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Firefall: Colorado to Liverpool-A Tribute to the Beatles
 Tribute and covers albums are becoming a little too common these days, but here's a little CD from an unlikely source that should be a lot of fun for a lot of varied music aficionados. Just about everyone loves the Beatles, whether you are a hard rocker, progger, or just a fan of pop music in general, and in the hands of veteran pop/country rockers Firefall, a little bit of magic is created here on the acoustic Colorado to Liverpool-A Tribute to the Beatles. Colorado's Firefall here are down to the duo of Jock Bartley and Steven Weinmeister, as the two are armed with just their acoustic guitars and voices, paying homage to one of the greatest bands of all times. There's eleven tunes in total, among them classics such as "Here Comes the Sun", "Norwegian Wood", "Eleanor Rigby", "Come Together" (featuring some nasty acoustic slide guitar), and the always charming "Girl". If you are at all familair with the many hits that Firefall had over the years ("You Are the Woman", "Mexico", and "Just Remember I Love You" being just a few), you know how capable they are at putting together catchy pop hooks with tight & breezy instrumentation that borders pop, California country rock, and boogie based Southern Rock. Jock and Steven's vocals are spot on here, filled with warm and soothing qualities , and the acoustic guitar work is extremely tasty and lush. It's an intimate setting for sure, and the results are extremely enjoyable and familiar, making this a must hear for Beatles fans of all ages.
Track Listing
1. Within You Without You
2. Girl
3. Norweigian Wood
4. You're Gonna Lose That Girl
5. Eleanor Rigby
6. Here Comes The Sun
7. No Reply
8. I Need You
9. Come Together
10. I'll Be Back
11. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party
Added: October 1st 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score: 
Related Link: Firefall Website
Hits: 2952
Language: english
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Firefall: Colorado to Liverpool-A Tribute to the Beatles
Posted by Steve Fleck, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-10-01 15:58:22
My Score:
Firefall Acoustic – Jock Bartley and Steven Weinmeister of Boulder, Colorado's 70's soft rock band Firefall, pay acoustic tribute to the Beatles with Colorado To Liverpool.
Unlike the recent Smithereens re-recording of the Capital compilation Meet The Beatles (which reverently interprets the classic LP running order and all), Firefall has re-arranged and tweaked the canon to suit the package.
Interestingly, of the songs chosen, only one was a "McCartney" song—-the rest are Lennon and Harrison. One spin of "Eleanor Rigby" reveals the probable reasoning: Lennon and Harrison's vocal timbre was more natural for Bartley and Weinmeister to execute than McCartney's. The result while mostly successful to the ear is slightly jarring in concept: Beatle enthusiasts know that while McCartney and Lennon split credit 50/50, the songs were either "McCartney Songs" or "Lennon Songs," and were also arranged that way with respect to the lead vocals. McCartney and Lennon were equally prolific, while Harrison only began to blossom as a writer late in the Beatles career, making this collection decidedly off-balance, if that matters to you.
Firefall's arrangements come off best on the more straightforward pop of "You're Gonna Lose that Girl", "Here Comes The Sun", "I Need You", "I'll Be Back", and "No Reply". Not only sounding like fun, these feature sparkling grooves, fine guitar playing, full harmonies and solid lead vocals. They also work well because they recall the simplicity of the original recordings.
In the not-so-much category are the previously mentioned "Eleanor Rigby", as well as "Norwegian Wood", "Girl", and "Come Together", which universally kind of plod. Perhaps it's the stripped down arrangements that don't serve these Rubber Soul/Revolver/Abbey Road songs as well as the older material.
Overall, though, Firefall Acoustic is a good listen, including some experimentation not unlike the Beatles themselves did, and definitely recommended for fans of all types of popular music.
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