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The Good The Bad And The Ugly


Rugeley Villa

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Phantomime by Ghost (their latest covers EP) is absolutely brilliant. I don't as a rule enjoy covers, let alone entire mini albums, but wow they really smashed this one. Again. Love it.

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I’ve been hearing this on adverts for Airbnb. For whatever reason I assumed it was a more recent cover. 

Nope, recorded the same year as the original, ‘66.

Much like the credited songwriters of the original, Caterina is still very much with us.

 

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Reading up on the underrated R.E.M. song the Great Beyond, I discovered it was covered by a band called the Fray (who?) In 2007. Here it is.

It's ok. Not great. Fine.

But... I discovered this cover was from a Radio 1 covers album released in 2007 'celebrating' 40 years of the channel by having 2007 era bands cover a song from every year of those 40 years.

What follows is a few choice cuts from that album.

Dear lord.

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The Streets with Elton John's Your Song.

Possibly the worst version of this song I've ever heard. I mean... I get it, it's supposed to have this vulnerability and 'truth' in being so bad, but it's just bad. Really bad.

...

Really bad.

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Gossip with Careless Whisper.

So this isn't good, but it's not... awful. And they get some credit for actually turning it into something like their sound. 

It also should be said that they're onto a hiding to nothing on this as Careless Whisper has already had the definitive cover from Seether, the C tier pop metal band from South Africa.

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The Pigeon Detectives (**** hell not even they remember they were a band) with the Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News.

It's a pub band with some chops doing a cover. Technically it's fine but it's just not in the same planet as the original, and sounds a bit of a mess.

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Stereophonics with Hot Chocolates You Sexy Thing.

Now... I don't hate the Stereophonics. They're a solid post-Britpop bad and had a sound and some talent, and a unique gravelly voiced singer. But... It's Hot Chocolate. I know they've picked it because it's a good song and they've got a singer with that rasp to sell the raunchy nature of the song. But they're not Hot Chocolate. If you want to listen to Hot Chocolate you want to listen to Hot Chocolate. It's not Errol Brown. So don't do it.

And it's got a **** dreadful breakdown at the end. **** off.

Edited by Chindie
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Mutya (from Sugababes) with Tracy Chapman's Fast Car.

Theres an earnest and clear nature to the Chapman song and the way she sings that sells it as very real. You gain nothing from some rasp and vocal fry. And then you play it on a kids Casio keyboard. Ugh.ugh.ugh.

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Editors with the Cure's Lullaby.

This isn't bad, but it doesn't quite work.

Tom Smith of Editors has a very pronounced voice and on a song like this, where Robert Smith is very hidden and whisper-y at times and has that very soft tone, it comes across as affected and it's too clear and forward for the song to sell it. It's not bad but it's not right. Wrong Cure song for them I think.

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The Twang (hey it's 2007!) with Bran Van 3000's Drinking in LA.

Say what you will about the Twang, they did this right. You pick a song nobody gives a damn about and do it. And it's solid. Is it any good versus the original? Who cares.

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Hard-Fi with Britney Spears Toxic.

Maybe the most successful cover here, simply because you can see they've decided they're going to going to have fun with it. And it works.

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The Enemy with specifically Ronan Keating's version of Father and Son.

**** hell. The state of it. The bloody state of it. Half drunken Cov rambling barely understanding what they're even singing. And it's not a bloody vocal challenge of a song.

Jesus.

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59 minutes ago, Chindie said:

Editors with the Cure's Lullaby.

This isn't bad, but it doesn't quite work.

Tom Smith of Editors has a very pronounced voice and on a song like this, where Robert Smith is very hidden and whisper-y at times and has that very soft tone, it comes across as affected and it's too clear and forward for the song to sell it. It's not bad but it's not right. Wrong Cure song for them I think.

Best Editors cover for me is their Stereolab one:

 

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