Cover Story: One - REM v. U2
I love covers. I really love covers. I think it’s interesting to see how different musicians interpret the same song. I stumbled on this video of REM (with some U2 backup in Larry and Adam) covering One. Now, just so you know where I’m coming from a) I think One is an amazing song. Really one of U2’s best b) I really like REM (at least as much as the next guy if not a bit more) - to be precise Document and earlier REM, post-Document they’ve got a smattering of good stuff but overall I’m not a fan c) I like every album U2 has put out, some more than others, but having nothing to do with when they were put out.
I think the comparison shows a striking difference between Michael Stipe and Bono’s voice. To me Bono’s got just a hell of a lot more soul. I love Michael’s voice, but I think it doesn’t convey the same emotion that Bono does. I think he sings REM songs very well but his voice just isn’t as good as Bono’s. Just me? I’d like to see a U2 cover of an REM song, say Driver 8. Yeah, that’d be nice to see. Sigh. Well see for yourself, what do you think?
And here’s U2 - I was actually at this show. And it was pretty unbelievably amazing.
What’s your stance on this?
March 1st, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Can’t really compare an original with a cover, but yes I agree. Any singer who can change formats without loosing their style or their power to convey a story or a mood is a rock star. Many rock singers are good singers when they are singing songs either they wrote or first performed. I think Stipe falls into this category. Like Dylan he is a great rock singer but in his world. See also David Lee Roth, who may have put out a killer post VH album but let’s be real that band was practically a VH cover band.
Bono is not only a rock singer but a rock star. You can take him away from U2 and group him up with KISS or Devo and he would kick ass. I guess simply, Stipe is a singer/songwriter and thats kind of the voice he has. Bono is a rock star, and thats the voice he has. I think Tom Petty rules the earth but his voice can’t hold a candle to people like Bono, Sting and Bruce Dickenson. They are true rock stars. I would listen to an a cappella albums by any of them.
March 1st, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Huh, that’s a good point. Yeah, I think you’re right about voice quality! Bono is *definitely* a rockstar. I knew as soon as I saw him in his Fly sunglasses and a gold lame suit on tour. :)
But I disagree with you on comparing covers with the originals… I think it’s super interesting to compare them. Most times they don’t live up to the original (see Nouvelle Vague’s cover of I Melt with you). But when they try something new, even if it isn’t as good as the original it can be very interesting (see Alien Ant Farm’s Smooth Criminal, hmm… although honestly, this is borderline on the following possibility…). On occasion you get a real gem that surpasses the original (see Dinosaur Jr’s Just Like Heaven).
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:14 am
All good covers but doesn’t erase the fact that an original vs a cover is not a fair contest, regardless of voice quality. An original is always going to carry with it their sound, their feel and their style, whoever they might be. Weather you want to or not your going to be automatically bias just based on the fact that they are defining all the variables you associate with that song. A cover band, in a way, has to defeat those variables and be able to plant new ones that you associate with. It’s like trying to write a hit song twice. Not to mention that people (apart from you apparently) are super critical of cover songs, probably due to the same facts. To me it’s like having appreciation for a painters work and enjoying his peers and the artists he inspired, but knowing that the original is worth more attention, if anything because of the fact that someone wanted to copy it in the first place.
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:16 am
By the way, for whatever it’s worth, I have been playing guitar and writing songs for the better part of 15 years now and my best songs are still covers :)
and my Captcha words are “penetrated” and “song” so go figure.
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:36 am
Okay, not to bleed this topic dry, but here are a few of my favorite covers:
Tori Amos doing a Slayer cover:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0GxhfmyZX0c&feature=related
(original http://youtube.com/watch?v=CUDWLp1yIWw )
Sheryl Crow doing G&R’s Sweet Child Of Mine:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWeQXlzeuQI
(original http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ieouur9v8hk )
Devo covering the Stones I Can’t Get No Satisfaction:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4IYrJxodsm0
(original http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWPxBJQ6wl4 )
Megadeth doing Sex Pistols “Anarchy In The UK…. Okay, not much of a stretch, but good shit:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PWPxBJQ6wl4
(original http://youtube.com/watch?v=4bM_l443VV4 )
March 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I’m a huge U2 fan and not really an REM fan but I’ll try to be objective here.
I agree that in a passionate-singing-voice fight, Bono’s got a gun and Stipe has a knife. Bono is just gifted that way–he has a naturally great singing voice and just instinctively sings with great passion. Stipe’s style is different; he’s either mumbly or nasally. One of my favorite REM songs is “A Perfect Circle,” where I think Stipe is the perfect guy to sing that song (I doubt I would prefer a Bono version of this, though you never know.) I also liked his voice in “Nightswimming.” He definitely has less range and much less of soaring quality to his singing, but that’s his style, which doesn’t make him more or less of a singer in terms of touching people with his music. Is he as good as Bono, strictly speaking? Well, no, but that’s OK and he doesn’t need to be. “One” is a very passionate song so it doesn’t surprise me that REM’s cover feels so much “less.” And they’re playing with acoustic instruments without full drums, which, combined with Stipe’s style of singing, is going to be feel less “emotional.” By the way, on that note, is The Edge fucking awesome or what? I think his guitar outro at the end of that video adds as much passion to the song as Bono’s singing.
And besides, Mary J. Blige blows them both out of the water: :-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be0j4PbrQOI
Also, here’s Johnny Cash’s version (just audio, no video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQBrn6trEwI
These are all very different, which is great. Still, I don’t think anyone can ever, in a million years, perform “One” better than U2. The most they can do is make their tributes and genuflect at the feet of the masters!
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Poyla, I see where you’re coming from - but yes, just because it may be harder for a cover song to be judged better than the original because of the biases you mention… it doesn’t mean that it *can’t* be better. It’s just a lot harder. :) But man, when it comes through, it’s a thing of beauty - even if it’s in the neighborhood of “just as good”. Heh!
I don’t love Tori Amos (and I don’t love Slayer either) but that is a pretty sweet cover! Didn’t care for the SC cover of Sweet Child. But that Devo cover is pretty freakin’ awesome. For realz. I’ve always loved it, but I have a soft spot for Devo, dig? Not as good as the original, but it’s a great interpretation. The Megadeth link is off, sadly. Apparently U2 covered that, too, which I would desperately like to hear, but the intertubes seems to not have the 411.
Fantastic, I’m with you. Stipe’s strengths I think are in his song writing and he makes perfect use of his vocal range with REM. I’m not a big fan of Nightswimming, but I do really like Perfect Circle.
That Mary J. Blige version is really nice! I hadn’t heard that before, she’s well suited to singing it along with the big B Vox. And while I like Johnny Cash, I honestly didn’t care much for his cover. I would be stunned to find someone who could bring something to One even just as good as U2 does, too. But I’m happy to have them genuflecting away. :)
And, yes, the Edge does rock!