Mondays are Top 10s!

My Top 10 Cover Songs:

10. Stairway to Heaven - Rodrigo & Gabriela (original by Led Zeppelin)
9. Imagine – Ray Charles with Ruben Studdard and the Harlem Gospel Choir (original by John Lennon)
8. Real Love - Regina Spektor (original by The Beatles)
7. Cry Me a River – Diana Krall (original sung by Ella Fitzgerald)
6. Killing Me Softly – The Fugees (original sung by Lori Lieberman)
5. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Susan Tedeschi & The Allman Brothers Band (original by Bob Dylan)
4. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley (original by Leonard Cohen)
3. Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight – Esteban Paez (original by Bob Dylan)
2. Love Reign O’er Me – Pearl Jam (original by The Who)
1. Hurt – Johnny Cash (original by Nine Inch Nails)

Honorable Mention: The Stolen Child – The Waterboys
This is not technically a cover since these lyrics were originally a Yeats poem, but it's worth a listen.

Sidenote: I probably would have included Somebody to Love from Glee, but out of principle it isn't on the list.

beatles themed

I Like: I Will - Alison Krauss & Tony Furtado
This cover is a pretty bluegrass-y take on the Beatles' ultimate feel good, happy, pop romance song. The harmonies on the chorus are gorgeous but simple, and this song belongs with the angelic voice of Alison Krauss.

I Dislike: All My Loving - Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe soundtrack)
This song sounds just like the original but with a whinier voice (without the vocal range the song deserves), annoying dialogue & pauses at the start, and a persistent (and too loud) tambourine part the entire way through.

I heard Rockapella was a jack of all trade

I like: Papa Was a Rolling Stone - Rockapella
Rockapella, as always, accurately captures each of the sounds of the song with their voices alone. George Baldi III has the vocal range of a piano (listen to him sing "I Will Always Love You" on youtube). His smooth bass voice is perfect for this classic. Jeff Thacher also deserves a shout-out for his beatboxing skills. This song is a bit outside Rockapella's usual range of musical choices being a bit lighter. They tend to pick "fun" or "pretty" songs, but they truly capture the soul of an amazing song with this cover.

I dislike: A Rush of Blood to the Head - One Way Left
This song is an exact copy of Coldplay's original, but with a worse vocalist with a voice like a country star that is out of place with the music.

Keeping with the cover songs theme for now

I Like: All Along the Watchtower - Dave Matthews Band (Live @ Central Park)
Bob Dylan's (not Jimi Hendrix's, thank you) piece has been covered by a considerable range of artists, which means it's likely the song that deserves the most props. Regardless, having heard both Dave and Bob completely rock this song live in concert (both as encores), I do think Dave deserves some credit for doing a great job with it. The song starts a bit slow (you could actually skip the first several minutes in my opinion), and the national anthem rift is unnecessary and cliche, but it's the slower start that gives the drive picked up later in the piece the most impact. Halfway through it picks up and stays captivating until the last note, particularly through the sax rifts and Dave's last verse or so singing. Dave's voice suits the piece, and he does a great job "getting into" the song as he sings. It's real rock/jam songs like this one that Dave does best, not his widely-known pop pieces, and this is no exception.

I Dislike: Can't Buy Me Love - Michael Buble
It's not that Michael Buble doesn't make enjoyable songs most of the time, and it's not that he doesn't have a good voice. He just is absolutely no comparison to many of the artists he covers, The Beatles included. Buble's saving grace is usually his voice, but it's just not enough to salvage this cover. Buble's songs have a tendency to be overdone, with his jazzy arrangements occasionally sounding good by complete chance. His cover of Can't Buy Me Love is the pinnacle of any of his overdone pieces. He takes a classic, enjoyable, and hugely popular song that's easy and fun to listen to and transforms it into a dramatic, cheesy, predictable, and overall unenjoyable piece to listen to.

First Post

I've decided today (while taking a break from studying for finals and listening to music), this is going to serve largely as a series of pretentious opinions on songs.

Today's songs both came up randomly on my iTunes and were both covers of songs by legends covered by other legends. It just so happened that one cover was significantly more enjoyable.

I like: Imagine - Ray Charles with Ruben Studdard & The Harlem Gospel Choir
Something did come of that lost American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard, after all. Little did America know, he was meant to sing gospel music. This song by far trumps any other song produced by that television show (which shouldn't be surprising- it's Ray Charles). Lennon's original is a classic and a very pretty song/piano bit, but Lennon (probably because he's white) doesn't have the spirit/soul that Ray & Ruben have. They add an emotional, spiritual, soulful feel that can really only be found in gospel music. What's more they take a relatively predictable and slightly repetitive melody and embellish it by singing harmonies and adding the backing of a gorgeous gospel choir.

I dislike: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry - Jerry Garcia Band
Garcia Plays Dylan, an entire album of Dylan covers, essentially slows down and adds guitar rifts to every single original. The shortest song on the album is over 5 minutes long, and the longest is over 14 minutes long. I love a jam band as much as the next person, and the slow tempo does work for a few of Dylan's songs that were meant to be more ballad-y (Forever Young & Simple Twist of Fate are both relatively well done). However, this painfully slow version of the original song gives an entirely new meaning to the line "can't buy a thrill."