Awesome covers

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Rumpy
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Rumpy »

I thought they'd done a a bang-up job with it, but there are plenty of other covers they do that I don't agree with. With the kind of reinvention they do all the time though, I'm willing to give them a bit of leeway.
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Re: Awesome covers

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Re: Awesome covers

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Some Halloween style....Blue Oyster Cult's Dont Fear the Reaper cover from the pc game Vampyr.

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by hitbyambulance »

did i post this one already?

Easy Star All-Stars on "Radiodread" covering Radiohead's "Let Down" (with Toots Hibbert on vocals)

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Re: Awesome covers

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I really like this take on Subdivisions by Jacob Moon.

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by hitbyambulance »

the entirety of Laibach's _The Sound of Music_ album
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Daehawk »

Started getting night time fast in those 6 min.
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Re: Awesome covers

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Isgrimnur »

Weezer embraces covers
At midnight on Thursday morning the band suddenly released Weezer (The Teal Album), which includes ten tracks of covers and a photo of the band all dressed up and ready to attend your college fraternity’s ’80s night. The band was inspired to release a cover album after their cover of Toto’s “Africa” proved to be a huge success. They’re not permanently becoming a cover band, though, so you can stop fantasy wedding planning right now. Weezer (The Teal Album) is just the precursor to an album of all original songs called Weezer (The Black Album) that is set to be released on March 1, with a tour alongside the Pixies starting later that month.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Rumpy »

Thing is, I find that the mark of a good cover is when a band uses their own style to put on a unique twist on a song while still respecting the original. Here, Weezer is pretty much copying the song verbatim and it's not particularly interesting, at least to me. I suspect something like that would be more of a hit in concert but as a recording it just falls short.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by YellowKing »

Totally agree Rumpy. It's a super tricky balance. Too close to the original and it's boring, too far removed from the original and it's blasphemy.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by ImLawBoy »

I'll agree, too. I've only heard the Africa cover so far, but what was the point? If you're going to do a cover, put your own stamp on the song. (A friend's band used to cover Wicked Games by Chris Isaak, but it sounded very little like the original. It was fast paced and loud and you probably wouldn't even recognize it until the chorus hit. It was great.)
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by rittchard »

ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:27 pm I'll agree, too. I've only heard the Africa cover so far, but what was the point? If you're going to do a cover, put your own stamp on the song. (A friend's band used to cover Wicked Games by Chris Isaak, but it sounded very little like the original. It was fast paced and loud and you probably wouldn't even recognize it until the chorus hit. It was great.)
Yeah, totally agree with this. I just did a listen through of the Weezer album and it's an interesting mix, I'm sure people will have varied opinions of their choices. In general, I liked it but as mentioned above the ones that sound too identical either musically or vocally were the least interesting. So that made the oddest choice on the album my favorite - No Scrubs. I loved (and still love) that song, and it's just something I'd never imagine for a Weezer cover, but they do a really cool, rock-ish take on it. It makes it oddly funny (and gay?) in some ways, but what I really like about the cover is it's the one I feel like I recognize Rivers voice the most. Listening to it again, and I really like it, not just in a gimmicky way. YMMV.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by YellowKing »

I'm a little disappointed that they went for the Billie Jean cover. Is there any band left on the planet that hasn't done a Billie Jean cover?

The No Scrubs cover is fantastic though.
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Re: Awesome covers

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YellowKing wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:04 pm Totally agree Rumpy. It's a super tricky balance. Too close to the original and it's boring, too far removed from the original and it's blasphemy.
On the other hand, if they strike the right balance, the band can totally own it. If it's an older song, it can then reinvigorate interest in the overall song. There have been quite a few instances where the cover has eclipsed the original as definitive. I kind of feel Weezer took the easy way out on this one. And I'll even say that I feel the recent PMJ cover is not that different, so maybe it's a difficult song to cover?

To use PMJ as an example, the reason why many of their covers are so great is because they never do straight covers. They deconstruct the songs, think on new interesting angles to present them in along with completely new arrangements, along with singers they feel fit the songs the best. And they carved out a niche doing so.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Holman »

Quoting myself from another thread because this is all about awesome covers.
Holman wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:58 pm Jonathan Coulton has launched a Kickstarter for an album project SOME GUYS.

It's an album of covers of sensitive 1970s male singer-songwriters (e.g. Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Fogelberg) done in completely faithful, imitative style, "70s soft-rock hits that sound exactly like the originals."

The video at the project site is definitely worth it.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by YellowKing »

OMG I love yacht rock. I'm all over that.

We have a local band called "Feather" that only plays soft rock covers. I try to see them every chance I get.

P.S. I don't love 70s/80s soft rock ironically. I actually do genuinely love it. That's the stuff my mom played around the house when I was little, and listening to it now is like instant stress relief. When I'm listening to music at work, there's about an 80% chance I'm listening to '70s folk or adult contemporary.
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Re: Awesome covers

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I listen to e.g. Gordon Lightfoot and Harry Nilsson on the elliptical at the gym with my heart rate at 150.

It seems like it shouldn't work, but how does it work so well??
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Re: Awesome covers

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Pandora is currently playing "Everybody Knows" by The Unseen Guest. I generally like them; however, I don't think they are doing this justice. But it did make me curious about how many times this song has been covered. Spoiler: a lot! The version that I probably like the best is Concrete Blonde's for Pump Up The Volume.

I was surprised that it was covered more times than "Sweet Jane". I thought that one was going to be the winner. I think there used to be an annual "Sweet Jane" competition in Austin. Though I may just be imagining that.

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Re: Awesome covers

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Holman wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:29 pm Quoting myself from another thread because this is all about awesome covers.
Holman wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:58 pm Jonathan Coulton has launched a Kickstarter for an album project SOME GUYS.

It's an album of covers of sensitive 1970s male singer-songwriters (e.g. Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Fogelberg) done in completely faithful, imitative style, "70s soft-rock hits that sound exactly like the originals."

The video at the project site is definitely worth it.
More power to you if that's what you like, but it kind of gets back to my point of . . . why? If you're being completely faithful and imitative to sound exactly like the originals, why not just create a playlist of the originals? What is this adding to the music?
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Holman »

ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:29 am
Holman wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:29 pm Quoting myself from another thread because this is all about awesome covers.
Holman wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:58 pm Jonathan Coulton has launched a Kickstarter for an album project SOME GUYS.

It's an album of covers of sensitive 1970s male singer-songwriters (e.g. Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Fogelberg) done in completely faithful, imitative style, "70s soft-rock hits that sound exactly like the originals."

The video at the project site is definitely worth it.
More power to you if that's what you like, but it kind of gets back to my point of . . . why? If you're being completely faithful and imitative to sound exactly like the originals, why not just create a playlist of the originals? What is this adding to the music?
Oh, I think it's mostly about the ironic hipsterism of it. And people who like Jonathan Coulton probably like the chance to support Jonathan Coulton (and, practically speaking, there's probably more Jonathan Coulton in these songs than the advertisement suggests).

Plus, if you really really love Elvis, there's something to be said for the Elvis impersonator who absolutely 100% nails it.
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Re: Awesome covers

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ImLawBoy wrote:More power to you if that's what you like, but it kind of gets back to my point of . . . why? If you're being completely faithful and imitative to sound exactly like the originals, why not just create a playlist of the originals? What is this adding to the music?
I totally agree, but I backed this anyway just for the novelty factor. That someone would try to replicate these songs in particular to such a degree I just find really amusing. Also I'm curious as to his mention that they did not try to track down original equipment, but instead recorded it as closely as possible using modern equipment. That's a subtle difference that I find kind of intriguing.

That said, there's a reason I didn't spring for the $30 vinyl, because with that kind of money I'd rather just track down the originals.
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Re: Awesome covers

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Holman wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:59 am
ImLawBoy wrote: Fri Jan 25, 2019 11:29 am
Holman wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 7:29 pm Quoting myself from another thread because this is all about awesome covers.
Holman wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:58 pm Jonathan Coulton has launched a Kickstarter for an album project SOME GUYS.

It's an album of covers of sensitive 1970s male singer-songwriters (e.g. Gordon Lightfoot, Dan Fogelberg) done in completely faithful, imitative style, "70s soft-rock hits that sound exactly like the originals."

The video at the project site is definitely worth it.
More power to you if that's what you like, but it kind of gets back to my point of . . . why? If you're being completely faithful and imitative to sound exactly like the originals, why not just create a playlist of the originals? What is this adding to the music?
Oh, I think it's mostly about the ironic hipsterism of it. And people who like Jonathan Coulton probably like the chance to support Jonathan Coulton (and, practically speaking, there's probably more Jonathan Coulton in these songs than the advertisement suggests).
I can see that. To stretch it a bit outside the realm of cover bands, it's why something like The Darkness works for me (they're in on the hipster element of their success) while something like Greta Van Fleet doesn't (too damn serious about things).
Holman wrote:Plus, if you really really love Elvis, there's something to be said for the Elvis impersonator who absolutely 100% nails it.
For a live performance, sure. If I'm just listening to a recording, though, give me the original.
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Re: Awesome covers

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ImLawBoy wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 3:27 pm I'll agree, too. I've only heard the Africa cover so far, but what was the point? If you're going to do a cover, put your own stamp on the song. (A friend's band used to cover Wicked Games by Chris Isaak, but it sounded very little like the original. It was fast paced and loud and you probably wouldn't even recognize it until the chorus hit. It was great.)
I actually like the Paranoid cover. Who knew Weezer could channel Sabbath :shock:
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by ImLawBoy »

I thought they did better on the older songs (Happy Together, Paranoid, Stand By Me (although I didn't really need another cover of that song)) if only because they were a little more Weezery than the '80s covers, which were mostly very imitative (No Scrubs and Billie Jean excepted).
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Re: Awesome covers

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Speaking about oddball covers, I think the weirdest cover I ever came across was Nickel Creek's cover of Hayloft by Mother Mother. At first listen, I was like, "WTF is this shit?" But then I realized, this is a band that covered Spears' Toxic to critical acclaim and ran with it, and then I realized that it was actually kind of brilliant and I've warmed up to it over the years. Still feels like a weird song for them to cover though.

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Re: Awesome covers

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On Verbatim covers, I came across this one the other day. Sometimes I think that some songs are just difficult to cover and do anything different with them, because doing something different might mean losing its signature, sometimes because they're just too unique. And when they do get covered, don't differ much at all from the original. In this case, it's Great Big Sea's Ordinary Day. It's an iconic song to Canadians, and I never expected it to be covered for those same reasons. Warner Music put together a retrospective of their catalogue of Canadian artists and had this on it. As far as covers go, It's OK I guess but doesn't really add anything. The instrumentation isn't even all that different.

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Re: Awesome covers

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Postmodern Jukebox hits another one out of the park.

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Re: Awesome covers

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Re: Awesome covers

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Last month I saw the current incarnation of Yes. Among the current cast, drummer Alan White had the longest pedigree with the band (surprising me, I'd have thunk Steve Howe) and let's just say he's closer to the grave than the top of his game. Yes has a history of doing surprise covers in concert, and this time it was John Lennon's Imagine, because Alan White was the drummer on that record (I can just picture him tearing into a 20 minute drum solo after the line "woo hoo"). Well, since the drum solo apparently didn't happen when Lennon was alive, they omitted it on this performance. The Jon Anderson replacement is an excellent singer and the performance of the song was superb.
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Re: Awesome covers

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Jeff V wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:47 pmThe Jon Anderson replacement is an excellent singer and the performance of the song was superb.
Is that still Jon Davison? He was singing with Glass Hammer for a while before he joined Yes, and he sounded good there.

Jon Anderson also sang with Glass Hammer a couple of times, one of them being a really good cover of "South Side of the Sky" (he was not singing lead on that).
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Re: Awesome covers

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Hrdina wrote: Wed Aug 07, 2019 12:42 am
Jeff V wrote: Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:47 pmThe Jon Anderson replacement is an excellent singer and the performance of the song was superb.
Is that still Jon Davison? He was singing with Glass Hammer for a while before he joined Yes, and he sounded good there.

Jon Anderson also sang with Glass Hammer a couple of times, one of them being a really good cover of "South Side of the Sky" (he was not singing lead on that).
Yes, Davison. He's been with Yes for 8 years now! He even looks like he could be a young Anderson's bastard American brother.
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Re: Awesome covers

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KILL! KILL! :wub:

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Holman »

Has no one mentioned the A.V. Club's cover project?









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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Smoove_B »

It is known, yes. Though in fairness to you it's an older thread.
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Re: Awesome covers

Post by Z-Corn »

You are gonna make me post the best cover ever recorded again aren't you?

Pretty sure I posted it in this thread, but that's OK! The video is so awesome it was removed from the AV Club site!

The Melvins covering The Buttholes while handing out free ice cream to kids in Humboldt Park. You're welcome.

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by AWS260 »

I just watched this for the first time and it is delightful.

Here's another cover.

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Re: Awesome covers

Post by gbasden »

Seven Handle Circus does a kick ass bluegrass-ish cover of Aha's Take on Me.

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Re: Awesome covers

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That's a fun version of Take-On-Me. There's something about Bluegrass bands doing covers that make special.

Well, Postmodern Jukebox is at it again. They've put out a really fun take on U2's Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for, in a Blues Brothers Gospel style. I can't help but feel happy when I hear it.
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Re: Awesome covers

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Rumpy wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 1:12 am That's a fun version of Take-On-Me. There's something about Bluegrass bands doing covers that make special.
I have a CD at home of bluegrass covers of Van Halen songs. It's pretty fun.
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