Meandering - A review of Queensrÿche's Take Cover

Cover albums can be quite hit and miss and coming from a band such as versatile American rock and metal group Queensrÿche, the quality on display might even be more meandering than usual. This is certainly the case here as Take Cover includes highlights, fillers and dreadful tunes in almost perfectly balanced parts.

As for the highlights, a very positive surprise is the atmospheric, progressive and variable ''Red Rain'', originally performed by the great Peter Gabriel. The airy guitar play, playful bass guitar, tight drumming and emotional vocals harmonize perfectly here.

Among the filler material, one could for instance cite the band's take on Queen's ''Innuendo''. The musicianship is techically decent here and singer Geoff Tate is trying to make the song his own with his unique timbre and flow. However, he certainly isn't as charismatic and unique as Freddie Mercury and the muddy effects on the vocals are also somewhat nerve-firing.

The most dreadful tune on this output is the closing live cover of U2's ''Bullet the Blue Sky''. That's not only due to the fact that said band is one of the most overrated rock bands ever in my opinion that usually releases about two or three great songs per album with the rest of the tracks being adult-oriented ballads aiming for radio airplay. To make matters worse, the version included here breaks the ten-minute mark and essentially features a hysterical spoken-word section by Geoff Tate that makes you wonder whether he was either having an emotional breakdown while performing or under the influence of some weird substances. Calling this version creative doesn't save it from being plain annoying.

As for the record's general values, the production is overall organic and rich. The vocals sound powerful and the drums come out quite energetically as well. The guitar play could have needed some oomph here and there and sounds a little bit dry. A special shoutout goes to the cool cover artwork that I would love to get as a flag or poster.

At the end of the day, Take Cover would have been a decent addition to the special edition of a regular studio album, compilation or boxed set. On its own however, this album is good average with a balanced mixture of great tunes, average tracks and disappointing cuts. I would only recommend this release to avid collectors and fans of the band. If you haven't listened to this, you certainly haven't missed much.

Final rating: 60%