This thread is an idea I had for a long time now and it seems like a radio DJ had it too! Since I heard it being held on the radio, I thought it was finally time to introduce it to the music loving users of ArmorGames! Presenting...
Throughout the history of music, artists have recorded numerous songs for people to enjoy, but sometimes... another artist thinks he/she/they can perform that same song better or think of a different approach/interpretation of it! This can produce a completely different song, sometimes with a big improvement, sometimes it's a complete failure and every now and then... a true (new) gem is made!! =)
This battle thread is all about comparing those songs and the rules of engagement are pretty simple... I post a battle between two songs, one is the original version and one is the cover version. You can vote (once only per battle) for either of the two artists featured in battle, giving them 1 point for your preferenced vote! And an elaborated reasoning is of course required for your vote to be counted in the score roundup, we don't want this thread to be flooded with spam posts after all...
Note this : on several occasions some songs have actually been covered by more than one single artist, therefor battles with more than two artists featured may occur sometimes; the rules will always stay the same though! To clarify once more...
Short list of rules :
1) I will post a new battle ('every week'; 2) Only one vote per user, per battle; 3) A reasoning is required to count your vote.
Plain, simple and fun! =)
And if you feel that a certain song needs to be presented in a battle in this thread, please post the battle suggestions on my profile, do NOT post them in this thread as this will only become confusing about which battle is currently featured!
Hope you will like this idea and participate in it! =)
Guess what everybody? The thread is far from dead!! =D
It's exactly how ilberic explained (thanx man!) for me... I have a slightly different agenda with my new job right now, but that doesn't mean I will stop taking care of my precious-ess..ssesss...sss... blah! Well, ya'll get what I mean!
Thread info on battles : New battles will be marked in the thread title with a new battle post date from now on as I won't be sending out notifications anymore. Looking at the thread will tell you right away whether a new battle has been posted!
On with the show...
@ indianajones1 and xXxDAPRO89xXx : As the others explained... suggestions on my profile pleezze! Making them in the thread will have them missed for sure...
First the score roundup for the last battle and... man! That was a close one!! ____________________________________________________________
6 - Chuck Berry (Original version) - WINNER! -VS- 5 - Electric Light Orchestra (Cover version) -VS- 0 - Status Quo (Cover version) -VS- 0 - The Beatles (Cover version) ____________________________________________________________
And it's fair to say that it has been the first time ever that I've seen The Beatles not getting any vote in any battle/poll/competition anywhere! LOL Guess for everything there's a first huh... I'll cherish this moment though!
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Right... time for a new battle! One suggested by Ernie15 this time... thanx! =)
Battle # 12 : MONY MONY
As always... some examples of the original, cover and parody (thought it would be fun to include this one as well) versions to help you decide which is best...
it had a good sound but i was all the time waiting for something to happen. it stayed low, no sparks anywhere.
Billy Idol
good old billy, i love his voice. some great guitar solo's in the middle and some other things made sparks that tommy james is missing. it's like billy made the song complete.
Amazulu
her voice is so nice..... but about every other sound produced by that song makes me shiver. =S it sounds like they looped 20 sec. in a 4min sound barrier.
The Chipmunks & The Chipettes
ehh... yea... oke... not my type music, lets leave it whit that. xD
Weird Al Yankovic
funny but not 1 of the best he did. it has the billy version in it tho. so that is a +
Status Quo
maybe it is because i hear it for the 6th time in a row. but it really got annoying near the end. they started of good but halfway the song. nha not so much anymore. then 1 more boost but nope no cigar.
================== 6th: Amazulu 6th: The Chipmunks & The Chipettes 4th: Status Quo 4th: Weird Al Yankovic 2nd:Tommy James & the Shondells 1st: Billy Idol
Only two votes in since it's post last week?!?! Ouch... (O.o)
I hope the rest of you regulars will rejoin the voting soon! It's nowhere near the 14+ users that voted the last time around in this thread. Keep it going guys... =)
@ xXxDapro89xXx : If EMI blocked the video for your country, you can always look it up throught the YouTube search bar you know... it's all about hearing new impressions and learning about who made what song, etc..
Allright, a very slim first score roundup shows : ___________________________________________________________________
1 - Billy Idol (Cover version) -vs- 1 - Status Quo (Cover version) -vs- 0 - Tommy James & the Shondells (Original version) -vs- 0 - Amazulu -vs- 0 - The Chipmunks & The Chipettes -vs- 0 - Weird Al Yankovic ___________________________________________________________________
Keep it going guys and gals! Get your votes in and decide who has made your favorite version! =D
I have to be strict here Dapro... partydevil did a nice job on dividing all the example songs, listen to them all and write a decent amount of reasoning for each of them. That's all the commitment I could wish for in this thread...
I agree on the amount of songs though... I guess I have to keep it restricted to a maximum of 4 songs per battle maybe... this would keep the annoyance factor out! Thanx for the wake up call there! =)
Tommy James & The Shondells: I just love that Sixties feeling but apart from that, really nice song, an intoxicating rhythm and a bizarre, but good voice. Love it.
Billy Idol: Nice bass on the rhythm there! Made a great rock dance song on which not only nostalgics can dance on^^ and the spirit of the song stays the same nevertheless. The intro was unnecessary though.
Amazulu: Utter crap. Well, the idea isn't bad, I admit, at least I didn't give it up from the beginning. But I did later on. Cut off that constantly same bass, there's absolutely no anticipation to the refrain, and it sounds like a song to do gym on, not to dance on, nor does it sound anything near a song sung to a certain Mony.
The Chipmunks & The Chipettes: The voice butchered the song. He calls himself a chipmunk but doesn't even reach a clear cut tone when going up. And it also lacks a certain motivation, it sounds like "Let's do it..." instead of "Let's do it!"
Weird Al Yankovic: Actually I prefer this to the chips and Amazulu, it's again more of a stirring dance song than a gym or pop song. And who cares about the actual lyrics in that case..^^
Status Quo: They really merit their name. I could repeat what I said about their last cover almost word to word. Good music, always nice to hear, not more, not less. Some more motivation perhaps for the singer?
My final ranking:
1. Tommy James & The Shondells 2. Billy Idol 3. Weird Al Yankovic 4. Status Quo 5. The Chipmunks & The Chipettes 6. Amazulu
The original wins because it just sounds right, and the singer is probably the most talented of all of the lot. Also it builds anticipation up like none other. Billy gets an honorable mention for making it close second and probably having contributed a major part in spreading the song. Thanks DayCee for making me discover the song!
The Chipmunks? Really? I never imagined that Iâd see them here. Well, there's nothing much left to say about this one. I guess this can be fun the first time you hear it, but after a while you realize that these high-pitched voices are incredibly annoying. So please, keep the helium away...
Weird Al Yankovic's cover isn't as bad as I expected. The lyrics are fun and the musical part is also good, though it seems to me that it's taken from Billy Idol's cover.
I usually like covers that are completely different from the original one. What I like about Amazulu's cover is that they tried to make their own version and I applaud that idea. However, the melody is quite similar throughout the whole song and it's like I'm listening to the same loop over and over again. So, unfortunately, it gets boring quite fast.
The only thing that I comes to my mind when listening to Status Quo is that they do a correct cover. The sound and the vocals are good, but that's all. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent cover, but they just do that: they play it well. There's nothing special (at least, to me) that makes this stand out from the rest. Besides, the singer needs to be more motivated by what he's doing. Maybe he didn't have a good day, but in my opinion that attitude affected the song negatively.
To be honest, I didn't like Billy Idol's cover when I listened for the first time. Actually, I started to like it at the third time or so. Though it definitely has a more modern sound, the spirit of the song is still there. I really enjoy the guitar solos and he has a good energy on stage (that is what I call a motivated singer).
I just love the original. It's the only one that gives me chills. I really like that "old" sound and the energetic spirit of the song is refreshing. The singer's voice is quite peculiar, but it fits incredibly well with this song.
So the original wins again: Tommy James & The Shondells.
Eesh, this is a long one.. part of the reason it's taken me so long to get here probably.. Well, away we go:
Tommy James - DayCee, you sure have a knack for finding horrible quality videos, lol. Not much to say about this version since it's so huge already. Classic.
Billy Idol - I've always liked Idol, but I've always thought him weird in that he looked way harder than he sounded. The guitar solo sounded kind of amateurish actually. Dunno, obviously the most famous cover of this song, but really, I'm not all that impressed.
Amazulu - unfortunately, this video can't be viewed in the US apparently. :/
uh, the uh Chipmunks.. (you're a dork DayCee) - That is just horrible. Don't get me wrong, I like the Chipmunks and have a few covers by them (Beat It, Achy Breaky Heart and others), but this is just horrible.
and now for something a little less weird... Weird Al (must have been on some goofy pills when you piled this one up Day, lol) - I don't know that this one should really count because it's not the same song. I've always liked this one, but I'll take the original lyrics.
and now for something I expect to be status quo... Status Quo - very, uh, unexciting.
Now for the votes:
6) Chipmunks - awful awful song. 5) Status Quo - boring boring song. 4) Weird Al - weird weird song. perhaps I should begin elaborating more? lol. Not the same words, so I'm not counting it as the same song, but it was still better than the other two. 3) Amazulu - no video or way to judge, but I'm assuming it's the same song, in which case I put it here. There are no points for 3rd place anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Just kind of making a point about the other 3 songs really. 2) Billy Idol - I like the song. I'm unfazed by the guitar solo. So nothing really puts it over the top for me. 1) Tommy James - bad video, good song. If nothing exceeds the original then the original wins. Such is the case here.