Monday 9 March 2009

Depeche Mode Day 5 - Cover well?

Yep, I know, I missed a day. Well, 4 days actually. I failed - but that's what you get for having a social life filled with "Watchmen", The FA Cup and ogling at Strippers at my mate's 30th.

So, where was I? Ah, yes - cover versions, helped along by The Saturdays recent foray. Quite a lot of them, in fact. A bit of research bequeathed an entire website that would probably yield a few thousand for me to look at. Sod that, obviously.

What's evident is the covers out there generally nod towards the influence Depeche have had towards rock and dance. The former is mostly represented by a goth crowd while the latter is pretty varied, but seems to consist of a lot of efficient Germans who approach their love of Depeche like they approcah their competitiveness in beating the Brits to the sunbeds in Kos. However, as I'm a bit of a headbanger, I'm probably only in a position to judge the effectiveness of the long-haired brigade's attempts. So with that, here's a critique inspired by Clint Eastwood:

THE GOOD:







Solid, no question. The song is recognisable, and so are the band, which is the best combination. I'm all up for a band doing something interesting with anyone else's song, as long as they don't compromise themselves or try to ape the original too much. Good job. And Christina Scabbia's well fit, innit.

THE BAD







Maybe not a total butchering, but it all sounds so pointless, expecially when you consider his impressive cover of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams. It's Marilyn on auto-pilot and not trying, and his sickly egocentric voice doesn't fit the song. Or maybe the whole thing sounds bad when you consider Johnny Cash's far superior version.

THE UGLY







Ouch. Proof positive why Rammstein were right to sing in their native German.

Here's a better example of the song covered far better by Shiny Toy Guns

Having a dig on Youtube or Spotify yields a few interesting results here and there, especially from the teens in their bedrooms - another reason to rue this otherwise useful method of communication. However if you want to spend the money, you'll be easily able to track down "For The Masses", a pretty respectable collection of covers from some credible names. It's worth it just for Locust's loungecore version of Master and Servant.

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