Davey.
11-25-2003, 09:39 AM
Lots of instances where a later cover version helps you to discover an original you might have missed. But what about hearing a cover version that causes you to revisit a song you already know and maybe look at it and hear it in a new light? I know that happened for many people when they heard Kurt Cobain sing those Meat Puppets songs in the MTV Unplugged concert, seeming to understand the songs even more than the guys that wrote them. Or I guess he was just better able to give them the emotion they deserved. I was a Meat Puppets fan from way back and I remember still being somewhat surprised at the life he brought to those songs. But I guess it shouldn't come as any surprise that not all artists are the best at interpreting their own work.
Anyway, I like covers, but the best ones for me are those kind of obscure choices that some bands do to show how cool they are. And it usually works on me :)
Recently I talked about how much I like the new debut Head of Femur Ringodom or Proctor CD and one of the highlights is a cover of The True Wheel from Brian Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), the second of his string of 4 (me thinks brilliant) vocal albums in the 70s. Many people like that album the best of the 4, but for some reason it was always my least favorite. I still like it a lot, just not as much as the others. But after hearing the faithful yet much more manic cover the Head of Femur guys do to The True Wheel, I think I've developed a better appreciation for the album based on a recent listen. Odd that I was never really that taken by the song before but now I love both versions, especially the new one. It's almost like they have a little better feel for where the song could go than Eno did at the time. Of course, they don't have Phil Manzanera playing some of his most flipped-out lead guitar ever, but you can't have everything! It rocks much harder than the Eno/Manzanera version and drops the guitar solo so has a different and much more spastic feel, while still being faithful, albeit less subtle.
A similar thing happened when I heard the cover of Eno's Somber Reptiles by the band Tracker last year. It gave me a whole new appreciation of the original, while also loving the new version. I wish even more bands would include a well done cover on their albums to help me keep the cobwebs off my record collection :)
We are the 801
We are the central shaft
Looking for a certain ratio
Someone must have left it underneath the carpet
Looking up and down the radio
Uh oh, nothing there this time
Looking for a certain ratio
Someone said they saw it parking in a car lot
Looking up and down the radio
Uh oh, nothing there this time
Going back down to the rodeo
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, here we go!
Anyway, I like covers, but the best ones for me are those kind of obscure choices that some bands do to show how cool they are. And it usually works on me :)
Recently I talked about how much I like the new debut Head of Femur Ringodom or Proctor CD and one of the highlights is a cover of The True Wheel from Brian Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), the second of his string of 4 (me thinks brilliant) vocal albums in the 70s. Many people like that album the best of the 4, but for some reason it was always my least favorite. I still like it a lot, just not as much as the others. But after hearing the faithful yet much more manic cover the Head of Femur guys do to The True Wheel, I think I've developed a better appreciation for the album based on a recent listen. Odd that I was never really that taken by the song before but now I love both versions, especially the new one. It's almost like they have a little better feel for where the song could go than Eno did at the time. Of course, they don't have Phil Manzanera playing some of his most flipped-out lead guitar ever, but you can't have everything! It rocks much harder than the Eno/Manzanera version and drops the guitar solo so has a different and much more spastic feel, while still being faithful, albeit less subtle.
A similar thing happened when I heard the cover of Eno's Somber Reptiles by the band Tracker last year. It gave me a whole new appreciation of the original, while also loving the new version. I wish even more bands would include a well done cover on their albums to help me keep the cobwebs off my record collection :)
We are the 801
We are the central shaft
Looking for a certain ratio
Someone must have left it underneath the carpet
Looking up and down the radio
Uh oh, nothing there this time
Looking for a certain ratio
Someone said they saw it parking in a car lot
Looking up and down the radio
Uh oh, nothing there this time
Going back down to the rodeo
Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, here we go!