Description
With huge stretches of the original iconic U.S. highway Route 66 that runs 3940 kilometers from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, now replaced by more modern freeways and left for dead, Route 66 exists mostly in legend. Despite this, the magical allure of this road that once represented freedom to an entire generation still remains strong around the world, as evidenced by this collection of ten cover songs by The Boyscout (also known as Yugoslavian expatriot German guitarist and singer Manuel Mijalkovski) and a stellar line-up of guests. The track listing reads like a mix tape of great rocking road songs: Steppenwolf’s biker classic Born To Be Wild; Poison’s Ride The Wind; Bob Seger’s Turn The Page; the iconic Route 66 itself, Foreigner’s Juke Box Hero and more. Likewise, the guest singers are a wish list for many: Bonfire’s Claus Lensmann, Michael Voss of Mad Max and Bonfire, Jeff Scott Soho, Paul Shortino, Rainbow’s Tony Carey and Oliver Hartmann of Avantasia, amongst others. It’ll always be difficult to live up to the legendary songs on offer, but The Boyscout does a good job of pulling it all together: it’s a frivolity for sure, but solid performances all round make this a very enjoyable frivolity – much like any hour spent with an above average covers band. The special edition of this album comes with The Boyscout’s previous album, Blood Red Rose – A Rock Fantasy, which is another slickly produced, enjoyable melodic rock outing. Mijalkovski isn’t the strongest vocalist in the world (a cover of White Lion’s When The Children Cry is particularly grating), so it’s a pleasant respite when highlights Blood Red Rose and Hey… I Love You come up, featuring Amanda Somerville and Robin Beck respectively.
Track list:
1. Born To Be wild-feat. Claus Lessmann
2. Ride The Wind-feat. Michael Voss
3. Turn The Page
4. Because The Night-feat. Linda Lulka
5. Get Your Kicks On Route 66-feat. Jeff Scott Soto
6. Wheel In The Sky-feat. Paul Shortino
7. No Easy Way Out
8. Take It Easy-feat. Tony Carey
9. Juke Box Hero-feat. Oliver Hartmann
10. Hallelujah
Disc 2: Blood Red Rose A Rock Fantasy
1. Sexy Taxi Driver
2. Blood Red Rose (Single Edit) (feat. Amanda Somerville)
3. Will We Ever Make It Through The Night
4. Little Lie
5. Look At Me Now
6. I’ll Be There For You
7. Caroline
8. When The Children Cry
9. Hey… I Love You-feat. Robin Beck
10. Bikers Feeling
11. Angel
12. Blood Red Rose – A Rock Fantasy-feat. Amanda Somerville