Some things in this cover are kind of interesting and its executed well but I miss Bonzo and the fire of the original seems diluted.
What you guys think?
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Great cover or devolution into elevator music?
- Thread starter bearhart74
- Start date
Some things in this cover are kind of interesting and its executed well but I miss Bonzo and the fire of the original seems diluted.
What you guys think?
As I take the elevator to my dentist's office on the 25th floor, I try comparing the pain associated with the root canal I'm about to receive, with what I'm currently listening to...
... I quickly press '3', choosing the stairs, instead.
Good thing I brought my emergency parachute, as well.
... I quickly press '3', choosing the stairs, instead.
Good thing I brought my emergency parachute, as well.
Talented bunch of folks, but I would thank them to keep their hands off of my Zepplin LP collection.
This kind of goes along with my though that "Just because you can doesn't mean you should."
How to write the jazz version of a popular song- Write, and play on an electric piano, a 50 bar intro that has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the song. Pause. Nod a count-in that makes you look like you assume none of your band mates can count to four.
After that, it was actually pretty good.
After that, it was actually pretty good.
I am reminded of my high school band director. We would all, with some justification, dump on Muzak. But he pointed out that elevator music kept a lot of musicians gainfully employed so they could work on other things that didn't pay.
I have no problem with radically reinterpreting a song. Postmodern Jukebox does it all the time and it's amazing. The problem with this, in my opinion, is that it's actually TOO much like Zeppelin. They make a gesture toward rocking out the chorus, but then stuff it with a couple of easy-listening chords at the end. If they had gone for a full-on sophisticated Lake Street Dive-style take on the song it could have been very cool.
Here's an example of a totally changed cover, mellowing out a rock song, that I think really works: Joss Stone making a funk tune out of the White Stripes.
(original song for those who don't know it):
I have no problem with radically reinterpreting a song. Postmodern Jukebox does it all the time and it's amazing. The problem with this, in my opinion, is that it's actually TOO much like Zeppelin. They make a gesture toward rocking out the chorus, but then stuff it with a couple of easy-listening chords at the end. If they had gone for a full-on sophisticated Lake Street Dive-style take on the song it could have been very cool.
Here's an example of a totally changed cover, mellowing out a rock song, that I think really works: Joss Stone making a funk tune out of the White Stripes.
(original song for those who don't know it):
Great songs can withstand almost any number of different arrangements. I actually think this is a pretty good version. Is it as good as the original? Not in my opinion, but it holds up well on its own merits.
Sounds in some ways like a lush arrangement of a Zepparella cover. The only issue I have with it is that it meanders so far between folk-jazz and rock, but never seems to land very firmly on either foot. The end result for me is an arrangement that doesn't seem quite sure what it wants to be, besides clever. I can certainly appreciate cleverness, but it's not always easy to groove/rock to it.
They're clearly a very skilled group though, and I don't begrudge anyone their interpretation, so to each his/her own.
They're clearly a very skilled group though, and I don't begrudge anyone their interpretation, so to each his/her own.
Last edited:
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,042
- 45,892
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
Close, but it's mostly a miss for me due to lack of focus. I'd prefer a greater amount of deconstruction, personally. Several years ago I had a club gig mixing these folks, who have a way of springing some real mashup surprises:
Edit: as with all YouTube vids (IMO), best listened to and not watched.
Last edited:
if cleaverness was the reason for popularity then Zappa would have outsold the Beatles and MJ combined. Just because its hard to play don't make it great either.
So much of the original song content and instrumental melodies are Killer, like the chorus, but when they add chords to the chorus to groove transition, it's Just Horrible. The 1st guitar solo was inappropriate, maybe ok for 'mersh c&w. Violin solo was better... oh after the 4th guitar solo the guy is warming up, he's fast. wow. couldn't finish sorry. immature approach in this age of surface excitement. She is quite a professional though! Lordy!
I keep thinking comments from the Great British Bake-off. It's bland, no one flavor stands out, all the flavors just run together. I'm not getting the rock in it. You're sure there's rock and roll in it? I'm not getting the rock and roll. What we're looking for is a good "snap"; I'm not getting a "snap."
Oh and look, there's a soggy bottom.
My favorite part is that they did the whole video to make it look like it's an "all at once live" recording but clearly they're all just playing along. No, wait, my favorite part was cutting to the acoustic guitar on the electric fill. No wait, definitely my favorite part was stopping the playback.
Fatuous covers like this are dangerous. Sometimes it comes across as an ego trip, because it looks like you think you've improved on the original, when your version is really a mediocre, uninspired performance that adds nothing that wasn't already in the original, and lacks all of the things that made the original memorable.
The only reason to do a version like this is because a movie wants to use the song in their soundtrack and can't afford the original, a movie with fat stacks of cash that belong in your bank account.
Oh and look, there's a soggy bottom.
My favorite part is that they did the whole video to make it look like it's an "all at once live" recording but clearly they're all just playing along. No, wait, my favorite part was cutting to the acoustic guitar on the electric fill. No wait, definitely my favorite part was stopping the playback.
Fatuous covers like this are dangerous. Sometimes it comes across as an ego trip, because it looks like you think you've improved on the original, when your version is really a mediocre, uninspired performance that adds nothing that wasn't already in the original, and lacks all of the things that made the original memorable.
The only reason to do a version like this is because a movie wants to use the song in their soundtrack and can't afford the original, a movie with fat stacks of cash that belong in your bank account.
The antithesis of rock IMO.
Yet another “tasteful reinterpretation” of a rock song by of a group of highly skilled and educated musicians who are slumming in a genre they either don’t “get” or maybe just don't have any real respect for.
Yet another “tasteful reinterpretation” of a rock song by of a group of highly skilled and educated musicians who are slumming in a genre they either don’t “get” or maybe just don't have any real respect for.
Latest posts
-
-
I asked for feedback here a little while ago, and this is what it turned into- Latest: MultiScaleMale
-
-
