What makes a great cover song? Usually when it comes to one, artists seem to generally record them when creativity runs out while making an album and they’re in dire need of filler. But every once in a while, an artist can take someone else’s song and turn it into something far more superior and absolute brilliance. Here’s an example of 10 tracks that trump the original composition, above and beyond.
Blinded By The Light – Manfred Mann's Earth Band [Bruce Springsteen]
Not only is this track not generally known as a Springsteen original, it’s also been notorious for its misheard lyrics. “Revved up like a deuce”, always seems to be interpretted as “wrapped up like a douche”. A fine example of an average track turned into absolute brilliance by someone else.
Dead Souls – Nine Inch Nails [Joy Division]
If there’s one thing Trent Reznor knows how to do flawlessly, it’s taking someone elses song and giving it a serious set of balls. He’s done it in the past with Queen and Adam Ant songs, but it’s NIN’s take on Joy Division’s Dead Souls that makes the original composition sound like it was just a demo bed track of what the end piece is supposed to sound like.
Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley [Leonard Cohen]
Cohen’s composition is a powerful piece of music, but I would defy anyone to listen to Jeff Buckley’s version and not be completely brought to chills. Too many artists have covered this song over the years, but Jeff Buckley’s is all that’s necessary.
With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker [The Beatles]
Many artists have covered the songbook of The Beatles over the years, but everything always ends up just sounding ho-hum. Besides, who would purposely give themselves such huge shoes to fill? Somehow, Joe Cocker defies all odds on his brilliant take on the Sgt. Pepper classic and completely and utterly outdoes the original. Blame it on Ringo.
All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix [Bob Dylan]
"Move over Rover, and let Jimi take over". The original is good, but the guitar God entirely eclipses the song and completely cranks it into overdrive.
Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies [Velvet Underground]
Not to take anything away from the artsy New Yorker's original, but the Junkies have unofficially claimed ownership of this song. It delivers such a sweet and infectious melody, and along with gorgeous vocals by singer Margo Timmins, it's impossible not to resonate to this track immediately. It was also recorded in a Toronto church with the band circled around just a single microphone to boot.
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Guns N' Roses [Bob Dylan]
Not to keep picking on Zimmerman here, but just another example of how another artist took a decent Dylan track and completely overshadowed it.
I Fought The Law – The Clash [Sonny Curtis and The Crickets]
Originally recorded by Sonny Curtis in 1959, then made famous by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1965, but it wasn’t until Joe Strummer and Co. took a stab at the composition some 14 years later to gave the Law the justice it rightfully deserved.
Mad World – Gary Jules [Tears For Fears]
Sometimes referred to as the Donny Darko song, this Tears For Fears track went from a dancey pop number to an altogether eerie and stripped down haunting drawl, giving the song the impact no one could ever imagined possible. A+ for creativity.
Mrs. Robinson – The Lemonheads [Simon & Garfunkel]
A soft and pleasant folk number originally penned for the 1967 film, The Graduate, Evan Dando and co. came along and turned it into the hyper, make-you-wanna-jump-around-and-kick-things-over, type of ditty it became. If there's one thing The Lemonheads love to do, its cover other people's songs. Heck, they even recorded an entire covers album, Varshons, back in 2009. One of the very few acts that can do it properly.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Top 10 albums of 2010
1) The National – High Violet
2) The Black Keys – Brothers
3) Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
4) Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
5) Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
6) Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
7) Neil Young – Le Noise
8) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
9) Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt
10) The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
Notable mentions:
Robert Plant - Band of Joy
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Glasser – Ring
Grinderman – Grinderman II
LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
She & Him – Vol. II
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I'm Losing You
It’s amazing what can trigger a childhood memory. A smell, a song, a photograph – the simplest thing can take you back in time to an exact moment where you were when it originally happened. For me it’s whenever my dad’s birthday rolls around, every December, that instantly reminds me of being a five year-old boy, confused while listening to my mother trying to explain why someone would kill a man so beloved by millions.
It was approximately October 1980 and I had just been exposed to John Lennon for the first time. Lennon had been out of the spotlight for quite some time as his music career had taken a backseat to full-time fatherhood. With a brand new album to be released for the first time in 5 years that November, Beatles and John Lennon songs were in heavy rotation all over the radio. With major anticipation for Lennon's comeback, the first single, “(Just Like) Starting Over”, from the forthcoming album Double Fantasy, could be heard absolutely everywhere.
It was that precise moment in time where a love affair began as I became obsessed with The Beatles and John Lennon.
My mother had taken notice of my new found fondness and decided to break out her old Beatles records and give me a history lesson on the best band that had ever lived. There was Sgt. Peppers, Abbey Road, and Rubber Soul. But of all of them, it was Beatlemania! With The Beatles, that resonated with me the most. There was something so captivating and hypnotic, yet mysterious about the cover. It was the one with the iconic shot of the fab four's faces lit up on the right side, with the left side fading to black. This album helped me identify all four members of the band easily and to learn all of their names.
Fast forward two months later on December 5, 1980, my mother had taken me to the local mall to do some shopping for my dad’s birthday which was just 4 days later. We were strolling around a big department store and I remember turning a corner only to come face-to-face with an enormous stand-up display of the Double Fantasy album with stacks of vinyl all around it. Needless to say, my dad's birthday gift was chosen.
On the morning of December 9th, I woke up early, jumped out of bed and proudly marched down the hall towards the kitchen to give dad his birthday present. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face to see what we had got him, but as I entered the room I couldn't help but notice it wasn’t your typical joyous birthday atmosphere. I handed dad his gift and felt confused when his face didn’t light up as expected when he tore off the wrap and realized what it was inside. “Should we tell him?”, he said to my mother, shortly followed by her having a hell of a time trying to explain in the simplest terms the tragic events that had unfolded in New York City just hours prior. No matter how she tried, nothing made sense. The only thing raveling thru my 5 year-old mind was, "Why would someone want to hurt a man so beloved by millions?"
It was just too heavy for a 5 year-old to digest, and it was this that was my earliest memory of what a broken heart felt like.
Over the years, the songs on Double Fantasy have given me different meaning as I’ve endured different periods in life. Most notably “Beautiful Boy”, a track Lennon had written for his young son Sean, is what immediately popped in to mind the moment I held my new born son in my arms for the first time.
Although it’s been 30 years since the world lost this great icon, the music, the legacy, and message of peace that Lennon had heavily endorsed himself still stands strong to this day. History always finds a way to repeat itself, and with every passing generation, it’s just like starting over.
As I wise man once said, “we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun”.
It was approximately October 1980 and I had just been exposed to John Lennon for the first time. Lennon had been out of the spotlight for quite some time as his music career had taken a backseat to full-time fatherhood. With a brand new album to be released for the first time in 5 years that November, Beatles and John Lennon songs were in heavy rotation all over the radio. With major anticipation for Lennon's comeback, the first single, “(Just Like) Starting Over”, from the forthcoming album Double Fantasy, could be heard absolutely everywhere.
It was that precise moment in time where a love affair began as I became obsessed with The Beatles and John Lennon.
My mother had taken notice of my new found fondness and decided to break out her old Beatles records and give me a history lesson on the best band that had ever lived. There was Sgt. Peppers, Abbey Road, and Rubber Soul. But of all of them, it was Beatlemania! With The Beatles, that resonated with me the most. There was something so captivating and hypnotic, yet mysterious about the cover. It was the one with the iconic shot of the fab four's faces lit up on the right side, with the left side fading to black. This album helped me identify all four members of the band easily and to learn all of their names.
Fast forward two months later on December 5, 1980, my mother had taken me to the local mall to do some shopping for my dad’s birthday which was just 4 days later. We were strolling around a big department store and I remember turning a corner only to come face-to-face with an enormous stand-up display of the Double Fantasy album with stacks of vinyl all around it. Needless to say, my dad's birthday gift was chosen.
On the morning of December 9th, I woke up early, jumped out of bed and proudly marched down the hall towards the kitchen to give dad his birthday present. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face to see what we had got him, but as I entered the room I couldn't help but notice it wasn’t your typical joyous birthday atmosphere. I handed dad his gift and felt confused when his face didn’t light up as expected when he tore off the wrap and realized what it was inside. “Should we tell him?”, he said to my mother, shortly followed by her having a hell of a time trying to explain in the simplest terms the tragic events that had unfolded in New York City just hours prior. No matter how she tried, nothing made sense. The only thing raveling thru my 5 year-old mind was, "Why would someone want to hurt a man so beloved by millions?"
It was just too heavy for a 5 year-old to digest, and it was this that was my earliest memory of what a broken heart felt like.
Over the years, the songs on Double Fantasy have given me different meaning as I’ve endured different periods in life. Most notably “Beautiful Boy”, a track Lennon had written for his young son Sean, is what immediately popped in to mind the moment I held my new born son in my arms for the first time.
Although it’s been 30 years since the world lost this great icon, the music, the legacy, and message of peace that Lennon had heavily endorsed himself still stands strong to this day. History always finds a way to repeat itself, and with every passing generation, it’s just like starting over.
As I wise man once said, “we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun”.
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