Great covers of horrible originals

[PetZounds]

This is kind of the opposite of the thread title (OR IS IT?), but I just saw it on facebook so...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmI24P02omI[/youtube]

EDIT: link wasn't working, soooorrrrrry

Not impressed.

Nah man you just don't ""get it"". This is raw, unrefined 'art'.

[misterstomach]

This is kind of the opposite of the thread title (OR IS IT?), but I just saw it on facebook so...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmI24P02omI[/youtube]

EDIT: link wasn't working, soooorrrrrry

Not impressed.

it's no worse than neutral milk hotel.

i actually saw the thread title and thought of the johnny cash NIN thing. what he did with that song is amazing. i opened the thread and saw the judas priest thing and felt very sad. i love the slayer version, but man, the original just rips. one of the things i love about the slayer cover is that it's actually pretty true to the original, other than vocals of course, but still sounds like a slayer song. i think it highlights how ahead of their time priest was as far as heavy music. sin after sin came out in like 76 and that song is so heavy and rocks so hard. judas priest is certainly not underrated by any means, they get plenty of accolades, but they were up there with black sabbath as far as making heavy metal what it was to become and i think that gets overlooked in some circles.

[Ugly Nora]

i actually saw the thread title and thought of the johnny cash NIN thing. what he did with that song is amazing. i opened the thread and saw the judas priest thing and felt very sad. i love the slayer version, but man, the original just rips. one of the things i love about the slayer cover is that it's actually pretty true to the original, other than vocals of course, but still sounds like a slayer song. i think it highlights how ahead of their time priest was as far as heavy music. sin after sin came out in like 76 and that song is so heavy and rocks so hard. judas priest is certainly not underrated by any means, they get plenty of accolades, but they were up there with black sabbath as far as making heavy metal what it was to become and i think that gets overlooked in some circles.

Thanks for joining in the conversation. Sorry if i made you sad. I think we all know this thread is all in good fun, and musical taste is obviously subjective. To me, Judas Priest represents everything that is wrong with heavy metal. That opening scream on Dissident Aggressor? My lord. Seriously, who thought that was good idea to put that in there? I am not picking on just the opening scream, however. The entire vocal performance is cheesy. You can only be so tough sounding like a woman.

As a reminder:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjsn7aLPgCM[/youtube]

[D.o.S.]

You can only be so tough sounding like a woman.

I don't know about that one.

[Ugly Nora]

To clarify, I am not saying a woman cannot sound tough, I am saying a guy who sounds like a woman can only sound so tough. And I am not simply picking on the Priest. I think the scream in the beginning of Slayers' Angel of Death ruins an otherwise great song. Perhaps it is better suited for a different thread but I would really like to know who thought it was a good idea for "tough" sounding bands to start signing like women. I would seriously like to know how they arrived at the decision.

While I am here talking about the cheesiness of heavy metal, what the hell is up with the "dance" that starts around 5:45 in the video below? Can you imagine the thought process that led to the decision to put this in the video? Someone had to think of it, and someone probably sound "yeah that would be really cool" so they shot it. Then, after they shot the scene, someone had to approve what they just did thinking that it looked cool/would be beneficial for people to see the band like this. It boggles my mind how things like this get approved. I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3uvf0cn0jo[/youtube]

[Mudfuzz]

Granted I love the original but..
Melvins are Melvins

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ__8NzlvB0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VubMt_4thrU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaP3XF0rx7A[/youtube]
Only way you will get me to listen to kiss...

[Mudfuzz]

To clarify, I am not saying a woman cannot sound tough, I am saying a guy who sounds like a woman can only sound so tough.

But… but… Diamondz…..
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9cLullB-JY[/youtube]

[Ugly Nora]

Ah yes, Mercyful Fate, the "King" of embarrassing vocals. Thanks for reminding me of them.

I remember when I was in 10 grade and really just getting into heavy metal for the past year or so, there was a guy who looked to be the quintessential metal head. Real long hair, tough looking, denim jacket with tons of patches. Just an all around serious looking dude. The kind of guy who went around calling people poseurs if your music taste wasn't up to his standards or if you didn't look the part enough. He had one of those full back patches of Mercyful Fate. Of course, being intimated by this guy and thinking he was the ultimate metal head, I wanted to hear them. When I did I was perplexed of how this tough guy who had the nerve to judge other people for what they listened to, listened to a band with a guy who sounds like a 12 year old girl. I didn't get. I was confused and shocked. But mainly I was laughing my ass off. I didn't, and still don't, understand why a band who is supposed to be scary and intimidating would chose that vocal style. It is definitely scary, but not for the reasons they were thinking.

High school was a good time. Stay in school kids, and cherish those moments.

[Ugly Nora]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqou-oEBcUY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbiFkS4XwG8[/youtube]

[Mudfuzz]

Ah yes, Mercyful Fate, the "King" of embarrassing vocals. Thanks for reminding me of them.

I remember when I was in 10 grade and really just getting into heavy metal for the past year or so, there was a guy who looked to be the quintessential metal head. Real long hair, tough looking, denim jacket with tons of patches. Just an all around serious looking dude. The kind of guy who went around calling people poseurs if your music taste wasn't up to his standards or if you didn't look the part enough. He had one of those full back patches of Mercyful Fate. Of course, being intimated by this guy and thinking he was the ultimate metal head, I wanted to hear them. When I did I was perplexed of how this tough guy who had the nerve to judge other people for what they listened to, listened to a band with a guy who sounds like a 12 year old girl. I didn't get. I was confused and shocked. But mainly I was laughing my ass off. I didn't, and still don't, understand why a band who is supposed to be scary and intimidating would chose that vocal style. It is definitely scary, but not for the reasons they were thinking.

High school was a good time. Stay in school kids, and cherish those moments.

To be honest I blame Blooghost completely and entirely for getting me to listen to them And yeah it is weird how so many badassasfuck blackmetal guys LOVE HIM
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxIKvmPjGU0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36jkJ3_0S98[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipya37OlMhs[/youtube]

[PetZounds]

I don't think I know enough about this genre of music to be able to say if this is objectively bad.
That being said, I don't like it.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QzoF79O1A[/youtube]

This cover, in my opinion, is really awesome.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Yu_9gGP2E[/youtube]

[foomanfat]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xetZZLmmEw8[/youtube]

[dub]

Some possibly incoherent thoughts.

I think the chief theme and concern of metal is power. Wielding it, critiquing it, trangressing against it, embodying it, having the freedom to. That's not necessarily toughness. An obvious macho concept really. I understand the crossover; power and autonomy have been traditionally masculine traits. So metal takes on masculine trappings, denies the feminine, shit, becomes a safe space where young men can figure out their masculinity to the exclusion of women, play at mythic and legendary roles, indulge fantasy and escape from the the gender binary through a mono-gendered environment. (All metalheads are male regardless of physical gender?) Women often have to perform masculine roles to "pass" as authentic metalheads, dress like guys (or be derided as fishnet-ed "sluts"), play "masculine" roles in bands like drums, guitars, or perform their vocals in a lower register to be respected; Contrast with the feminine back-up singer, emasculated bass player, keyboardist). With the advent of post-metal (lol), older themes and trappings fall away, traditional (now-)"cheesy" metal aesthetics become confined to various subgenres, overall subculture offers the opportunity to escape the pressures and expectations of mainstream gender roles, allows new rules to be written by a community, if it wants.

Metal is inherently ridiculous. I don't know any metalheads who think they're tough guys or take themselves super-serious.
Maybe 14 year old pantera fans or something? Although I guess we never let go of that a little bit, aha

The two screams you mention are interesting, because I think they both mirror the instrumental approach of either band. Halford's vocals are powerful, they're meant to impress, not intimidate. Like a hyper technical guitar solo, they are displays of mastery.

Araya's? Well I can't imagine Angel of Death without that scream, it's one of the more human moments in a cold, unflinching song about the holocaust that walks an uncomfortable line by laying out its subject matter sans judgment. Metal doesn't need to moralise because it trusts its audience to know what's right, it's atavistic, harking back to a more cut and dried moral viewpoint, but libertarian in it's individual approach, "make up your own fucking mind". Everything Slayer sings about is horrible, they assume you know that, but by leaving out the editorial voice, the audience (who listen to metal to feel empowered) are put in the situation of listening to atrocities commited by people in power, while simultaneously feeling powerful. If it wasn't for that scream, I think you could put forward a far more powerful argument for the song crossing that line from empowerment to glorification (although as a metalhead I don't agree at all). Also it's the vocal equivalent of their guitarwork, that atonal madness and chaotic noise that signified the divorce between blues based "heavy metal" and what would come after, just fucking "metal".

I wonder, is a man who sounds like a women scarier than a diabolic figure who sounds like you would expect? What would Satan sound like? Would he defy expectation? Send shivers and disgust up the spines of those who think they're righteous?

Vocals are so hugely personal though. I'm not much of a fan of low growling death vocals, but love a good black metal rasp or just some hideous shrieking (the high pitched double-tracked bad trip of Steve Austin's stuff in TITD? Fucking great.) I get why it might not float someone else's boat. Metal's a pretty big tent though, plenty of room for everyone.


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itCQrrUnsxo[/youtube]

[Ugly Nora]

Metal is inherently ridiculous. I don't know any metalheads who think they're tough guys or take themselves super-serious.
Maybe 14 year old pantera fans or something? Although I guess we never let go of that a little bit, aha

The folks in this classic video take themselves seriously.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcS1tTqFwcs[/youtube]

[Mudfuzz]

Metal is inherently ridiculous. I don't know any metalheads who think they're tough guys or take themselves super-serious.
Maybe 14 year old pantera fans or something? Although I guess we never let go of that a little bit, aha

The folks in this classic video take themselves seriously.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcS1tTqFwcs[/youtube]

All these people… they are my old boss… he's 45

I agree with dub though.

I'm not a fan of metal subculture though… but then I find all subcultures filled with annoying people once you get to know them