Cover versions are ghastly things. This is almost always the case. Whether it's Ronan Keating covering 'If Tomorrow Never Comes', Ronan Keating covering 'Time After Time' or Ronan Keating covering some other turgid ballad, there is nothing of any note added to the original other than a couple of extra layers of insincerity. Or, in the case of Madonna's 'American Pie', something far worse. And of course, if the artist in question actually does fundamentally change the original version, then it's even more pointless. A true hiding to nothing.
Of course, there are exceptions. Some songs seem to lend themselves toward being reinterpreted. Two which immediately spring to mind would be the groundbreaking Cameo funk/R and B classic 'Word Up', which Scots-rock merchants Gun managed to make sound equally as good with crunching guitars and gruff vox (although the less said about the Mel B hatchet job the better);and The Byrds 60s anthem 'Eight Miles High', covered by just about every band in history but most notably by Roxy Music, Golden Earring (they stretched it out to almost 20 minutes) and, in perhaps the most unlikely cover version of all time, AOR prog/poppers 3 (sure to be featuring not for the last time in NOMW), whose power-funk synth interpretation words cannot describe.
Anyway, a point to all of this. Robert Downey Jr, who really should have taken Heath Ledger's oscar this year for Kirk Lazarus/Lincoln Osiris (a comedic interpretation that will be celebrated 100 years from now), is also a surprisingly accomplished singer, as anyone who bought his 2004 solo album The Futurist will be aware. More excitingly to NOMW, he enlisted the production talents of Jonathan Elias, helmsman for Yes' 1991 mess Union (it wasn't his fault). Even better, it seems Mr Downey is himself a big fan of the great band, and so offered his own take on the first part of their 1971 hit (it did feature on the trailer for Tim Burton's Big Fish, so I'd say it qualifies), 'I've Seen All Good People', featuring (in a rarity for a cover) original vocalist Jon Anderson backing. And what do you know, it's even pretty good. More importantly, if this gets even one person to check out some real Yes, it'll have been worth posting.
Of course, there are exceptions. Some songs seem to lend themselves toward being reinterpreted. Two which immediately spring to mind would be the groundbreaking Cameo funk/R and B classic 'Word Up', which Scots-rock merchants Gun managed to make sound equally as good with crunching guitars and gruff vox (although the less said about the Mel B hatchet job the better);and The Byrds 60s anthem 'Eight Miles High', covered by just about every band in history but most notably by Roxy Music, Golden Earring (they stretched it out to almost 20 minutes) and, in perhaps the most unlikely cover version of all time, AOR prog/poppers 3 (sure to be featuring not for the last time in NOMW), whose power-funk synth interpretation words cannot describe.
Anyway, a point to all of this. Robert Downey Jr, who really should have taken Heath Ledger's oscar this year for Kirk Lazarus/Lincoln Osiris (a comedic interpretation that will be celebrated 100 years from now), is also a surprisingly accomplished singer, as anyone who bought his 2004 solo album The Futurist will be aware. More excitingly to NOMW, he enlisted the production talents of Jonathan Elias, helmsman for Yes' 1991 mess Union (it wasn't his fault). Even better, it seems Mr Downey is himself a big fan of the great band, and so offered his own take on the first part of their 1971 hit (it did feature on the trailer for Tim Burton's Big Fish, so I'd say it qualifies), 'I've Seen All Good People', featuring (in a rarity for a cover) original vocalist Jon Anderson backing. And what do you know, it's even pretty good. More importantly, if this gets even one person to check out some real Yes, it'll have been worth posting.
