Mike Onesko - Re-covered (CDr pro)

Mike Onesko has released a buch of albums on his own, as well as with Blind Side Blues Band. There has been the occasional cover on his previous albums, but as the title may suggest, this one is all about that. The album starts off with two Robin Trower interpretations, the usual suspects I would say - ”Day of the Eagle” and ”Bridge of Sighs”. Mike doesn’t really stray away too far from the originals and even though I really like Mike as a guitarist, he unfortunately doesn't (and, well, not many) come close to Trower. The vocals are kick-ass, though. Steppenwolf’s ”Sookie Sookie” gets a solid makeover and he does a really fat and chunky updated version of Arthur Brown’s ”Fire”, where the vocals are instead a slightly weak link. I also like the chugging arrangement of The Beatles’ ”Elenor Rigby”. The cover of The Motels ”Only the Lonely”, to me, feels a little out of place with its semi-soft standard rock feel. Really good vocals by Angela Onesko, though. Odd choice of a cover methinks. Cream’s ”SWLABR” is more in line with the rest and is a great and solid offering. When doing a cover album I always try to avoid the obvious bar band cover songs recorded a zillion times. Well, Mike doing Hendrix ”Hey Joe” proves he doesn’t share that philosophy. A good effort, but I do wonder why? ”Wishing Well” is another standard, done true to the original. Led Zeppelin’s ”No Quarter” is not your average bar band cover, even though it has been quite frequently interpreted, and Mike does do a solid version of it, here with Jeff Martin handling the vocals, embracing his inner Plant. The album is a really good effort, no doubt, but I must admit I would have liked to see more unexpected covers, or at least some more daring arrangements. Maybe next time?

Janne Stark

Label: Jib Machine Records

Year: 2017

Country: USA