Cleaning Up Covers
As I was cleaning up my desk, and doing cleaning in general, I found a scrap of paper with notes for a planned blog entry. As these things always happen, the discovery occured less than five minutes after I read this thread on Snark, where the question of pre-planning blog posts was asked.
But I’m not going to answer that in depth here. 
Instead, I shall actually write up that post I apparently meant to but never did! Where I hop on the bandwagon and write up my list of favourite covers. In no particular order, of course.
Nellie, I get everything from you, don’t I?
Band From TV - “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
It’s got Hugh Laurie on keyboard, Greg Grunberg on drums, and a couple of other TV people. For that alone it wins.
Placebo - “Running Up That Hill”
My favourite covers are those that take a song and make it their own. In this case the Kate Bush classic goes from female vocals and a sound that makes me feel like I’ve taken something to a male-vocaled melancholic sound.
Snow Patrol - “Crazy In Love”
Yes. They covered the Beyoncé song. It’s heavier, rockier and just plain amusing to hear a guy singing about needing to buy a new dress.
Goodnight Nurse - “Milkshake”
Notice a theme? Very very different artists covering songs that are not of their genre. It’s very different in sound, much heavier, rockier. Awesome though.
Nightwish - “Walking In the Air”
This song, from the movie The Snowman is a part of my childhood. When Nightwish covered it they managed to keep the magic while making it heavier, very distinctively Nightwish. It’s the combination of the new instruments that really make it - when I heard Tarja’s version of it, I felt like someone had just raped my childhood. ‘Nuff said.
Rasputina - “Bad Moon Rising”
I was going to put This Little Piggy in here, but I changed my mind. In true Rasputina style, it is very distinctive, very different from the Creedence Clearwater Revival version I was familiar with. In some parts especially it sounds like a lament, not just a warning.
Frou Frou - “Holding Out For A Hero”
Covered for the movie Shrek 2, Frou Frou adds their own very distinctive electronic style - and Imogen Heap’s vocals don’t hurt either! It’s a striking contrast, at least, with the other cover version from the movie, by Jennifer Saunders.
Spiritual Front - “Thank God I’m Pretty”
In the EP Dead Is The New Alive the track is transformed from Emilie Autumn’s signature style to a piano-driven tune sung by a man. But it is awesome because he’s singing about men jerking off when he’s singing and looking good without clothes on. And being pretty, of course.
Panic! At The Disco - “This Is Halloween”
Does this one count? Either way, I’m adding it. For me, this song is made by the vocals, smooth yet slightly creepy. “I am the who when you call “who’s there?”" I love that bit.
Within Temptation - “Running Up That Hill”
This song has been covered a lot and the symphonic metal band sounds completely different to the Placebo version. Heavy, with a wide variety of instruments and of course Sharon den Adel’s vocals. Less trippy than the original, and my preferred version.
Three Artists: Round 2
Okay, it’s clear that I cannot think of anything to blog about except to make another AMGMC post. Once again, the idea was started by Nellie, so many thanks to her.
