mr.meaty
10-22-2007, 03:49 PM
Under the Covers
Written By: (NOT POSTING MY REAL NAME)
New bands, and old songs, the relationship between the two can at times be a great thing, or can be compared to Whitney and Bobby.
Fearless Records, the little label that has brought us some of the most versatile punk band bands as of late is hoping to strike musical gold yet again with this recent CD of all covers.
Starting in 2000, with the "Punk Goes Metal" CD, Fearless Records has found itself a hit series that continues to surprise listeners and artists. (For those of you who do not know, the “Punk Goes…” series features modern punk bands covering songs, with the exception of “Punk Goes Acoustic”)
With four CD's released within 6 years and "Punk Goes 90's" to be released on May 9th, this continuing series looks to have a promising future, as do the bands featured.
As for the topic of cover songs, sure, the original versions are good and all, but after a while of hearing the same song over and over, it gets tiring. I believe that cover songs breathe new life into old songs, while most of the time paying homage to the original band.
This past week I had a chance to interview a member of two bands featured on “Punk Goes 90’s”. Pouyan, the keyboardist from Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and Brian the guitarist from Bleeding Through.
Pouyan, whose band performed an 80’s sounding “Losing My Religion”, said, “None of the members are really fans of R.E.M., but they liked that song, and the lyrics.” Also covering a song like that was a more challenging choice, and he says they had to step it up, and mix his bands style with the original. When asked what it meant to him to cover such a hit song he said “It’s awesome. That song had such a huge impact.” On the topic of cover songs, he felt that some covers are good, if done well, and that the focus of bands should be on original music.
Brian, the guitarist from the metal band Bleeding Through (whose band departed from their metal roots and did a dead on cover of the song “Stars” by HUM) said his band chose the song they did because a few of the songs they wanted to cover were already chosen, and they believe HUM was an overlooked band. When asked about his bands motivation to join the “Punk Goes..” series, he replied “Just because that type of music, the songs they gave us to pick from were big when were growing up”, and “I mean, it’s awesome, it’s cool that we have opportunities to do stuff like this.”
He seems to have a different view on covers songs than Pouyan, saying “A lot of bands were broken from covers, like Limp Bizkit it’s a fun thing.”
Some of the highlights on this CD include Gym Class Heroes hip-hop/punk rock version of Red Hot Chili Peppers smash hit “Under The Bridge”, Anberlin’s lively cover of the Depeche Mode song “Enjoy the Silence”, and The Killing Moon’s screamo cover of “You Oughtta Know”. However I feel that the three best songs on this CD are the cover of “Wonderwall” by Cartel, which sounds simply amazing, the true punk rock cover of “Hey Jealousy” performed by rookies to the music industry Hit The Lights and the internet sensation Bedlight for Blue Eyes with their emotionally charged acoustic version of Third Eye Blind’s song “Jumper. These bands have gone and done something so rare in the music industry nowadays, they took other artists hit songs, and made them their own.
Overall I feel mixed about this CD. Some songs sound great, while others are severely lacking and to be quite frank are an insult to the music industry. However, if you loved the music of the 90’s or are a fan of any band on the CD, definitely check out this album whether or not it’s good is up to you.
Written By: (NOT POSTING MY REAL NAME)
New bands, and old songs, the relationship between the two can at times be a great thing, or can be compared to Whitney and Bobby.
Fearless Records, the little label that has brought us some of the most versatile punk band bands as of late is hoping to strike musical gold yet again with this recent CD of all covers.
Starting in 2000, with the "Punk Goes Metal" CD, Fearless Records has found itself a hit series that continues to surprise listeners and artists. (For those of you who do not know, the “Punk Goes…” series features modern punk bands covering songs, with the exception of “Punk Goes Acoustic”)
With four CD's released within 6 years and "Punk Goes 90's" to be released on May 9th, this continuing series looks to have a promising future, as do the bands featured.
As for the topic of cover songs, sure, the original versions are good and all, but after a while of hearing the same song over and over, it gets tiring. I believe that cover songs breathe new life into old songs, while most of the time paying homage to the original band.
This past week I had a chance to interview a member of two bands featured on “Punk Goes 90’s”. Pouyan, the keyboardist from Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and Brian the guitarist from Bleeding Through.
Pouyan, whose band performed an 80’s sounding “Losing My Religion”, said, “None of the members are really fans of R.E.M., but they liked that song, and the lyrics.” Also covering a song like that was a more challenging choice, and he says they had to step it up, and mix his bands style with the original. When asked what it meant to him to cover such a hit song he said “It’s awesome. That song had such a huge impact.” On the topic of cover songs, he felt that some covers are good, if done well, and that the focus of bands should be on original music.
Brian, the guitarist from the metal band Bleeding Through (whose band departed from their metal roots and did a dead on cover of the song “Stars” by HUM) said his band chose the song they did because a few of the songs they wanted to cover were already chosen, and they believe HUM was an overlooked band. When asked about his bands motivation to join the “Punk Goes..” series, he replied “Just because that type of music, the songs they gave us to pick from were big when were growing up”, and “I mean, it’s awesome, it’s cool that we have opportunities to do stuff like this.”
He seems to have a different view on covers songs than Pouyan, saying “A lot of bands were broken from covers, like Limp Bizkit it’s a fun thing.”
Some of the highlights on this CD include Gym Class Heroes hip-hop/punk rock version of Red Hot Chili Peppers smash hit “Under The Bridge”, Anberlin’s lively cover of the Depeche Mode song “Enjoy the Silence”, and The Killing Moon’s screamo cover of “You Oughtta Know”. However I feel that the three best songs on this CD are the cover of “Wonderwall” by Cartel, which sounds simply amazing, the true punk rock cover of “Hey Jealousy” performed by rookies to the music industry Hit The Lights and the internet sensation Bedlight for Blue Eyes with their emotionally charged acoustic version of Third Eye Blind’s song “Jumper. These bands have gone and done something so rare in the music industry nowadays, they took other artists hit songs, and made them their own.
Overall I feel mixed about this CD. Some songs sound great, while others are severely lacking and to be quite frank are an insult to the music industry. However, if you loved the music of the 90’s or are a fan of any band on the CD, definitely check out this album whether or not it’s good is up to you.