive, acidic lead guitarists from previous ventures, eg, Richard Lloyd, and Ivan Julian who add a 60's feel, but Matthew doesn't turn them loose as often as he might, so to be fair, things are occasionally sweet (!). But on "Cinnamon Girl", the song that gets repeated most on the album, Lloyd's screaming, scalded dog of a guitar is finally cut loose. The album is worth it for that track alone.
But all in all it's a great harmonic trip back to the sixties. The center of gravity IS in the harmonies, and better music than either has made for a while. And much more entertaining than the usual stuff on the radio now.
Matt and Susanna (Or Sid and Suzie) seem to REALLY enjoy singing with each other. A good template for Volume 2!
three to four stars under my exrta tough grading system.
BTW, the really popular version of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" was peformed by Judy Collins, in '68, on her wonderful album of the same name, regardless of who wrote the song.
Free Music Review: Sweet music
Hit: 4 Stars
It is quite apparant through UNDER THE COVERS that both Matthew Sweet (Sid) and Susanna Hoffs (Susie) are very fond of 60's music. Obviously because they did this covers album, but the melodies are fun and very similar in arrangement to the originals. They have selected a number of songs from the 60's, some well known, others obscure. Sid and Susie (as they call themselves on this CD) compliment each other quite well! I have to say my favorites are their take on The Stony Poneys "Different Drum" (where Hoffs sounds an awful lot like Linda Ronstadt), Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning", and many more. All of the songs are really enjoyable! Here is hoping and looking forward to Volume 2!Free Music Review: Pop heaven
Hit: 5 Stars
A terrific song selection and excellent performances (with arrangements close enough but not slavishly duplicating the originals) make this my favorite CD of the year so far. Sweet and Hoffs clearly love this music and so do I. Perfect from start to finish. Free Music Review: Wonderful Covers of 60s Pop/Rock Classics
Hit: 5 Stars
Matthew Sweet (of "Girlfriend" fame) and Susanna Hoffs (of The Bangles) team up on this sublime covers collection of 60s and 70s pop and rock classics. A nice surprise is that in additon to well known hits ("The Kids Are Alright" by The Who, for example) they interpret some more obscure songs (The Zombies "Care of Cell 44") and they all sound fantastic . The love and respect that Sweet and Hoffs have for this style of music is evident in the great vocals, arrangements and instrumentation. If you're a fan of this type of music, you'll love this album. Here's hoping for a tour and Vol 2...very soon!Free Music Review: Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - 'Under The Covers,Vol.1' (Shout Factory)
Hit: 3 Stars
A unlikely pair putting out a fifteen track CD of late '60's and early '70's covers.Not bad,for a release as such.Tunes that I dug the most were the sweet sounding(no pun intended)Marmalade's "I See The Rain",Bob Dylan's commonly covered "Baby Blue"(only cut here I didn't like at all),Neil Young&Crazy Horse's "Cinnamin Girl",Love's "Alone Again Or",The Who's rousing "The Kids Are Alright",The Zombie's lesser known "Care Of Cell 44" and their ode to the gone but certainly not forgotten The Mamas&The Papa's "Monday Monday".Check it out for yourself.