Post by Laura on Apr 14, 2006 14:37:34 GMT -6
So I said I would make a thread on this so voila. Instead of making a huge paragraph jammed together, here are some random cover song questions
1. What do you think about bands/artists doing cover songs?
I think it's okay if they've shown originality or proven to be able to write and perform their own songs. I don't like bands/artists whose first single is a cover song or their most well known song is a cover, for example: Sinead O'Connor is most known for her Prince cover of "Nothing Compares to You" and the Ataris came out with their remake of Don Henley's classic "Boys of Summer" ... but do non-fans know any of their other songs? Most likely not. I think covers are a nice addition to an album if the band feels they have a connection with the song but I don't like the idea of making the cover into a single. Pearl Jam has done this with "Last Kiss" and it drew in some listeners but do they listen to Pearl Jam? No. They only know "Last Kiss" and many don't even know it's a cover. I would rather Pearl Jam be known for their own hard work, like their biggest hit "Jeremy".
2. What do you think about bands/artists dedicating an entire album to cover songs?
I think it's a good idea if you completely make the songs your own. Two of my favourite artists have done this - Tori Amos (with Strange Little Girls) and Emm Gryner (with Girl Versions and Songs of Love and Death). If an artist or band can make the songs their own, they should. Covers that sound exactly like the original tend to be boring. I especially enjoy it when the cover is a song I already know and like and I can hear it from a different perspective. Take Emm Gryner's cover of Stone Temple Pilot's "Big Bang Baby" for example. The original is bouncy and strange with male vocals. Emm's cover makes it a piano-vocal only with fragile female vocals and a slower tempo. It's like two completely different songs - now that's what I like. So I'm all for cover albums if, and only if, the artist or band has already released albums. No cover album for your first!
3. Do you like to hear cover songs played live?
It's nice to hear covers but hearing their original songs is more important to me. It's different when it's Rob Zombie doing a White Zombie song because Rob was the singer for White Zombie. I'm talking about bands redoing songs from the past that you've never heard of and sliding into a slot where one of their songs could have been played instead. Don't get me wrong, some covers are incredible live ... but I'd rather hear one of their originals. Unless a band has a cover as one of their biggest fan favourites at the show, like Pearl Jam almost always does "Rockin' in the Free World" and that's fine.
4. What is your favourite cover song (at the moment or of all time)?
I'm not exactly sure what my all-time favourite cover song is but I can list a couple I really enjoy. Let's list them (I'll put the original artist/band in brackets if I remember):
5. Name some dream covers you'd like to hear.
I'd love to hear the following:
6. What has been the worst cover song you've ever heard?
I can't say absolute worst because I've probably erased it from my mind but the Red West's cover of the Smashing Pumpkins "1979" was terrible. AFI's version of Nine Inch Nails' "Head like a Hole", Avril Lavigne butchers System of a Down's "Chop Suey", and I like Sheryl Crow but her take on Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O Mine" is laughable. Hint: don't take on GNR. You'll fail.
Feel free to add in your own questions Also, if anyone knows of anyone who has redone Pearl Jam or Tori Amos, can you let me know? I'd really like to check them out thanks in advance for anyone who helps.
1. What do you think about bands/artists doing cover songs?
I think it's okay if they've shown originality or proven to be able to write and perform their own songs. I don't like bands/artists whose first single is a cover song or their most well known song is a cover, for example: Sinead O'Connor is most known for her Prince cover of "Nothing Compares to You" and the Ataris came out with their remake of Don Henley's classic "Boys of Summer" ... but do non-fans know any of their other songs? Most likely not. I think covers are a nice addition to an album if the band feels they have a connection with the song but I don't like the idea of making the cover into a single. Pearl Jam has done this with "Last Kiss" and it drew in some listeners but do they listen to Pearl Jam? No. They only know "Last Kiss" and many don't even know it's a cover. I would rather Pearl Jam be known for their own hard work, like their biggest hit "Jeremy".
2. What do you think about bands/artists dedicating an entire album to cover songs?
I think it's a good idea if you completely make the songs your own. Two of my favourite artists have done this - Tori Amos (with Strange Little Girls) and Emm Gryner (with Girl Versions and Songs of Love and Death). If an artist or band can make the songs their own, they should. Covers that sound exactly like the original tend to be boring. I especially enjoy it when the cover is a song I already know and like and I can hear it from a different perspective. Take Emm Gryner's cover of Stone Temple Pilot's "Big Bang Baby" for example. The original is bouncy and strange with male vocals. Emm's cover makes it a piano-vocal only with fragile female vocals and a slower tempo. It's like two completely different songs - now that's what I like. So I'm all for cover albums if, and only if, the artist or band has already released albums. No cover album for your first!
3. Do you like to hear cover songs played live?
It's nice to hear covers but hearing their original songs is more important to me. It's different when it's Rob Zombie doing a White Zombie song because Rob was the singer for White Zombie. I'm talking about bands redoing songs from the past that you've never heard of and sliding into a slot where one of their songs could have been played instead. Don't get me wrong, some covers are incredible live ... but I'd rather hear one of their originals. Unless a band has a cover as one of their biggest fan favourites at the show, like Pearl Jam almost always does "Rockin' in the Free World" and that's fine.
4. What is your favourite cover song (at the moment or of all time)?
I'm not exactly sure what my all-time favourite cover song is but I can list a couple I really enjoy. Let's list them (I'll put the original artist/band in brackets if I remember):
- By Pearl Jam: Fuckin' Up (Neil Young), Leaving Here
- By Tori Amos: Real Men (Joe Jackson), Love Song (the Cure)
- By Emm Gryner: For What Reason, Bau-Dachong (Virgin Prunes)
- By Nirvana: Oh Me (Meat Puppets)
- By Charlotte Martin: Wild Horses (the Rolling Stones)
- By Guns N Roses: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
- By A Perfect Circle: Peace, Love, and Understanding (Nick Lowe)
5. Name some dream covers you'd like to hear.
I'd love to hear the following:
- Tori Amos covering A Perfect Circle's "Passive"
- Emm Gryner covering Nine Inch Nails' "The Wretched"
- Emm Gryner covering Soil's "Black 7" (I'd really like to hear this song put into a piano-vocal only, heh)
- Ani DiFranco covering Pearl Jam's "Black" (if someone can pull off pearl jam, it has to be Ani)
- Sarah Slean covering Tool's "Sober" (I think she could completely make this into something totally cool)
- Nine Inch Nails' covering Sarah Slean's "Me, I'm a Thief" (hers is already chilling, haunting, creepy, and oh so beautiful ... I want to hear the male counterpart)
- Tori Amos covering Nirvana's "Rape Me" (she's done a better job at "Smells Like Teen Spirit"!)
- Lennon covering Marilyn Manson's "Target Audience"
6. What has been the worst cover song you've ever heard?
I can't say absolute worst because I've probably erased it from my mind but the Red West's cover of the Smashing Pumpkins "1979" was terrible. AFI's version of Nine Inch Nails' "Head like a Hole", Avril Lavigne butchers System of a Down's "Chop Suey", and I like Sheryl Crow but her take on Guns N Roses "Sweet Child O Mine" is laughable. Hint: don't take on GNR. You'll fail.
Feel free to add in your own questions Also, if anyone knows of anyone who has redone Pearl Jam or Tori Amos, can you let me know? I'd really like to check them out thanks in advance for anyone who helps.