Reviewed by Tony Cummings

I've never been much of a fan of cover albums. To my mind there seems little point in covering a song unless an artist is prepared to do radical new things with the arrangement, which seldom happens. This means that the reviewer inevitably compares the new version with the original and the comparison is likely to be unfavourable, particularly when the artist unwisely records a new version of a pop stone classic, as happens here with the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations". In view of my perspective/prejudice, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Jesus music veteran's versions of mainstream love songs. His versions of Ken Mansfields' "Between Wyomings", Elvis' "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" and the Moody Blues' "Voices In The Sky" are all enjoyable while there is some beautiful acoustic work on "Some Days" and some delicious harmonies on "She Sees Me". At times the fact that Phil's voice sounds uncannily like that of Paul McCartney means his covers of the Beatles' come across as somewhat derivative. But one of the original songs here, "Where Are You Love", co-written with daughter Olivia Keaggy, who also contributes some vocals on the track, is one of the strongest songs here which considering the company it keeps on 'The Cover Of Love' is no mean feat.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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