Old Mans Rant - original bands doing cover versions

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

SexyGreyFox

Man of Honour
Joined
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Stoke on Trent
Over the last 4 weeks I've been to see 4 'original' young bands and to be honest I'm horrified.

1st band -
Looked good, kicked in with one of their own songs and sounded like classic 70's rock. Excellent musicianship couldn't fault them. 2nd song their own but then decided to do Touch Too Much by ACDC and it was awful. It was as though they hadn't listened to the basics of the song and just did their own thing. 4th and 5th were their own and then came Sweet Child Of Mine which again was awful.
Understand that I'm not being picky because I normally watch cover bands but these lads hadn't bothered to listen to the record. This went on all night - own songs excellent, covers awful.

2nd band -
Death/thrash metal. First 3 songs were excellent and the musicianship was very high. 4th song was Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy which was awful. It wasn't as though they'd decided to do a Slayer version of it, it was just awful. 5th and 6th songs were their own and excellent. 7th was Sin City by ACDC and once again they hadn't listened to the original. The problem with this band was that Death/thrash metal followed by 70's rock didn't exactly work.

3rd band -
I can't even explain how excellent this band was. I can't even genre them because they were so different. Dream theater meets It Bites meets The Doors meets XTC meets Tom Waits etc etc. Their own songs were so off the wall they were brilliant but again they did about 6 covers that weren't too good or just didn't fit in with their style. They completed the ultimate sin when they played Johnny B Goode as an encore and about 10 of us just looked at each other in amazement. This was like Dream Theater deciding to do a normal version of Agadoo as an encore. One bloke in the pub actually told them off but being young they hadn't realised their error.

4th band -
Awful. Their own songs were played awful but their covers were even worse. For about the 10th time in over 30 years of watching bands I had to walk out after about 6 songs. Imagine my surprise when somebody bought me a cd in the week and it was them. I put it on and it was amazing. Really well recorded and they sounded like the LA's and Cast with really catchy songs. Live they were a piece of poo. Hopefully I'm giving this band a second chance this weekend.

So my advice to young bands who do their own music with the odd cover song -
Please Please Please listen to the song you are covering. Listen to the stops and starts and all those things that make the original so popular.
Pick a cover that slips in with the rest of your material and isn't poles apart.
If you're doing original material then try and play no covers at all if you can get away with it.
 
Fair enough rant, but surly cover rants have to be different enough in order to be decent cover songs anyway?

I'm sure that a death metal cover of a 70's rock song may sound terrible at first glance, but Limp Bizkit did a amazing/terrible cover of Faith by George Michael, which I actually prefer to the original.

Strangely, I know people who prefer the Scissor Sister's version of Comfortably Numb to the 'slow and boring original. Personally I don't think cover songs are very good unless they are different. Ronan Keating and Iris for example.
 
Nitefly said:
Fair enough rant, but surly cover rants have to be different enough in order to be decent cover songs anyway?
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I've got absolutely loads of cover albums dedicated to Zeppelin, Sabbath, Metallica and so on done by bands of all categories and in completely different styles but all share the same goal - they listened to the original version.
Above are bands that haven't listened.
I too was very guilty of this when I was younger.
Around 77 I was asked which version of Three Times A Lady by The Commodores I was doing and it was only after listening to the original that I realised I had sung it all the way through with a different melody.
I then got all our set on vinyl and was gobsmacked at how much had been changed.
For instance, Long Train Running had the whole of the quiet bit missing because we couldn't be bothered doing it. Other middle 8's of other songs were missing because they were complicated.
I learnt then that it was really important to at least listen to the original and get somewhere close.
Check out Me First And The Gimme Gimmes. Every song they do is a cover done in a completely different style but still contains the essence of the original.
 
Sorry Dmpoole but why does it make you so angry? Surely the fact that they were up on stage and in a band in the first place warrants some sort of praise, they are doing what seems good to them for now and like yourself will probably realise their errors later in their life. You say yourself that you did it, why shouldn't they, it's not like they can learn from your mistakes, only from their own.

Some people just enjoy playing covers even if they aren't perfect.
 
I don't really have any time for covers really. A classic song is a classic for a reason - it is as close to perfect as it can be. Having a half decent/ turd band cover it thinking they can make it better is just insulting. You can't better something that is already a classic.

If someone must insist on covering another band, at least choose the mediocre songs and try to improve on those. You cannot better Zep's Stairway, Skynrds Freebird, GnR's Sweet Child, etc etc etc. The original band did it best period. Other versions suck when placed side by side.

The only time I'd say otherwise is in regard to dance acts that sample/remix the original songs to make something completely different and original - The prime example that comes to mind is the Plump DJ's mix of The Door's Roadhouse Blues, which is utterly mindblowing.
 
I see absolutely nothing wrong with a band playing a few of their favourite songs live. They might make a pigs ear of it but to be honest with you, I find that amusing :)

Saying that any band have perfected a song is utter rubbish, there are plenty of live versions by original bands that vary massively from performance to performance so if a song has been perfected in a way that no other band should ever play it live then surely the original artists should never play it again unless they are always note for note perfect.

I have to agree that some covers are downright terrible but not so bad that I would ever let it bother me. Wether a band can improve on the original song is completely a matter of personal taste.

I say let bands play what they want, if you don't like it then watch something else.

I would also point out that Dmpoole has played several cover versions, what if someone decided that they weren't as good as the original and in fact didn't like them, would you take notice and stop playing them live or tell the heathen where he could stick his comment? ;)
 
Sweetloaf said:
I would also point out that Dmpoole has played several cover versions, what if someone decided that they weren't as good as the original and in fact didn't like them, would you take notice and stop playing them live or tell the heathen where he could stick his comment? ;)
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Several - I play 1000's.

We are regarded as one of the best cover bands in the Potteries and have a following and gig list to prove it.
HOWEVER, I also realise that at least 60% of our audience are tone deaf and wouldn't know if we played wrong chords all night and I hit wrong vocal notes - they like what they hear.
I will always listen to constructive criticism and I won't let anything past the practise room unless I know we can play it in front of our rival cover bands and they'll be impressed.
Many cover songs have come and gone because we weren't quite doing them justice.

And theres the argument - doing the song justice.
Here in this forum we have a link to an Alanis Morisette cover of a Black Eyed Peas song, totally different but she's listened to the original, put her own style on it and done it justice.
Last night I went to see a covers band consisting of 4 x 50 year olds and they were excellent. They'd listened to the original songs, put their own twists on them, slightly altered here and there and done every song justice.
I don't even need to mention Hayseed Dixie who take every song and alter it to a bluegrass style but every song is still recogniseable to the original.
The bands in the OP haven't even listened to the original songs and are basically doing them to be on the same circuit that I'm on. The circuit I'm on doesn't really allow bands to play all their own material because they will empty a pub in seconds (audiences are fickle and need to hear what they know).
The bands above have decided to play several cover versions to keep the audience on their side while playing their own stuff however it backfires because the covers are so awful and all 4 bands emptied the pubs.
Theres absolutely nothing wrong with a band paying homage to their heroes but try and at least listen to the original. Its quite entertaining when one of these bands start a cover and all the audience is looking at each other wondering what it is.
 
Sounds to me like a combination of the bands trying to play to the wrong crowd and the venues not really doing their homework on the bands that play there. If the band aren't comfortable with what they have to play then they are playing in the wrong place for one reason or another.

You said a couple of the bands had good original songs so IMO your rant should be about why people are unaccepting of new talent and unfamiliarity.

On the bright side, the more crap there is around, the better you will seem :)

dmpoole said:
(audiences are fickle and need to hear what they know).
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I'd have to disagree, if a band is truly that good, people will stay, and I do mean REALLY good :)

Most people don't know the likes of Buddy Guy but I'm betting that if he strolled into a pub and plugged himself in, people would stick around :cool:
 
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Sweetloaf said:
Most people don't know the likes of Buddy Guy but I'm betting that if he strolled into a pub and plugged himself in, people would stick around :cool:
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Hmm, not strictly true.
Last saturday I went to watch my mates band called Testify and they are a superb Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band.
Within 30 mins the audience was getting smaller and after 90 mins it was virtually empty. if SRV himself had walked in and played it wouldn't have made any difference.
For the last song the band invited me up and we did Black Night by Deep Purple and all of a sudden the remaining audience woke up. This resulted in an encore of Smoke On The Water and I could see the upset in my mates face that he'd played his heart out for 90 mins but when he played crap the audience responded.
It was nothing to do with me either, it was the new song choice.
My wife of 26 years should know better but even she will turn round and say "I don't know what they're playing".
Thats the idea you bloody fool.

Halfway through the last night some people came in who had been to watch another mates band. I know for a fact that their setlist is an awesome nod to 80's hair rock classics such as Cinderella, early Bon Jovi, smattering of Judas Priest, Blizzard Of Oz, Stryper etc. These punters told me they had been to see my mates band but they hadn't got a clue what they were playing so they left :(

I'm the exact opposite, I love to go and watch a band and they do something different to everybody else. There are only so many times you can listen to Alright Now and Whole Lotta Rosie.
 
Hellsmk2 said:
If someone must insist on covering another band, at least choose the mediocre songs and try to improve on those. You cannot better Zep's Stairway, Skynrds Freebird, GnR's Sweet Child, etc etc etc. The original band did it best period. Other versions suck when placed side by side.
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That's not always true, what about Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower, Ryan Adams' Wonderwall, Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah or Muse's Feeling Good? All excellent songs with a different take on the original. I'd go as far to say the Hendrix cover is miles better than the Dylan version, and the same goes for Buckley.
 
dmpoole said:
I'm the exact opposite, I love to go and watch a band and they do something different to everybody else. There are only so many times you can listen to Alright Now and Whole Lotta Rosie.
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Don't forget Mustang Sally :D

Maybe you're right about people leaving, even if so, I wouldn't take it out on the bands, why should they put effort into pleasing a crowd that won't pay a blind bit of notice to what their band is really all about? They should try a different venue and drop the cover versions entirely IMO, somewhere that people expect to hear new music.

LazyManc said:
That's not always true, what about Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower, Ryan Adams' Wonderwall, Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah or Muse's Feeling Good? All excellent songs with a different take on the original. I'd go as far to say the Hendrix cover is miles better than the Dylan version, and the same goes for Buckley.
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Johnny Cash and Hurt springs to mind, Trent Reznor even admits that Cash did the song better.
 
We tried "Fallen in Love" by the Buzzcocks the other week.

Sounded crap when we did it.

To be honest, I don't really like doing them, but certain venues, normally pubs insist on some. It's the quickest way of really putting you off a great song.
 
wait for the poison album thats coming out in july then dave... its a complete covers album with "not what you'd expect us to play" being said about it.


i'm gonna add in 2 more covers that are amazing, FNM's covers of War pigs and Easy.
 
we do a load of police songs, making a medly. also some songs called "Midnight Hour" "Paint it black" etc, i have never listened to the drum beat i just play what i think would sound right and it goes down a treat! ;)
 
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