GRANT LEE PHILLIPS - Nineteeneighties Review

Covers albums generally rank next to "greatest hits played live" releases as easy ways for a band to fill out its catalog without trying all that hard. That bad rap is mostly deserved, because most musicians think plugging in and playing some old favorites is good enough. Instead, that approach usually just exposes how short they fall of the legends that inspired them. Still, there are happy exceptions like Grant-Lee Phillips' Nineteeneighties....full text Nineteeneighties is Grant-Lee Phillips' homage to his musical heroes. An LP of covers in the style of David Bowie's Pin Ups. As the title suggests it's a tour around the 1980s with a pronounced slant towards old school indie rock. Now cover versions are odd beasts: much like plumbing in a sink, they are more complex and difficult to carry off than they first appear. They are slippery and it's almost impossible to tell which ones will succeed and which will fail....full text Give it a chance. You won't regret it. ...full text