The Boyscout
My Route 66

A German boyscout takes a trip down the iconic Route 66 and for a soundtrack he takes some iconic rock songs and makes cover versions of those songs. He calls the album My Route 66 and in its limited edition version we also get a second CD with the debut album from 2012 called Blood Red Rose, the album the video track is from. Though I will not focus on the bonus album that I think is in many ways more worth it than the cover album but it is the cover album that is the thing with this release. It has ten cover songs and this boyscout has enlisted the help of well-known names like Paul Shortino, Jeff Scott Soto, Oliver Hartmann and more to sing those songs, the scout sings a few of them himself as well.

Musically it is like the classic rock music that spawned these songs, each cover is very much like the original, which I find somewhat negative considering that one wants covers that gives a new perspective on the songs. If you want the songs to remain the same it would be wiser to get a collection of those songs in their original guise. You cannot really complain about the way the songs are performed, the vocal performances are really good all the way through and the sound works really well, it is an album for the road. Maybe for that trip down route 66. It is not very original though and I think that the same can be said about the additional album that follows the limited edition CD, nothing this Boyscout does is particularly original.

It is pretty good, the songs are good, the performances are good on all hands so it is worth listening to. But thinking in other terms, the point of this album can be slightly dubious considering that it is only songs we have heard before and if we are to consider the second disc it is still nothing we haven’t heard before. If you like it would rather depend on what you think of the original songs, I know I would have wanted a more personal twist on the songs, having Paul Shortino sining Wheel in the Sky is not enough difference from the original to merit any real praise on that regard.

Still it is good enough to enjoy, although you will not really lose anything if you don’t pick it up so it is a middle of the road album that much is certain. Some of the songs I like a little more, the best one is Jukebox Hero that is brilliantly vocalised by Oliver Hartmann, I also think Because the Night and No Easy Way Out are great songs. I think overall it is a good album to listen to but in the end it really doesn’t offer anything we haven’t already heard so you wouldn’t miss that much if you missed it.

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