Innovative, yet slightly scary
John Holderried | Queens, NY United States | 02/18/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"There are two types of Beatles covers - ones that try to duplicate the performance of the Fab Four, and the ones adapted into the styles of the cover artists. Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" is one example of the latter, and in his liner notes, Peter Lipa even credits Joe Cocker's rendition as his inspiration.
Lipa's covers of Beatles songs are wildly innovative, and since he picked some relatively obscure songs like "Misery" and "No Reply", in some cases it may take you a while to recognize them. In addition to the jazz backing tracks he's added new phrasings, and his trademark scats and even growls.
Unfortunately, his Slovakian accent and somewhat strange style has an unintended effect on a love song like "I've Just Seen a Face" or "I Saw Her Standing There - they sounded to me like they were being sung by a stalker. "Got to Get You Into My Life" and "I Wanna Be Your Man" also become a little creepy in his style. The picture on the album cover doesn't help."