V.A. – Fly Like An Eagle; An All-Star Tribute To Steve Miller Band (feat. Jimi Jamison, John Lynn Turner) *HQ*

It was about time. With all of the many tribute albums over the years it is nice to see one of the Midwest’s most famous American rockers immortalized by his peers: “Fly Like An Eagle; An All-Star Tribute To Steve Miller Band“.
Yes, it’s little Steve Miller that kid whose dad was buddies with Les Paul. Yep, the guy who became one of America’s best Classic Rock songwriters, writing hit after hit and selling millions of albums.Purple Pyramid Records teamed up with talented multi-instrumentalist Billy Sherwood and put together an impressive 11-song collection of Miller’s biggest hits including “Take the Money & Run”, “The Joker”, “Jet Airliner”, “Abracadabra” and more.
They got some great names to participate as well, including legends John Parr, Joe Lynn Turner, Fee Waybill, Jimi Jamison and many, many other stars (check track list), giving Miller’s songs new attitude and, at times, some pretty damn cool new arrangements.

Who would have ever imagined Billy Idol magnificent guitarist Steve Stevens teaming up with Asia vocalist and bass player John Wetton on “Jet Airliner”? Well, ya know what, it’s still three chords but it works damn fine.
“The Joker” is delivered big by Porcupine Tree’s John Wesley, perhaps being the coolest arrangement on the disc. Elsewhere we have Rick Wakeman, Derek Sherinian, Geoff Downes, Martin Turner, Steve Morse, Steve Argent, the band Nektar and more all paying tribute to Miller’s classic tunes. Also includes the final recordings by ‘The Architect of Progressive Music’, the underrated guitar master Peter Banks (RIP).
This mix of tunes, ranging from Classic Rock to some of his early songs like “Space Cowboy” (done with a real charm by Jimi Jamison) and “Living in the USA” just work with different personalities interjected into their classic DNA.

Okay, tribute albums are nothing new. Some are good and some are a joke and many are forgotten as soon as they hit the shelf.
What makes “Fly Like An Eagle; An All-Star Tribute To Steve Miller Band” good & cool is the music contained within. But also the very good arrangements & musicianship from all involved, and the crisp, vivid production.
Steve Miller, while achieving massive amounts of success has never had people lining up to pay tribute to him. It says something about an artist when people as diverse as members of The Tubes, Dream Theater, Deep Purple, Yes or Survivor come together to celebrate their music.
This proves the timelessness and special-ness of Steve Miller’s music, and of course, the undying Classic Rock genre.
Highly Recommended

01 – Take The Money & Run
Colin Moulding (XTC) & Tony Kaye (Yes)

02 – Jet Airliner
John Wetton (Asia) & Steve Stevens

03 – Living In The USA
Fee Waybill (The Tubes) & Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater)

04 – Abracadabra
John Parr & Rick Wakeman (Yes)

05 – Swingtown
Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash) & Geoff Downes (Yes, Asia)

06 – Winter Time
Sonja Kristina (Curved Air) & Peter Banks (Yes, Flash)

07 – The Joker
John Wesley (Porcupine Tree)

08 – Jungle Love
Joe Lynn Turner & Steve Morse

09 – Space Cowboy
Jimi Jamison (Survivor) & J. Rudess (Dream Theater)

10 – Rock’n Me
Rod Argent (Argent) & Steve Hillage (Gong)

11 – Fly Like An Eagle
Nektar with Geoff Downes

Billy Sherwood – Bass, Drums, Guitar, Keyboards
Roye Albrighton – Guitar, Vocals
Steve Hillage – Guitar
Klaus Henatsch – Keyboards
Joel Vandroogenbroeck – Flute, Keyboards
Jurgen Engler – Bass, Producer
Ron Howden – Drums

Produced & Mixed by Billy Sherwood

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www.amazon.com/music/dp/B00D3ZJDA2