Andy McCoy is definitely one of the least heralded and underrated guitarists out there. Well, the same applies to his former band Hanoi Rocks; an outfit that it doesn’t get the credit is so rightfully deserves. Having said that, McCoy is a musician that always followed his artistic instinct without paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to the commercial aspect of the product. He has that cool breeze that surrounds him which is so reminiscent of his idol Keith Richards. So, it’s not surprising the fact that McCoy decided to release a covers-album and not only this, but it took it to another level by including an eclectic bunch of songs.
McCoy recorded some of his favorite (yet vastly unknown to the rock fans) tunes thus making the whole venture even more obscure. The truth is that nowadays nobody pays real attention to an album that contains renditions of other songs. Secondly, this specific album comes from a rock guitarist with a specific fan base and it is rather unsuitable to include songs by such diverse artists from other genres like Toots & The Maytals (reggae), Squeeze (80s power pop), Wanda Jackson (rockabilly), Don Williams (country) etc. Luckilly there is a rock oasis as McCoy pays tribute to Phil Lynott, Iggy Pop, David Bowie but that’s not enough really to save the day.
I totally respect McCoy’s need for artistic freedom. I really do. But this time around I won’t buy his album. It’s a hit and miss record for me…
Highlight: Will we ever see Hanoi Rocks on stage again?
