This week I'd like to take a look at some more cover songs. Delving back in time, I'm going to talk about a handful of cool oldies, some more aged than others..
First up, how about that early Pink Floyd classic, Astronomy Domine? To be honest, I had never heard the song until Canadian band Voivod released their version on the Nothingface album of 1989. I loved that metal treatment of the psychedelic gem. A lot of time passed before I even learned the song was a cover, let alone realized it was a Floyd composition.
Quebecois thrashers Voivod put their own spin on a Floyd epic
Astronomy Domine as performed by Voivod isn't too far off the original, just with more volume and aggression. But even then, I'd say Voivod exercised restraint. They could easily have taken it into a more industrial and distorted direction, but instead followed the Floyd original as a template, simply playing it as Voivod would.... their trademark vocals, guitar and drum sounds add a heavier, searing modern element to the mix. And I have to say that I actually prefer this cover to the original.
Pink Floyd, twenty-two years earlier, penned, performed and recorded the song in a fashion befitting the period. The druggy 60's were in full force, and loads of bands were inventing the psychedelic music scene and sound. Heavy on keyboards, strange noises and voices, and dissonant meanderings on guitar, this Astronomy is far more trippy... and even more melodic, if you can call it that. Don't get me wrong - this is a great song. The fledgling Floyd were up against established acts like The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour arrived that same year), The Doors (they debuted in '67, too), Hendrix (two classics that year), and Cream (their Disraeli Gears hit store shelves), Jefferson Airplane, and The Who. Just to name a few. Stiff competition. And while other tracks on Floyd's Piper At the Gates of Dawn album sort of fit in with the hippy vibe of the era, they don't sound (to my ears, today) like very catchy, radio-friendly songs. Astronomy Domine actually seems to be the most normal of the bunch, more accessible, and certainly far more memorable.
Five necks are better than one, or so says Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Neilsen
Now let's jump a little further back in time to 1965, when The Beatles released a single composed of two tunes that were recorded during their Rubber Soul studio sessions. Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out were those songs, and the 7-inch was marketed as a double A-side single. I guess both songs were considered so good that neither could assume second billing. Day Tripper was always among my favourite Beatles songs, right from the very beginning. It was one of the first songs I seriously learned on guitar. I'm pretty rusty on it now, but it was fun to jam that one. My version was no hell, but The Beatles' did it so well it made a big impression on the music charts back in the day.
The full electric guitar twang and bright percussive drums and tambourine of Day Tripper made it a winner. Add on the Fab Four's distinctive vocal harmonies and Paul and John's double-tracked leads, and it's a rock classic. That riff has got to be one of the most famous in all of pop music, right up there with Satisfaction, Johnny B. Goode, You Really Got Me, and Sunshine of Your Love.
Fifteen years later, in 1980, my teenage self bought the brand new Cheap Trick EP called Found All the Parts. Damn, I still curse myself for selling my records all those years ago.... this one, in particular, is now a rarity. It took over two decades for it to finally make it to CD, and even then, only as a Japanese import. I found a digital copy through circuitous means several years ago and made my own CD. Then - finally - those dummies decided to include the four tracks from Found on the re-release of 1980's All Shook Up album (which I now have, too). Man, the things I do for music!
Ah, back to my story: on that EP was a song called Day Tripper, culled from the massive Beatles catalogue and played with reverence and energy. Cheap Trick adored the Liverpool mop tops and made no secret of it in both their Beatle covers and their own compositions. This version of Day Tripper is presented as a live recording, though in reality this was a re-recording in the studio, because the band hated the true live recording. They mixed in the live crowd audio to create what sounded like a concert. Hey, it fooled me for years, until I learned this little factoid. That doesn't hurt the song or my feelings about it, though.
Cheap Trick's Day Tripper came along at just the right time for me. I had already steeped myself in Beatles music and lore, and was also a massive Trick fan. I was so ready for one of my favourite modern (at the time) bands covering one of my fave all-time bands. This Trick version of the song is big and brawny, loud and noisy... it makes me think of how The Beatles might have blasted out (or tried to) the song in their stadium shows in the 60's. The crowd is mixed in a bit loud, kind of detracting, but not entirely. In the last run-through of the chorus, singer Robin Zander throws in a "She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah...." Nothing too pandering, just a fun tribute to their influential idols.
The punk band Fear is somewhere in there amongst the slamdancers
And now for something a little different: I've never been a fan of punk music. I just couldn't - and can't - relate to it on any level. Certainly not the scene, the shows, and the fashion (or anti-fashion). The odd song caught my ear back in the late 70's, like a few Sex Pistols tunes. Not much of that genre made it to TV music video shows, at least not in my neighbourhood. Or maybe there was some out there, and I just ignored it. Musically, the form was just too chaotic and crude for me. I was so intensely focused on the musicianship and slick production of bands like Rush and Iron Maiden to take much notice of punk. I remain rather ignorant of the musical style, though I've at least tried out a little something here and there thanks to a punk fan friend. Nothing stuck.
I told you that so I can now tell you this: when I listened to the latest Megadeth album, I noticed that the rawer, leaner sound of the disc's last song, Foreign Policy, differed from the rest. I was curious. I noted that this song was not even written by Megadave, but by a 70's punk band called Fear. Never heard of 'em. But I gave their original version of Foreign Policy a spin and did not mind it at all. And that's because Megadeth stayed very true to Fear's vision. It's pretty easy to see how some early punk influenced the thrash metallers of the 80's - and beyond.
Fear were an infamous L.A.-based hardcore punk band who helped develop the sound and style of the genre, and were early major players in the California scene. End of history lesson.
Megadeth sped up the song a tad but retained the gritty wailing guitars and snarling vocals (singer Dave Mustaine had plenty of practice in that department). A bashy approach that's fun and wild, though the addition of a nasty little guitar solo wasn't really needed. But it didn't hurt. I suppose that with this cover, Mustaine wanted to tip his hat to one of his musical influences and inspirations.
That's it for now... see you back here soon!
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