antiMUSIC is reluctant to present Slapped!
with Scott Slapp. Hes been bugging us to do this for a while. So we figured
what the hell, lets give him a shot at it. If he isnt assassinated by
an irate fan, Scott will check in with us every other Friday to tell us
who needs to be Slapped.
As always the views expressed
by the writer do not neccessarily reflect the views of antiMUSIC or the
iconoclast entertainment group .
Get Your Own Hits
This week I have to get something off my
chest. I could have selected another topic to piss off bisexual pedophiles
and ranted on and on but I've seen another resent trend that has really
gotten under my skin.
What is up with this trend of bands throwing
new cover tunes on their greatest hits cds? We are seeing this more
and more lately with "best of" cds from The Offspring, Marilyn Manson,
Korn just to name a few. This new bright idea of marketing genius deserves
a slapp.
If you don't have enough hits of your own,
then you shouldn't be putting out a greatest hits CD. That goes double
for artists that count covers as their biggest hits. Do we really need
a Limp Bizkit greatest hits CD? Should "Nookie" be held up as a shining
example of songwriting? The lack of self-made hits may be one reason that
this trend has popped up.
Another is the selling point argument.
They have to put something extra on there to attract their core fanbase
who already own the songs from the CD catalog. I like the old trend of
putting on a couple rarities, b-sides or even new songs. Those make the
CD more attractive but to put out a greatest hits CD and put other people's
hits on it as a selling point just rubs me the wrong way. In most
cases, good songs from the band's past releases are ignored in favor of
these cover tunes.
I think this trend really demonstrates
the decline of music standards over the past few years. Think about it.
Are they using someone else's hit to "cover-up" their lack of songwriting
ability? This isn't just seen on greatest hits CDs. Some questionable artists
have actually used other people's hits on their debut albums as singles
to break out. Alien Ant Farm and Limp Bizkit are prime examples.
Could Fred Durst have made it without using "Faith" to get peoples attention?
Would we even know the name Alien Ant Farm if they hadn't covered "Smooth
Criminal"?
Most covers are awful. Some artists actually
pull it off but that is no excuse for them to use other people's hits in
place of writing their own. I know a lot of artists do this as a tribute
to the artists they love. That's great and all but others simply use it
as a marketing ploy. And call me crazy but I'd much rather have a
new original song from Maynard than a cover of "Imagine".
Another thing is the greatest hits idea
is a throwback to the singles era. Some people used to buy the singles
of hits songs they liked and bypass the albums. After a few years and an
artist had a string of singles, they put them together as a greatest hits
album to sell to that same market. But now single sales are not a big focus
in the industry. iTunes and company may change that down the line and resurrect
the single as a key part of the business but we are at a point where albums
sales are king. In that context, greatest hits make less business sense
and are often misused. Some artists actually use greatest hits to
shortchange their fans and help meet their contractual obligations to their
record company.
Our boss here at antiMusic was a big KISS
fan for years. But he has been disgusted with the way the band has milked
their fanbase for every last cent for the past few years. One of his jokes
is KISS are planning another greatest hits CD and it will be called "Same
Songs / Different Cover". They are a really good example of a band
that uses the greatest hits and covers format to get out of recording new
material. Anyone remember that awful "official" KISS covers CD "KISS My
Ass?" and let's not get into the half a dozen "hits" CDs from the past
decade. I also hear they are planning to release "Alive XXIV" next
year.
And don't get me started on artists that
are using greatest hits CD to milk that last little bit of money out of
your fans before you drop off the map entirely. If you want to remain relevant,
write some new music that will keep people interested. Don't rip off your
fans and make them repurchase your old songs just to get some half-assed
covers.
In the end it's no wonder that rock music
is stagnant right now. So many bands are not moving music forward but instead
relying on other people's past hits. If you can't create your own
hits, then you have no business taking a spot on a record company roster
away from artists that can. There is just something wrong with that and
artists that do this need to be slapped.
Scott Slapp is a professional
a**hole and rock critic, as well as antiMUSIC contributor. His biggest
aspiration in life is to become Eddie Vedder.
Your
turn.
Fan
Speak:
Posted by muisc:
ALL of HIMs music is amazing. They just also happen to do realy good cover songs.
Posted by cool guy:
Yeah they just do bad music.
Posted by muisc:
HIM do awesome cover songs. They did really good cover ups of BOC "Don't fear the Reaper" and Niel Diamonds "Solitary Man" They also did a truly amazing cover of Chris Issacks "Wicked Game" HIM has done no bad cover songs
Posted by BlackZeppelin:
Yeah, Deadsun, i guess i can see its confusion a bit. Has anyone ever heard Metallica's take on Sabbra Cadabra (a Sabbath Song)?
Posted by cool guy:
Mr. Shatner has a new cd out. There is a song on it called I cant get behind that that features Henry Rollins singing with the captain himself. Its the only song I have heard from the album but it is a great song.
Posted by 5Against1:
Any cover by William Shatner is worth the price of two discs.
Posted by The man they call I am:
also props to jonny cash for Hurt, another great cover song. what cash did was take the song, and give it his own distinctive feel, so that even though he didnt write and previously record it, it still felt like a jonny cash song when he did it.
Posted by Anuj:
*post-1991 music*
Posted by Anuj:
Who originally did 'Pins and Needles'? Also, its just my opinion, but shouldn't bands issue greatest hits AFTER they disband? An exception, in some cases, could be a change in sound. For example, RHCP's 'What Hits?!'. All pre-BSSM (+ a couple from that album); their post-music needs to be appreciated as a separate entity. I'm gettin What Hits?! this weekend; its just $7.99 on sale!
Posted by Ronny Rox:
Last year, STP and RHCP released greatest hits cds with new songs on them. I also know both bands did cover songs in the career. However, those covers didn't overshadow their other works. I heard Korn's cover of Word Up and Manson's cover of personal jesus! They were nothing to write home about, and I would rather listen to the original. What both acts did was defeat the purpose of a greatest hits album. It was to showcase your best original works, not you covering someone's work. Is this is rock got the best band have to offer to their fans, this sucks!
Posted by The man they call I am:
Sometimes cover songs sound awesome: case in point: the deftones - the chauffer (a duran duran cover) which is simply mindblowing. othertime covers just plain suck. sorry maynard, your vocals are great, but imagine. shouldnt have been.
i too long for the day when we could be greatest hits album that actually contained stuff that fans couldnt get on the regular albums, but unfortunately bands no longer do this, and rather opt for the "all the songs that you hear on the raio by us, but on one disc" approach.
the best "best of albums" are Violent Femmes - add it up, smashing pumpkins - rotten apples (the double cd version ie cd 2 got bonus stuff). it is tiring that bands are just putting out albums with nothing in them. where are the rare b-sides, the liver performances, the never released demo songs?
another sad thing is that only the singles make it to the best of album, meaning some of the bands best songs that werent released as singles will never get heard. the good thing about best of albums is that it introduces people to bands without people having to buy that bands entire catalogue but this erased by the previous point ie the best songs are sometimes left out.
that said, i want to give a major "well done" to best south african band ever, springbok nude girls. they released a best of album after shortly disbanding. i didnt buy the album because i have all their album (but the cool thing was they let their fans choose which songs were going to be on their album via their website). the company they are iwth just recently re-released the best of album with all their b-sides. i still wont buy the album because i got all their b-sides, but it shows a step in the right direction
Posted by SS:
I haven't heard that CD Hobo. But I'll check it out. Some covers are cool and work but most blow real ass.
Posted by Hate wagons ho:
The six feet of dirt over Joey Ramone and Joe Strummer is the best cover ever. Oh, lighten up.
Posted by cool guy:
Me first and the gimmie gimmies is a good band but I think they can be left out of this. All they do is cover songs. That band has never made a song of their own and never will. Not to say that the band can not do it because they could. Me first is a group of guys from other bands like NOFX and lag wagon that do cover songs just for the enjoyment of doing it. Sure they sell cds and make some money but they dont care about that.
Posted by GREENMUSE:
im biased when i say this,but the clash's "police and thieves "is a fine cover of junior murvins original,as well as joe's "redemption song"the dickies "paranoid"is a good un as well
Posted by DeadSun:
Side note for "BlackZeppelin" : not sure if I misread your post, but "Hand of Doom", as performed by Black Sabbath, was in fact THEIR cover version of an earlier recording. "Needles and Pins" is another excellent cover, solitary. Good call.
Posted by solitary:
The Ramones cover of "Needles and Pins" is the greatest cover ever. Period.
Posted by muisc:
Personaly, I love cover songs. It's just something a band does t show thier diversity. Like, for example, Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies. They are a total cover band and the are awesome. Theyve covered everything from Elton John to the Jackson 5 and they rock! I also like greatest hits albums. I didn't get into some bands until like ½ through thier carrer (KoRn, Manson and Offspring are examples) So instead of spending $20 bucks a bunch CDs of which I might not like the whole thing. I can spend 20 bucks on 1 CD full of songs I know I like. And if they put a new song (or a cover song) it shows the band cares about thier music and thier fans. Sure you can say "But its only cash grab! All they are is gready bastards!" Or maybe they are making it for kids, like me, who dont have the money to buy all thier old CDs, but still enjoy thier songs. Thats my oppinion on this and it's alright if you have another.
Posted by dreibel:
www.dreadzeppelin.com . BTW, I think the first three albums are out of print (they were on IRS when they crashed and burned), but they have a variety of recordings and DVD available through their shop.
Posted by BlackZeppelin:
dreibel, thats a good point. However i think it does depend on the song and the band. I heard a black metal cover of the Rolling Stones Paint it Black and i thought it was terrible. In any case, i have never heard Dread Zeppelin songs, but i would like to hear them sometime.
Posted by cobe:
I don't mind covers but I think they should just be "bonus tracks" at the end of a cd so you don't have to listen to them if you don't want to.
Posted by Hobo:
Slapp, what is your opinion of Napalm Death's Leaders, Not Followers albums (Parts 1 & 2)? Dread Zeppelin sounds great. Covers are fine as long as they aren't released as singles.
Posted by Chaz the Music Snob:
RIGHT THERE WITH YA BRUTHA!!!!
Guns N Roses doign 'Knocin on Heaven's Door' [actually, ANYBODY covering this song is a sign of desperation; it's a HORRIBLY over-rated song] or McCartney's 'Live and Let Die?' PU!!!! What theye didn't have two more riffs to jam together?
While we're at it, HIT THE RE-RE-RE-RE PACKAGING BANDS HARDER!!! How many Rolling Stones 'Hits' albums are there anyway?
Bands doing covers is okay for a while, but as Scott says, man, add a cover to a Greatest Hits to milk a dollar from your fans and you should be shot as a greedy selfish pig.
Posted by dreibel:
my thought on doing cover tunes - it's usually best when you can somehow do your own arrangement of the song rather than do it note-for-note, add your own personality to it. One of the best examples I can think of is Dread Zeppelin's catalogue: who else would be crazy enough to record Led Zep songs reggae style and have them sung by an Elvis impersonator, and make it work? Even better, if you're going to do a cover, pick an off-the-wall choice for a cover rather than the better-known hit, Nirvana's cover of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold The World" was a GREAT choice and exposed listeners to a good song. Personally, if I were in the position to do a covers album, I'd pick a whole bunch of artists to cover from here in Canada to show people what we have here - stuff by Max Webster, Tragically Hip, Michel Pagliaro...
Posted by BlackZeppelin:
Hendrix's cover of All along the Watchtower is great. Although incidently, i have never hurt the original. Slayer did Judas priest's Dissident Agressor, and did it well. I also heard their version of Hand of Doom by Sabbath and it was pretty rockin too.
Posted by Anuj:
About bands doing covers at live shaows... This year at Ozzfest, Throwdown did a cover of (what I later found out, as I hadn't yet heard the band yet) Sepultura's "Roots Bloody Roots". It sounded good.
Posted by DeadSun:
Hmmm... "best cover"... without stewing over it for very long, I'd probably go with Hendrix's treatment of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower".
Posted by 5Against1:
How about Clay Aiken's cover of "Dazed And Confused"?...made you nervous for a second, didn't I?
Posted by bbf:
whooo! Best rock cover is GnR "Knockin On Heavens Door". Even the Guns haters know its true! Its a masterpiece by a great band at their peak.
Posted by Anuj:
I remember hearing one good cover recently - Faith No More's take of "War Pigs". And I have the Pantera best-of (it was my introduction to them) but it did come w/ a DVD of their videos. Another awesome cover I found on a P2P service (Ok RIAA ARREST ME) was At the Gates doing Slayer's 'Captor of Sin'. Pretty f-cking good.
Posted by GREENMUSE:
i like good covers,but i hate bad covers with a passion.dont make me start on the op ivy tribute album.i wouldnt even shat on that album
Posted by BlackZeppelin:
Judas Priest did covers of Joan Baez and Fleetmood Mac, both which are held in high regard. I don't really have anythign against covers, just when bands parade them like its their own. But in some cases, like with Priest, the band has enough of their own hit songs that when a cover song is thrown in, it doesnt come in as in attempt to to rake in money. On the otherhand, some bands may have only a few hits, with a cover being one of them. These bands need to go back and do some serious song writing. Does anyone have the Iced Earth cover album?
Posted by 5Against1:
If a cover is your biggest hit then the handwriting is on the wall. What's worse is when a band puts a brand new song on a "Greatest Hits" package, that's lame. I usually enjoy covers though, Aerosmith's cover of "Love Me Two Times", Pearl Jam doing "Baba O'Reilly", and Nirvana covering "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" are some of my favorites. Staind doing "Black" is a good example of why some bands should stick to their own material though. Sometimes the cover is better, STP did a version of "Break On Through" that made me wonder why the Doors even bothered.
Posted by kelly:
i think the one fun use of covers is when bands throw them into a live set in order to wake people up and entertain themselves, too. some of the most interesting (and FUNNY) covers have been live. i know incubus has covered TLC's 'no scrubs' (too funny) and i've seen them perform a lionel richie song. at lollapalooza, audioslave did a BETTER version of '7 nation army' than the white stripes did in the first place. and at the most recent projekt revolution show, linkin park did a freaking amazing cover of NIN's 'wish.' i think stuff like that gives the loyal fans a look into the artists' own influences and inspirations, and when it's a one-shot thing like that it's more fun. they aren't trying to sell these odd little experiments.
Posted by DeadSun:
That comment about Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden was DEAD ON, "BlackZeppelpin"--- one which furnishes some fine back up to what Scott is writing about. I will buy "live" recordings--- but that's as close as I'll get to "paying for the same songs twice". I can't follow the logic at all--- unless I view through the eyes of a fickle, fairweather music fan, who just "wnanTZ 2 hEar deh hiTz sNongZ". BULLSH*T--- if you like the band, invest in their catalogue,as the material was fresh, and put to record. get some perspective on how they developed, which musical directions they went in, what remained "staple" parts of their sound, and what changed. "Greatest Hits" are for sucks.
Posted by BlackZeppelin:
Yeah,that is annoying when artists do that. I tend to stay away from greatest hits at all times now adays, even though i do have a few in my collection. Id say 90 percent of greatest hits are made badly; They have a few hit singles, some songs that fans are meant to like and that's it. Look at Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden. Those two bands don't deserve greatest hits; Their albums are the only way to appreciate them fully. Another clever way that artists get you to buy their greatest hits is to include a dvd of all their music videos. however, i don't mind having those included. But yeah, I make it a point never to buy anymore greatest hits cds, no matter who they are from.
