When I first heard about this album and idea, recreating Beatles tracks with a crazy line up, I was excited. However, I was saddened to find that there is only one Beatles track and the other is a John Lennon song. There is also a Bob Dylan cover, but I was thinking that this album would be a lot different than it turned out to be.
You have to hand it to Herbie Hancock, he got a lot of talented people to contribute to this album and he flew all over the world to record with them as well. For example we have: P!NK, Seal, Jeff Beck, John Legend, India.Arie, Susan Tedeschi, K’Naan, Ceu, Derek Trucks, The Chieftains, Los Lobos and Dave Matthews. Each artist adds their own touch to the songs. Sometimes it feels like there are too many people contributing to the song and some of the pieces lack a little bit.
I have to say that my least favorite track is the cover of “Tomorrow Never Knows” which features Dave Matthews on vocals. The original is practically shouted when Lennon performs it, but Dave seems to make too mellow and monotone. If he added some of his flair, I would have enjoyed it much more. I do like the version of “Imagine” with P!NK on vocals, she does well on the songs she sings here. For the most part a lot of these songs are lost in a meandering state; if they were stretched out longer they may have sounded better.
Since I dig Herbie, and I’ll be seeing him in Lowell in a few weeks, I’m going to tell you to borrow this from the library since it isn’t his best but it is a good idea. Some highlights: “Imagine”, “Tempo De Amor”, “La Tierra”, and “A Change is Gonna Come”.
