Something Shiny

I’d forgotten how very great this cover by Tori Amos of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirt was/is.

Granted, it came for me at that time in my life when I was affected deeply by nearly everything I heard, and most everything from this genre/era “brings me back.” But dang, it really is good.

For that matter, the whole Crucify single/EP was excellent. If you like the song embedded above, I highly recommend checking out the rest of the single/EP.

Want to count, that is. Anyway, starting a new theme to see how far I can get counting. We’ll see how this goes…

For your listening pleasure, I present One (is the Loneliest Number), which was originally Harry Nilsson, but has been covered here by Richard Cheese.

If you fall on the “why bother covering a song if it’s going to sound like the original, I mean isn’t that more of a tribute than a cover” side of the “make it your own” vs. “reproduce the original” cover debate, this song may be for you.

The Dan Band got some attention with this song, featured in Wedding Crashers, but it’s representative of their act. They pick songs originally made famous by chicks, throw in the f-bomb a time or two, and call it done.

It’s either brilliant, or just plain lazy. I suppose it could be both.

**UPDATE** How embarrassing, I’ve mixed up my wacky comedies. Dan’s take on Total Eclipse of the Heard is from Old School, not Wedding Crashers (although it was in a wedding seen in my defense). I apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Before he was an embarrassing joke, Ozzy Osbourne was involved in making some great music. I can’t speak to how much he actually contributed to the songs other than the lyrics/singing, but hey, if the band is OK with him getting all the attention, he must have been pulling his weight.

While I wondered yesterday if Faith No More’s cover of War Pigs was maybe a little too faithful to the original, I think we can all agree, The Cardigans’ cover of Iron Man will not be mistaken for the original. Ever.

Is sounding like the original, nearly exactly like the original, a good thing or a bad thing? I really like Faith No More’s cover of War Pigs but it’s so close to the original, maybe I just like the original and can’t tell the difference?

If you want a different take on War Pigs, track down Cakes’s cover off the Rarities and B-Sides I’d mentioned earlier this week.

So don’t get me wrong, The Rolling Stones aren’t all bad. They used to be great, in fact they still are the greatest thing about other bands. I’m thinking specifically of Wild Horses as performed by The Sundays.

I still remember buying that album, whatever album that song was on from The Sundays, not knowing that Wild Horses was a cover. I was disappointed and a little confused as to why all the other songs on the album were not nearly as good. When I later learned that Wild Horses was a Stones cover, everything made sense. I didn’t like The Sunday’s original stuff, but they made an OK cover band.

This is a culmination of a few topics that have come up of late:

1. Washed up rockers (Rod Stewart, Don Henley, Steven Tyler)
2. Covers (I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, Da Ya Think I’m Sexy, I’m On Fire, Dead Souls, and Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps)
3. Al Jourgensen (also the lead singer of The Revolting Cocks)

While I wrote the blurb on Steven Tyler injuring himself, I was thinking about The Rolling Stones. I’m still puzzled as to how one of them hasn’t’ broken a hip yet.

Anyway, hope you enjoy Under My Thumb as performed by Ministry. It’s off an album called Cover Up. For the track list, hit the more link after the video.

(more…)

The covercade rolls on (cover+cavalcade, get it?) With Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps from Cake. The song is actually on Fashion Nugget, but if you like Cake singin’ non-Cake stuff, may I recommend a thoroughly enjoyable album of covers and miscellaneous other stuff performed by Cake called B-sides and Rarities.

Track List:

1. WAR PIGS
2. RUBY, DON’T TAKE YOUR LOVE TO TOWN
3. MAHNA MAHNA
4. EXCUSE ME, I THINK I’VE GOT A HEARTACHE
5. CONROY
6. STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT
7. SUBTRACT ONE LOVE (MULTIPLY THE HEARTACHES)
8. NEVER NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
9. THRILLS
10. SHORT SKIRT, LONG JACKET
11. IT’S COMING DOWN

Hey, look, er, uh, listen, another cover. Remember that movie, The Crow? Remember how it was pretty good? Remember the sequel? Remember how that wasn’t so good, some might even say bad?

Yeah, me too.

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Combining the current theme (covers), with tonight’s show (Bat for Lashes), leads to the inevitable I’m on Fire off of Fur and Gold.

Two Suns isn’t a bad album, but I’d be lying if I said I liked it as much as Fur and Gold. Perhaps it’s just the sophomore slump?

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