Mar 232012
 

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

Dun. Duh-nuh. Dahn. Dah-nah. With that fanfare for the common mod, four lads from London announced their arrival on the music scene, asserting themselves as a powerful voice even as they admitted to not knowing how to say what they wanted to say.

When the Who released “I Can’t Explain,” Pete Townshend may not have achieved the levels of self-expression he would find, but his ability to connect with his audience was already fully formed – there were thousands of listeners who knew exactly what it meant to feel hot and cold down in their souls. And if that opening Kinks-ian riff didn’t drive the message home, the drumming of a still-teenaged Keith Moon did the trick, in a way that had never been heard on the radio before. “I Can’t Explain” would have been a tremendous explosion for any other group; for the Who, it was simply the lighting of the fuse. Continue reading »

Jun 162011
 

In the Spotlight showcases a cross-section of an artist’s cover work. View past installments, then post suggestions for future picks in the comments!


Of all the heavy metal bands that came to prominence in the 1980s, none had more significant covers than Judas Priest. That’s especially impressive when you consider that Priest only did four of them in their entire existence (that statistic includes live shows). Clearly, they’re not a band to toss off random covers on a whim. Yet all but one of their tributes ended up providing defining moments for their career. Continue reading »