Aug 142015
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

elton

The Apollo space program was still in progress in 1972; Apollo 16 launched on April 16th of that year. Two days earlier, Elton John released “Rocket Man,” a look at a world where the occupation of astronaut came not with built-in heroism, but with the drudgery of any job, where going back to the old grind held more heavy sighs than shouts of triumph. That may have been the message, but it was easy to miss behind the ascending slide guitar and the soaring sing-along chorus, as top ten charts worldwide went on to prove.

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Sep 212011
 

Last night, Seattle’s Experience Music Project celebrated 20 years of Nirvana’s Nevermind with a full cover show. The event combined heavy hitters like The Presidents of the United States of America with local acts like Valis to run through every song on the seminal album with some non-album cuts as bonus tracks. As if that wasn’t enough, original bassist Krist Novoselic joined in for “On a Plain.”

We’ve got videos of seven of the songs below, including the tunes by POTUS/Krist and an appearance by ex-Guns ‘n’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, who was reportedly one of the last people to see Kurt Cobain alive. Check out a selection of videos below, with thanks to Consequence of Sound for digging up some of these. Continue reading »

Jun 242011
 

Five Good Covers presents five cross-genre reinterpretations of an oft-covered song.

“Waterloo Sunset” is not just any song…this Kinks song is revered. Millions of Cockneys identify with it like Philadelphia Flyer fans used to identify with Kate Smith’s “God Bless America.” The effect that hearing “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli” has on a Marine is similar to the passions and memories stirred in many Brits when they hear,”As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset, I am in paradise.” After all, this is the composition that critic Robert Christgau called “The most beautiful song in the English language.” It been voted the “Greatest Song About London” by London radio listeners. It’s the track that on its own would have cemented Ray Davies’ reputation as one of rock’s finest songwriters, even had he not written dozens of other exceptional songs. Continue reading »