Music Monday - Covers

Some bands are just over-rated. Really any band that gets 'big' gets over-rated to some degree. The level of how over-rated the band is depends on your opinion of the band. If you liked them when they were 'small', maybe you remember when they were 'good'. Maybe you think they were never any good. Maybe you're impressed by how creative the band has managed to stay. Whatever.

There are certain bands that are big but, in my opinion, they aren't all that great. A fine way to tell is when other bands cover their songs and the cover versions are superior to the originals. That's why I say I don't like the Eagles or Metallica. Bah.

As regards the Eagles, I can admit that my opinion regarding the song 'Desperado' may be influenced by the fact that their version wasn't the first one I heard. My mother has been a long-time fan of singer Johnny Rodriguez and it's his version that I'm most familiar with hearing. The phrasing in his version sounds right to me, the way that the lyrics pour from him capture the emotion of the song better than the Eagles version, in my opinion anyway. Listen, see what you think:

http://www.rhapsody.com/player?type=track&id=tra.2713081&remote=false&page=&pageregion=&guid=&from=&__pcode=cmt

It's the vocals that often make the difference. 'Enter Sandman' may be Metallica's best known song but James Hetfield's vocal sounds like it's sung by a pre-teenager compared to the growl that Lemmy of Motorhead can apply to it. It's a creepier song in Lemmy's hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY8_RTe5Pz0

For that matter, Dicky from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones sounds growlier and creepy than Hetfield. How does a ska band sound more metal than a 'metal' band?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRBNuTNWHso

Covers. Man I love them. Sometimes.