There are a number of different bands who have covered Radiohead during the years, from Paul Okenfold, Mark Ronson to Panic at the Disco. However one of the few bands to cover one of their songs and in my mind do it properly, ie to completely change the song and put an entirely new flavour on it was the Darkness, the English nostalgic power metal band.
The song in question is Street Spirit, one of the more iconic and popular Radiohead songs from fairly early in their career in one of their most popular albums the bends.
Here to begin we have Radiohead
[youtube]LCJblaUkkfc&feature=related[/youtube]
And here we have The Darkness covering them
[youtube]OXgU4M3JILc[/youtube]
To begin with when I first heard The Darkness cover I was as dismissive of it as I was of Panic at the Disco's. What, do a metal cover of a Radiohead?
However after a listen or two I wised up a bit and let go of my fangirl Radiohead card and actually listened to it. I am not really a fan of The Darkness, but I like what they have done here. They turned a desperate lonely and atmospheric song, into an upbeat blood pumping cover which I can actually imagine bopping along to in a concert. I can easily see how some people would prefer this to the original.
However for me, this still has to go with the original. The song has such an eerie dark feel to it, at some points comforting and at the other deeply unsettling. As with some of the best Radiohead songs, it seems to hint at something deeper, something on the very verge of your consciousness. When I listen to this song I am carried away, perhaps not somewhere I truly want to go to, but somewhere I will travel with them nonetheless.
So yeah, the Darkness cover is the more easily enjoyable, but it doesn't have that extra level of meaning with it, and ultimately its the less powerful song.
So yeah which of these two do you guys prefer?
The song in question is Street Spirit, one of the more iconic and popular Radiohead songs from fairly early in their career in one of their most popular albums the bends.
Here to begin we have Radiohead
[youtube]LCJblaUkkfc&feature=related[/youtube]
And here we have The Darkness covering them
[youtube]OXgU4M3JILc[/youtube]
To begin with when I first heard The Darkness cover I was as dismissive of it as I was of Panic at the Disco's. What, do a metal cover of a Radiohead?
However after a listen or two I wised up a bit and let go of my fangirl Radiohead card and actually listened to it. I am not really a fan of The Darkness, but I like what they have done here. They turned a desperate lonely and atmospheric song, into an upbeat blood pumping cover which I can actually imagine bopping along to in a concert. I can easily see how some people would prefer this to the original.However for me, this still has to go with the original. The song has such an eerie dark feel to it, at some points comforting and at the other deeply unsettling. As with some of the best Radiohead songs, it seems to hint at something deeper, something on the very verge of your consciousness. When I listen to this song I am carried away, perhaps not somewhere I truly want to go to, but somewhere I will travel with them nonetheless.
So yeah, the Darkness cover is the more easily enjoyable, but it doesn't have that extra level of meaning with it, and ultimately its the less powerful song.
So yeah which of these two do you guys prefer?
