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Helter Skelter

Which Helter Skelter ROCKS???

  • Mötley Crüe

    Votes: 5 7.5%

  • Ian Gillan

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Pat Benatar

    Votes: 1 1.5%

  • Aerosmith

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • U2

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Oasis

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Souixsee and the Banshees

    Votes: 2 3.0%

  • None Rocked - I don't think this song ROCKS

    Votes: 2 3.0%

  • When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the carrots

    Votes: 4 6.0%

  • Beatles!

    Votes: 53 79.1%
  • Total voters
    67
mellowinman

mellowinman

Free Man
Oct 19, 2011
11,818
18,518
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Minneapolis
#1
In 1983, one of my friends was trying to convince me that a band called
Mötley Crüe truly rocked. They played the entire "Shout at the Devil" album to me, including this famous cover:



For me, that did not truly rock; I still believe the original rocked more.



The original has this insane, unhinged feel, with a fantastic performance by Ringo, and a vocal by Paul McCartney that has yet to be equaled. I loved the "e string being pulled out of tune" that was the primary dissonant note on the song, and just the overall flavor of the track.

Here are some other takes on it:



I've always been a huge Ian Gillan fan, but that track takes away a few cool points, for me. A little too stylized; not nearly raw enough; for me it just doesn't rock.



I liked this Pat Benatar take. Not as much as the original, but I saw her in concert, and she did this one, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.



For me, Aerosmith's best Beatles covers will always be Come Together and I'm Down. I think they missed the mark on this one.



I have nothing to say about that.



I have less than nothing to say about that.

And finally, we round it out with:

 
#7
I've never heard a cover of Helter Skelter that I thought approached the original version. The Motley Crue version is just blunted and not nearly as interesting. Crunchy power chords do not a heavy song make. Not in and of themselves. And the vocal lacks the passion that Sir Paul laid down. Helter Skelter was heavy/rockin' by Beatles standards but if Macca was attempting to prove the Beatles could do what the Who did (which by my understanding was part of the inspiration for the track) then I think he failed. Instead it's a wonderfully individual song that really only the Beatles could do.

Honestly, if I were to think of a band that SHOULD cover Helter Skelter it'd probably be someone along the lines of Sonic Youth.

bassrich said:
Ive always like Siouxie and the Banshees version very disjointed second would be the original. U2's in the worst IMO
Click to expand...

I'm a moderate U2 fan (I thought Achtung Baby was great and have liked most albums they've done) but honestly I think they do the worst cover versions of any major band I've ever heard. Their Helter Skelter was awful but then again I thought their "All Along the Watchtower", "Beat on the Brat", "People Get Ready" and especially "Fortunate Son" version were all terrible. YMMV.
 
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Reactions: Willie The Pimp and tbz
#20
The Beatles did the only version worth talking about.
If you've ever heard the isolated bass, Lennon sounds pretty bad on it, even out of time in places, yet it sounds perfect in the mix.
McCartney's vocal was superb. Amazing track.
The only problem is the Manson connection, which of course wasn't their fault.
 

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