Covers are a mixed bag. For classic acts who've disbanded or in the case of those from eras long gone, a cover song or even a tribute band is an awesome way to keep the music of that act alive and fresh in people's minds. By copying the exact sound and spirit of a bygone act, its almost like they never realy left in the first place.
But we're not going to be covering that here in Episode 2. No sir, we're going to touch upon a selection of artists who have taken a song, and then reforged it with a life of its own. The result is that the focus becomes less about the artist performing it than the song itself and how it was adapted to the performer's will.
My philosophy on these kinds of reinventions has always been that if you are going to cover thge song: own it. Make it your own. Don't try ti impress me with your ability to sound like the opriginal, because if I wanted that, I'd just go listen to the source.
So here we go, four songs, eight artists, and a final shot from a legend.
First up is Frankenstien originally performed by the Edgar Winter Group and released on the album 'They Only Come Out At Night'. The single went on to sell over a million copies in 1973.
In 1991 the thrash metal band Overkill released a cover of 'Frankenstien' on their album, 'Horrorscope'.
Roadhouse Blues was originally released as a single from the album 'Morrison Hotel' in 1970 from The Doors. It quickly became an intergral part of the group's setlist in the following years.
The cover is performed by the industrial techno-metal band Ministry. The album 'The Last Sucker' took what was an easy-riding blues song and turned it inside-out. It delivered a massive dose of nitrous to what would otherwise be a Driving Ms Daisy kind of song.
When I researched Rusty Cage, I was taken aback a bit. I knew that Johnny Cash and the band Soundgarden had both released their own versions of the song , but I didn't know that Soundgarden originally wrote it. Released in 1991 on the album Badmotorfinger, Soundgarden's third single from the record became an instant hit.
And then in 1996 Johnny Cash released his version on his album, Unchained, which won a Grammy award for best country album. Cash's version strips back the distortion and glam of the original song and reveals that Soundgarden's original song was still an epic tune without hiding it under a slew of clever sound production tricks.
Metallica has made itself a household name by churning out more than a dozen top-selling albums, including a fair anount of cover songs themselves. But Master Of Puppets from the 1986 album of the same name has generated an untold number of followers and admirerers. In 26 years, the song is still heavy, technically inspiring, and relevant.
The project band Hellsau from Bern, Switzerland only released one album as far as I can tell, but before that happened, they appeared on a Metallica Tribute album called The Blackest Metallica. Their cover of Master Of Puppets is nothing short of supernatural.
(No Website Available.)
The final call in episode 2 goes out to Johnny cash again. the track God's Gonna Cut You Down came to my attention in the trailer for the movie remake of True Grit. I heard it playing in the background and it sent me off on a blitz websearch that brought me to the posthumously released video that's a veritable who's who of celebrity lip synching the tune. The sound is easily one of Cash's best, and even these many years later it still makes me want to raise a glass to the man in black.
Rock on,
J \m/
