ReCOWmendations: January 2024

5 Creatively Conceived Covers Albums You Must Hear

Image created in Canva with vino and cheese

I’ve noticed recently that a bunch of writers on Substack have been exploring the Cover Song.

There seems to be a consensus that the best cover tunes take the original song on a journey to new sonic lands, revealing vibrant, unforeseen colors. Or, to borrow from a classic Graham Parker album title, the best cover songs squeeze out sparks.

An argument can be made for not messing with what already works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all. Some covers succeed with that philosophy, providing fun, faithful versions of well-known classics. But those aren’t the ones that interest me here.

One of the most famous examples of a cover squeezing out sparks from an already emotionally wraught tune is Johnny Cash’s devastatingly raw, stripped-down take on Nine Inch Nails' “Hurt.” Trent Reznor said after hearing it that he knew it was no longer his song.

Trent is known for being overly dramatic — but he was right on the money on that one.

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Before I get to my ReCOWmendations, I want to highlight a trio of excellent Substack writers who recently explored the power of the cover song.

First is

Brad Kyle

, who writes

Front Row & Backstage

. One of his regular columns, “Inside Tracks,” explores the history and evolution of a song from its often obscure origins through several incarnations of covers by artists known and lesser-known. His recent piece on Jimmy Webb’s “Rosecrans Boulevard” is a must-read.

Inside Tracks #31: "Rosecrans Boulevard" by Jimmy Webb, 1967-5th Dimension, w/Covers by Johnny Rivers, Gordon Waller, Zumpano

Friend of EW&SL

Matty C

recently posted a replay of his excellent weekly radio show, WAIM, this one featuring some of his favorite cover songs. I highly recommend subscribing to his

What Am I Making

newsletter, which focuses mostly on music, but covers many other topics, usually related to the arts.

WAIM #014 - Cover Me [Replay]

Dusty Wright's TALES & RANTS

recently featured two posts about cover songs. The first one (below) focuses on artists who have taken the cover song in strikingly new directions. Part 2 details Dusty’s 10 favorite cover songs.

Coverville

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For this month’s ReCOWmendations, I am sharing 5 Cover Albums — collections and tributes — that peel back and reveal new layers and new possibilities in the songs they honor.

It was next to impossible to narrow this down to five — there were too many worthy candidates. So at the end, I give quick props to a couple of artists who particularly excel in the art of the cover song.

In part three of my Best Songs of 2023 post, I shared a cover of “Superstar," the Leon Russell/Bonnie Bramlett-penned classic made famous by The Carpenters, taken to funky-sexy extremes by Bootsy Collins and U.S. Girls. It’s a fun, unhinged interpretation, but it pales in comparison to the devastatingly brutal version by Sonic Youth on the 1994 Carpenters’ tribute album, If I Were a Carpenter. The whispered vocals, the feedbacking guitars, the toy space gun sound effects. Wow.

The other 13 tracks don’t quite reach the inspirational heights of Sonic Youth, but there isn’t a clunker in the bunch, which is quite rare for compilations like this. Artists such as Sheryl Crow, The Cranberries, Grant Lee Buffalo, Redd Kross, and 4 Non Blondes also contribute excellent covers.

Album highlights:

• Shonen Knife’s energetic, punk rock take on “Top of the World.”

• The Cranberries’ sweetly minimalistic “Close To You.”

• Matthew Sweet’s piano, pedal steel, and violin-forward gorgeous take on “Let Me Be the One.”

Metalachi is a bit of a gimmick pick. How much mariachi metal can a person listen to before going crazy? I don’t know the answer, as I’ve got a high tolerance for classic heavy metal performed in unexpected genres.

In fact, this pick was between either Metalachi or bluegrass metal masters, Hayseed Dixie.

It was Metalachi's GWAR-esque costumes that won out. Check out the video below of Metalachi performing a medley of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.”

Tres is their third (uh, duh) album and maybe my favorite. All of them are awesome, though. It’s been a few years since the release of Tres — I would expect a Cuatro album to be coming out soon.

Their music, as described in the Phoenix New Times, captures them perfectly:

"They combine the humor of Steel Panther, the flamboyant of GWAR, and the eclectic rawness of Rob Zombie. There’s also a little dose of Spinal Tap and a hit of Cheech & Chong. The music is classic metal covers from artists like Metallica fused with classic mariachi by Vicente Fernandez and Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan. Their setlist is punctuated by comedic interludes and skits."

The very first new album of 2024 that I listened to was a covers project by Trevor Horn (Buggles, Yes, producer of just about everyone in the ‘80s/’90s). Echoes: Ancient and Modern is a collection of songs by artists who’d worked with Horn in the past. Three of the tracks included—Yes’ "Owner of a Lonely Heart", Grace Jones’ "Slave to the Rhythm" and Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s "Relax"— their original recordings were produced by Horn.

Many of the album’s collaborations are inspired, revealing new colors in familiar songs. Tori Amos gives Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools” her unique piano ballad treatment. Rick Astley brings Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” to the dance floor — a combo we didn’t know we needed. Toyah and Robert Fripp flip that script, turning Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s 1983 club hit “Relax” into a song best suited for a smoky nightclub with dim lighting.

If you were a kid growing up in the U.S. in the mid ‘70s to mid ‘80s, you likely watched episodes of Schoolhouse Rock!’ The interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films aired in between Saturday morning cartoons. These fun, sing-along animations covered everything from grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics.

We learned more watching weekend cartoons than we did in class, as Schoolhouse Rock! knew that nothing instills knowledge better than a catchy song.

In 1996, these songs would get covered by an eclectic group of bands and artists from the ‘90s on the fantastic School House Rock! Rocks.

Bands such as Ween, Buffalo Tom, Better than Ezra, Pavement, The Lemonheads, Moby, Biz Markie, Daniel Johnston, and more contributed to this great project.

My favorite, though, is Blind Melon’s take on “Three is a Magic Number.”

This somewhat short-lived project from Beck and Friends in 2009-2010 was an inspired idea that I hope gets revived one day.

The purpose of the project was to cover an entire album by another artist in one day, using an informal and fluid collective of musicians. Albums given the 24-hour learn-and-record treatment were:

• The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico

• Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen

• Skip Spence's Oar

• INXS's Kick, and

• Yanni's Yanni Live at the Acropolis.

Video footage of every performance is available on Beck's website, with many clips streamable on YouTube. Apparently, the only physical copies available from these sessions are bootleg vinyl, which surely costs a pretty penny on the black (Beck) market.

It’s not as groundbreaking as watching The Beatles’ Let It Be sessions, but it is exciting to watch Beck and artists like St. Vincent, Wilco, Thurston Moore, and other talented musicians figure out how they would develop a unique take on a classic album.

I’m a big VU fan, but I will admit that I’m an even bigger INXS fan, so I’m going with a clip from the recordings from that session. Annie Clark (St. Vincent) takes on Michael Hutchence on this one.

Bonus Cover Artists!

Cat Power

Cat Power has been releasing cover albums for more than 23 years now. Her first, simply titled The Covers Record, proved Chan Marshall a brilliant interpreter of popular songs in a wide range of genres. She makes each song sound like a Cat Power original, nimbly fitting rock and soul classics into her uniquely quiet but “powerful” sound. Her later albums, Jukebox, Covers, and more recently, Cat Power Sings Bob Dylan: 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, show an artist honoring those who came before her while staying true to her Cat-like nature.

Juliana Hatfield

The ever-prolific Juliana Hatfield (20 albums and counting) has recently been adding “tribute” albums to her repertoire. She had started off with recorded tributes to Olivia Newton-John and The Police and, most recently, the Electric Light Orchestra. All three albums showcase Hatfield’s uncanny ability to remain true to her stripped-down alternative rock sound while unearthing new layers to songs we are all intimately familiar with.

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• Do you have a favorite cover album or tribute album that you’d like to give a shout-out to?

• Have you heard any of the albums or tribute projects I’ve mentioned here? What did you think?

Thanks to everyone for reading and for supporting music writing. With the latest news about Pitchfork, on top of all the other cuts to arts journalism across the globe, supporting the arts — and that includes writing — is essential right now.

Steve