Last year we looked at those odd moments when a metal band decides to take on a well-known pop song, and saw both Children of Bodom with “Oops! I did it again” as well as Journey's “Separate ways (Worlds apart)” covered by Warmen. This year I'd like to expand that a little and look at other bands or artistes who have dared the ridicule of their fans and, either tongue-in-cheek or quite earnestly, stepped into the sugary world of pop and soft rock.
Let's take a look at what happens when
METAL GOES
“Call me” by In This Moment, from the album The Dream, 2008.
Originally recorded by Blondie from the original soundtrack album American Gigolo, 1980.
Written by Debbie Harry and Giorgio Moroder.
This has always been one of my favourite Blondie songs, along with “Heart of glass”, and shows for me Debbie Harry at her best and Blondie at their most commercial new-wave. It was of course a huge hit for the band when released as a single, and has gone on to become one of their most well-known and successful tracks. Though never on a studio Blondie album, it appears on every compilation of their hits, and in 2008 Maria Brink from In This Moment decided to tackle it. Officially, it was not on their second album, but did appear as a bonus track on the UK edition. It was then released as a single the next year.
It's a fun version, sticks fairly close to the original although of course they do metal it up; good heavy metal riff to introduce it, good solo in the middle, though in the video the constant headbanging is somewhat metal-by-numbers. Still, that's not what
we're watching, is it lads?
Power Metal gets a lot of stick from “real” Metalheads, often unfairly, but it's this very schtick and kitsch that makes the subgenre then the perfect one to lampoon a pop song. And back in 2006 that's exactly what Twilight Guardians (what?) did, on their third album, when they undertook to cover one of Madonna's big hits (I said
hits! Yeah, the joke's getting a bit tired now, isn't it?) and also possibly the least one likely to be covered by a metal band. Even a Power Metal one.
“La Isla Bonita” by Twilight Guardians, from the album Sin Trade, 2006. Originally recorded by Madonna, from the album True Blue, 1986.
Written by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Bruce Gaitsch.
I do like a lot of Madonna songs, but this is one that never impressed me. It's way too laid back, Caribbean-sounding and .... well, just boring. It really doesn't change too much all through its short run and I imagine it went down well at trendy Spanish nightspots while the patrons were drinking their Sangria (or whatever trendy people drink at even trendier nightspots in Spain; I'm not trendy and have never been so can't comment) watching the sun set over the Mediterranean. But it just bored me. Didn't of course stop it becoming a hit single, but I'm interested to see what these guys did to it.
With a typically power metal keyboard and guitar dramatic intro, it kind of settles then into a reasonable facsimile of the single, though with of course a whole lot more bite. No congas or maracas here! A decent guitar solo too. Not bad, but it could have been better I feel.
Seems like every song here so far is turning out to be one by a female artiste, but I'm sure that will change as I dig a little deeper. For now though, ladies rule and here's another power metal band who covered a big hit for one of the first ladies of pop, this time it's the female Peter Pan (Petra Pan?) Cher.
“If I could turn back time”, by Pathfinder, from the album Fifth Element, 2012.
Originally recorded by Cher, from the album Heart of Stone, 1989.
Written by Diane Warren.
I am in no way a Cher fan. When I hear “It's in his kiss” I go looking for the razor blades, and her voice always sounds to me way too mannish --- not quite Bonnie Tyler rasp, but still nowhere close to what I prefer to hear from a female singer. That said, I did really enjoy her “comeback” album,
Heart of Stone, particularly the title track and “Just like Jesse James”. This was one of the singles taken from that album, hitting the top ten all over the world and getting to the number one slot in some countries, though notably not the USA or the UK. I suppose it's inevitable I'd like it, as as you can see it's written by hitmaker Diane Warren, as indeed was about half of that album, perhaps accounting for its success and why I liked it so much.
Pathfinder are a Polish symphonic power metal band, who are apparently very successful in their native country, though they're unknown to me, but what else is new? They decided to cover the Cher song but once again it was only available as a bonus track, this time on the Japanese issue (perhaps because the Japanese would enjoy the joke more, or maybe Cher is super-popular there at that time?) but unlike In This Moment they chose not to release this as a single. Gotta have
some pride, I guess!
Another good power metal intro, rattling drums, screaming guitars and then the song is suitably sped up for metal purposes, with some death screams thrown in for good measure. Some theatrics such as the singer whispering part of the lines, and they may be mimicking autotune, though I'm not sure about that. Just sounds a little odd. Typical power metal solo, though oddly I don't hear much in the way of keyboards? They certainly use them, but if they're there I can't make them out. Sort of an operatic vocal now then everything stops and, oh, there are the keys now. And into the big finish. Meh, decent but a case really of not being able to decide whether they're camping it up or are serious. Good group vocal in a Steinman/Meat Loaf vein there near the end.
Well, finally we have a guy. Well, a guy dressed as a girl. Well, sort of. You know Dee Snider. Twisted Sister were big in the glam metal explosion of the early 80s, sort of straddling the divide between the likes of Boy George and Motley Crue. Snider wore makeup and feminine-type clothes but never identified as, nor sought to be seen as a woman; it was all for the theatre. The last major TS album had this on it.
“The Leader of the Pack”, by Twisted Sister, from the album Come Out and Play, 1985.
Originally recorded by The Shangri-Las from the album The Leader of the Pack, 1964.
Written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and George “Shadow” Morton.
It's certainly not the first time this song has been covered or parodied , one of the most famous of the sixties and the biggest hit for the Shangri-Las. Dee and the boys don't add much to the original though the video is quite funny, reflecting Twisted Sister's comedic slant on rock and metal. Meh, I've heard better.
Like this one for instance. Northern Kings are a Finnish band who got together specifically to cover pop songs, and include members from, among others, Tator, Nightwish and Sonata Arctica. I could have chosen anything from either of their, so far, two albums, but I love the idea of a metal band “taking on” (geddit?) a-ha, and so I've gone for this one.
“Take on me” by Northern Kings, from the album Rethroned, 2008.
Originally recorded by a-ha on the album Hunting High and Low, 1984.
Written by Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket and Pal Waaktaar.
Still the song everyone remembers Norwegian superstars a-ha for, and their most successful single, “Take on me” was from their debut album and with it they burst upon the world stage, gaining fans and fame as their first three albums shot them to superstardom. Although “Take on me” is a good pop song, it's true that its main popularity and much of the reason for its success was due to its now iconic video, but it's still a great song. Let's see what their metal majesties did with, or to it.
Well not surprisingly it's guitar driven with a very power metal feel to it, a big instrumental introduction, then the vocal is sort of snarled, and though they follow the basic melody they really succeed in turning it into very much their own version, much better than Twisted Sister managed and streets ahead of Twilight Guardians. The phrase “making it yours” really applies here; they even add in a choral vocal middle eighth with a very symphonic metal slant on it. Pretty brilliant, and as an ardent fan of a-ha I'm not in the least insulted or annoyed. I think Morten and the boys would appreciate this rendition, and would be amazed to see how metal their little pop song could be made sound.