Ah, the art of performing a cover song. It's a lot like the remake of a classic film.
You're reinterpreting someone else's art, so you want to remain true to the source material, and yet give it your own stamp. You don't want to veer too far from what made the original great, but you also can't copy it exactly... unless you're just really, really that good. It's a fine and difficult thing to balance and successfully pull off. But when done right, the results can be spectacular!
I was thinking of this recently, because I wanted to make a special mix CD for my friend Jenn's birthday. If you're new to this music blog, mixes are a big part of my life. It's my go-to vocabulary. The perfect thoughtful gift, that can also double as something artistic for me to share and enjoy in my own right. If you're serious about your mix making, then you, no doubt, listen to it yourself countless times before giving it over to someone. So, in that respect, you'd better love it before you hand it over!
And since I've gotten in the habit of making mixes for all my friends on my birthdays or over the Halloween season (read about Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3), I wanted this one to stand out, and be unique for her birthday. So, I went with covers!
There's something comforting about hearing songs you already know. And yet, when performed under a completely different context, they can feel and sound like brand new songs. Case in point: the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" cover done by the mysterious artist Think Up Anger, featuring the singer Malia J.
This particular cover was used in the trailer for THE GALLOWS, because apparently that's a "thing" now. Taking old grunge or rock hits of the 90's, slowing them down, and using them as somber female fronted ballads as a promotional tool for an upcoming movie. But if anything, it makes me appreciate how darned good the original song is to begin with.
There's something so powerful about Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." I recently caught the great Christian James Hand performing one of his live The Session break-downs of the song, and getting to hear each track individually only solidified my initial thoughts. But then I stumbled upon the full version of Malia J.'s haunting cover, and fell in love with this song all over again. I knew it'd have to kick off this mix.
Keeping with that theme, track 2 is Nouela's cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun," which appeared in the trailer for the Liam Neeson movie A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES. Considering the recent passing of Chris Cornell, this mournful version takes on a whole new meaning. I followed it up with Life Of Agony's cover of "(Don't You) Forget About Me" from their second album "Ugly." It's always been one of my favorite songs, and covers. And it came at a time just as metal bands were starting to revamp 80's pop classics. This one stands out because the LOA guys actually mean it! Their version is sincere.
Throwing things for a loop, I used Saul Williams powerful version of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" next. Trent Reznor discovered Williams and produced this album, so it's got that NIN flavor to it. It leads pretty well into a handful of pop/punk style covers: Girl In A Coma's "Come On, Let's Go," their rockin' reinterpretation of the Ritchie Valens classic; The Suicide Machines amazing redux of R.E.M.'s "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"; closed out by Goldfinger's "99 Red Balloons" from the soundtrack to NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE. Massive respect for this faithful cover that switches to the German version in the third verse! Genius.
I could've went with "Shout" from Disturbed's first album, but instead opted for their killer version of "Land Of Confusion" by Genesis. Fairly relevant to what the hell's going on in the world at the moment! And in keeping with that theme, next up is Placebo's cover of The Pixies "Where Is My Mind?" which remains pretty close to the original, minus the acoustic guitar.
Here's where things get a bit deep. A few years back, I watched the movie THE JUDGE starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. It's pretty good, but what really struck me was the song that played over the end credits. It was a cover of Coldplay's "The Scientist" by freakin' Willie Nelson! When I think of Willie, I also think of The Man in Black, Johnny Cash. For the Rick Rubin produced records towards the end of his life, Cash did so many incredible covers. I debated using Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down." But I had to go with Nine Inch Nails "Hurt," which in my humble opinion, could be even better than the original recording. And Trent Reznor thinks so too!
From Johnny Cash, let's do a Smiths two-fer. Love Spit Love's "How Soon Is Now?" as made popular first by the movie THE CRAFT, and then by becoming the theme song to CHARMED, followed by the Dum Dum Girls' "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out," a version I prefer to the original! Chormatics did a full EP of different remixed on Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," but the ambient one I included is my favorite of the bunch. And while we're on an 80's kick, might as well round it out with "Mad World" by Gary Jules (from DONNIE DARKO) and Frente's "Bizarre Love Triangle."
While I'm sure there are plenty of reinterpretations of Depeche Mode's signature track "Enjoy The Silence," I wanted to make things heavy again, so I picked the Lacuna Coil industrial cover. And in terms of topping off a mix, can't end much better than with George Michael and Queen.
Here's the full track listing...
Cover Me With Hits:
1. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Think Up Anger ft. Malia J.
2. Black Hole Sun by Nouela
3. (Don't You) Forget About Me by Life Of Agony
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday by Saul Williams
5. Come On, Let's Go by Girl In A Coma
6. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by Suicide Machines
7. 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger
8. Land Of Confusion by Disturbed
9. Where Is My Mind? by Placebo
10. The Scientist by Willie Nelson
11. Hurt by Johnny Cash
12. How Soon Is Now? by Love Spit Love
13. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by Dum Dum Girls
14. Girls Just Wanna Have Some Fun by Chromatics
15. Mad World by Gary Jules
16. Bizarre Love Triangle by Frente
17. Enjoy The Silence by Lacuna Coil
18. Somebody To Love by George Michael
And fret not, my friends. If you don't have access to all these tracks on iTunes, or someone hasn't already created a Spotify playlist, I have created my own Playlist of the above 18 tracks using You Tube! You can find that below!
I'm fairly happy with these selections and the overall flow of the thing. I'm sad to say that the CD mix I gave Jenn was missing "Come On, Let's Go" by Girl In A Coma, and "99 Red Balloons," but that's only because my laptop with a CD burner crapped out on me.
Who knows? There's always room for "Cover Me With Hits: Volume 2!"
