Cover vs. Cover: Paint it Black

[The Dewbliners]

Okay, so the the inspiration of this thread is the Original Vs. Cover series (quite obviously). I wanted to do a thread on a song that's been covered numerous times. The catch, however, is that the original is so Iconic, so popular, in the OvC discussions, it would win hands down. So, what I'm doing is listing two of the covers, and letting the people choose between those.

This thread is focused on Paint it Black. An iconic song by the Rolling Stones, it was the first to my knowledge to use the citar (sp?). The two covers I'm putting forth for your consideration are by Gob and Vanessa Carlton. First up, Gob's version:


Clearly, they've taken it, and gone with a punk approach. The way they took the citar riff, and used a guitar instead was masterful. Plus, the singers vocal range completely fits the song. It's a masterful approach, if I do say so myself.

The second version, is by Vanessa Carlton. Take a listen:


As you can tell, she stripped it down a little, and gave it a bit more of a feminine feeling. And, she gets bonus points for using her "angry" voice. The piano playing approach is a nice touch, as well.

So, I ask you all, which cover is the better of the two, and for what reasons?

My vote goes with Gob, in a very close race. Both versions have their advantages, but in the end, it all comes down to the rage in the singers voice, and the guitar work. Don't get me wrong, Vanessa's version is fantastic, but I'm not sure if her piano playing is entirely paying justice to the Stones. There's my pick, what about yours?

 

[Mr. TM]

You probably could have just put it with the rest of the threads and added the stipulation, but I will go ahead.

Of course it would be the Stones version. Ever play the game Twisted Metal Black? Won the game over and over just to hear the song.

But since you want it to be an all out cover warfare, I picked a new man to the game.


The Tea party do an incredible INCREDIBLE cover of the song. the vocals are great, adding to that very jagged song theme.

 

[Razor]

I pick Vanessa Carlton. Why?

1) She's a cutie. Seriously. I'd totally pee in her butt.

2) Her vocal approach is valid. And besides, I'm partial to cute female singers. I tolerate Evanescence when it comes on the radio specifically because Amy Lee is hot, she's a hella singer, and the band's from Little Rock.

3) The approaches both bands gave toward the cover of the actual music behind the lyrics is valid, as you so said. However, I'm quite partial to pianos. Seriously. Piano Rock is one of my favorite forms of music.

Basically, I took the two equally valid covers and weighed Carlton's above because I went the shallow route and picked the cute girl who can sing. Oh, and the piano part. That's cool.

 

[X]

Nothing beats the original for me. Absolutely nothing. It's rare you'll ever find someone who can outdo the Stones (Devo did it with their cover of Satisfaction), and this is the case here. If I were to pick any cover version though, I'd go with The Animals cover of the song from the Monterey Pop Festival. The addition of the violin truly makes the song wonderful.

And to answer your question Dewey, no, Paint it Black was not one of the first songs to utilize the sitar. It had been popular for decades in India and had already previously been used by The Beatles and the Yardbirds among others before the Stones recorded Paint it Black. One of the first to use it in rock music though.

Anyways, here's the Animals version, truly the best cover of the song I believe. The Animals are epically underrated.

​

 

[Dave]

Personally, I agree with Razor.

I like the Vanessa Carlton version, I think that the original is just amazing and as Dewey said, nothing will come close to it. Nevertheless, I think that the Carlton cover is pretty impressive. I like how making it quite feminine and mixing that with rock works and I also like the slow part at the beginning. It is a great little song and she does it well but can you ever go wrong with Paint It Black?

Of those listed, I say the Carlton one.

 

[Agonizer]

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Personally, I've always preferred this version of "Paint It Black" by Sweden's long standing black metal terrorists, Marduk. It's an extremely unlikely cover, but one that I find exceptional.

 

[SweetTKO284]

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"Paint It Black" by The Agony Scene

"Paint It Black" is one of my favorite songs and, as such, I love hearing all the different covers of it. IMO, I think this is one of the most badass versions.