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Cover Albums. Art or Fart?

Seth

22:34 / 05.12.01

I only know of only a couple of these. Tori Amos did one, which I hear is good (although I may never actually hear it due to my ongoing Tori problems).

Fish did one, notable for a brilliant cover of "Fearless" by Pink Floyd.

Any more for any more?

The Return Of Rothkoid

23:26 / 05.12.01

Gerald Collier's cover of "Fearless" is pretty first-rate, also.

Of course, many cover albums are shite. Those "a tribute to..." discs can be dire as hell (the Tom Waits ones in particular suck arse), but I do remember hearing some good stuff on the goth tribute to Madonna one...

The Sinister Haiku Bureau

02:10 / 06.12.01

are we talking about individual artists/bands doing covers of their favourite songs (like guns n roses spaghetti incident), or tribute albums (multiple bands covering the works of an individual artist (like if i were a carpenter)? Or both? or even a compilation album of covers (can't think of any offhand, probably some film soundtracks though).
The first case could be seen, in some theoretical cases, as a waste of time, which the band/musician in question should have spent working on original material... the second... often a good thing, i suppose, especially when the covering artists are generally of a different genre to the covered artist...i often find myself wondering what, for example an Atari Teenage Riot cover of a smiths song would sound like...and i probably wouldn't give a damn about the carpenters were it not for the 'if i were a carpenter' album....

The Return Of Rothkoid

08:49 / 06.12.01

I like the idea of the cover tune in terms of something that a band does at a gig as a bit of a thrill or a tribute, or whatever - You Am I used to play covers all the time at their gigs (prolly still do) and would occasionally stick 'em on as b-sides on singles. However, to release a cover as a single on its own - for some reason, that doesn't really work for me. Don't know why - it just irks me. Especially albums full. They sound more like contractual obligation than anything else. I know there's exceptions, but generally they just seem ... odious... to me.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:49 / 06.12.01

Laibach's cover of "Let It Be" (the album) is fantastic.
Nick Cave's "Kicking Against The Pricks" is (of course) wonderful.
Siouxsie & the Banshees "Through The Looking Glass"
For individual songs, I'd have to say the following are all equal faves:
Spell: "Seasons In The Sun"
Diamanda Galas: "Gloomy Sunday"
Strawberry Switchblade: "Jolene"

deja_vroom

10:23 / 06.12.01

*Sliiightly off-topic*
Here in Brazil the molochs at the record industry are desperated for the big next thing that will sell 2 million records in a summer and disappear in well-deserved obscurity in the next.
While this doesn't happen, they flood the market with tributes, covers, unpluggeds and live records from a lot of insipid "artists".
We had about 7 unpluggeds, 4 cover records, 5 live records, 3 tribute ones... and so on. All utter crap. It's really irritating.

rizla mission

14:16 / 06.12.01

Cat Power - The Cover's Record

Admittedly I'm only familiar with the original version of one of the 11 songs, but this is a wonderful, wonderful album.

grant

14:16 / 06.12.01

We were having this discussion over lunch yesterday, and I didn't bring it up then but I will now:

One of the best albums ever recorded was Yo La Tengo's "Fakebook." Best name for a cover album, too (a "fakebook" is a book of sheet music for hit songs not licensed by the musician or publisher - it's someone's best guess at how the songs should be arranged.)

It's all covers from a wide variety of sources (John Cale to 50s doowop to 90s indiepop) and it all sounds like Yo La Tengo and no one else.

I loooove covers. Hate close covers, love the bizarre, twisty ones. I think the Cramps' first album (EP, really) was all covers. And it was the Cramps, no one else.

That's what I look for in tribute disks, too. Love 'em, love 'em.

Margin Walker

15:37 / 06.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
Cat Power - The Cover's Record

Dammit, you beat me to it! From the hefty "I've not heard it, but would give my eyeteeth for a mint copy" file:

Pussy Galore's unabridged "Exile On Main Street". I mean, how cool would it be to hear Jon Spencer yowling "Rocks Off", y'know?

rizla mission

08:54 / 07.12.01

I've always wanted to hear that too.

In a similar, but more pointless, vein, there was this record released earlier this year which consisted of this lo-fi guy re-rceording the whole of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' in his bedroom on a budget of about 10p.

There an absolutely brilliant review of it here.

Cop Killer

20:11 / 07.12.01

Riz, you can hear a bit of Pussy Galore's cover of the Exhile On Mainstreet album on their cd Corpse Love which I'm pretty sure is still in print. Their version of "Turd on a Bun" is a lot of fun...if you like Pussy Galore, at least.

Jack The Bodiless

11:08 / 08.12.01

The best covers album ever? I'm pretty sure it's that one where loads of awful no-song eighties hair guitar bands covered Van Halen tunes (horrible, horrible idea)... and then somebody had the amazing idea of getting goth and industrial acts to remix the cheesy versions of classic VH. And then they decided it was ready to release. Haven't heard it yet, am ordering it... doesn't that sound beautiful?

higuita

11:24 / 08.12.01

There's always Anthrax's Attack of the Killer B's - some original stuff but some Kiss, Thin Lizzy etc covers. Sweet.
Or Garage Days re-revisited by Metallica featuring covers of Killing Joke, Diamondhead and Budgie. Whooo!

...and I like Wyclef Jean's version of Wish you were here. Actually managed to make that wank that Pink Floyd specialise in sound interesting.

that

11:31 / 08.12.01

quote:Originally posted by Jack The Bodiless:
doesn't that sound beautiful?

Yes. What is it called?

[ 08-12-2001: Message edited by: Cholister ]

Captain Zoom

13:15 / 08.12.01

I hated Fish's cover album. He seemed to take good songs and turn them into eighties pop nonsense.

mr. y - wank? Pink Floyd? Them's fightin' words!

Men Without Hats did a great cover of I Am The Walrus, and George Martin's last album where he had diverse artists (Jim Carey to Celine Dion) do remakes of Beatles songs had some bright spots. Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin doing Come Together is sublime.

I think cover albums are a bit dodgy in general. Didn't Bowie do one? He covered See Emily Play on it. Anyone heard it? That's one I'd be interested in listening to.

Zoom.

Captain Zoom

13:18 / 08.12.01

Oh, and what is the criteria for it being a cover album. When Eric Clapton recorded From The Cradle, which was a collection of blues standards, did that count as a cover album? A lot of bluesmen do, or did, that, playing other people's music. What about a jazz singer doing an album of jazz standards? Perhaps the definition of cover album that we're looking for here is an album that is done by a "pop music" (read popular) group, covering "pop music".

Yes? No? Albatross?

Zoom.

The Return Of Rothkoid

09:14 / 09.12.01

Good point. Same's true with jazz tunes; how far back do you have to go for a version not to be a cover? Is any song you didn't write yourself a cover?

Matthew Fluxington

09:42 / 09.12.01

quote:Originally posted by The Return Of Rothkoid:
Is any song you didn't write yourself a cover?

Simply put: yes. That is the definition of a what a cover is, unless the song was written especially for you to perform. You can call it a remake, or an interpretation, or whatever. It's a song by someone else that someone other than the author(s) (or the performer the song was written for)is performing.

We can all thank Bob Dylan and The Beatles for permanently changing the focus of the record industry from performers interpreting the works of songwriters to performers being expected to write their own material... and we'll thank them by making two of the most ubiquitously covered artists in the history of popular music...

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: Flux = Traffic Tiger ]

The Return Of Rothkoid

09:42 / 09.12.01

Flux: dang, unclear wording. Though you've answered it, I did mean that anyone who performs a song that wasn't authored by them (ie: everybody who ever sang a songwriter's song, rather than their own three-chord chunker) could be considered as having performed a cover, even if the song were made popular by them...

Actually, it's a bit of a cack point. Gah.

Seth

15:40 / 09.12.01

Jack: that VH cover/remix album sounds like the best idea anyone's ever had (besides EVH's parents deciding to bump and grind that blessed night). Can I get a copy when it arrives?

Jack The Bodiless

16:30 / 12.12.01

It's called Hot For Remixes, Cholister.

Seth

13:11 / 13.12.01

I was listening to some of Tricky's covers yesterday. Awesome: everyone usually sites "Black Steel," but for sheer screwed up gender-bending effect I have to lay my money on "Bad Dreams" from the PMT album (can't remember who did the original off the top of my head).

pointless and uncalled for

13:26 / 13.12.01

Wedding Present - Come up and see me (make me smile)

Excellent cover.

If remixes count - and I don't think they do - Chemical Brothers did great work on a Spiritualised track and a Mercury Rev track.

The names elude me momentarily.

To me a good cover is when an artist/group etc takes a track and totally makes it their bitch. Emulation is just sad.

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