The worst cover albums ever
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Cover crimes … Critics have nominated Duran Duran’s Thank You covers collection as one of the worst albums ever made. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied
SHADOWS In The Night sounded like a bad idea when it was announced. Bob Dylan does Frank Sinatra. Yeah, that should be … interesting.
The album, which debuted at No. 1 on the UK charts last week but is unlikely to repeat that feat here, has received unanimously positive reviews from fanboy critics.
The general consensus seems to be that Dylan, at 73, cannot only do whatever the hell he wants to, but his fragile, quavering, broken voice perfectly suits the weary laments he has chosen to “croon”.
Yet one music fan’s musical genius is another listener’s fingers down the chalkboard.
And from the opening slide guitar strains of I’m a Fool To Want You, Shadows Of the Night proves to be musical kale.
You have to listen to it because it is deemed to be an “important” release but really wish you could put Mark Ronson’s Uptown Special on the player for the 17th time this week.
With Shadows Of the Night, Dylan joins a diverse collection of covers albums of dubious quality, from the bestseller to the bargain bin.
You may assume all “winner’s journey” albums post The Voice, Australian Idol or X Factor are automatic inclusions in the bad covers album category, as are serial offenders who have made a career out of only doing other people’s songs.
Great singer but … Rod Stewart maybe should have stopped at just the one American Songbook. Picture: Richard Gosling.
Source: News Limited
The Great American Songbook(s), Rod Stewart
All of them. Don’t get me wrong, Stewart’s gravelly voice is one of the most distinctive instruments in modern pop and rock and he is the consummate entertainer. But this was nothing more than a commercial exercise, shoehorning Stewart’s voice into syrupy, pedestrian arrangements and orchestrations. The only upside was that they were so successful, it encouraged the engaging performer to get back on the road and stay there.
His way … Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious murdered Sinatra’s signature song. Picture: supplied.
Source: Supplied
Sid Sings, Sid Vicious
You can’t blame the Sex Pistols bass player and singer for this record as it was released in 1979 after his death. The most famous cover on the collection of mostly live recordings is his version of Sinatra’s signature song My Way which comes from Paris. He kicks it off with a parody of a croon and then launches into his signature snarling punk delivery. It’s an irreverent car crash, with some truly awful lyric rewriting about killing a cat.
Great singer but … Rod Stewart maybe should have stopped at just the one American Songbook. Picture: Richard Gosling.
Source: News Corp Australia
Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits
Take some already annoying dance pop songs and remix them with the Crazy Frog ringtone and what have you got? A marketing exercise to sell ringtones dressed up as a “song”. Remember ringtones? They were so 2005. Some of the works subjected to this travesty included I Like To Move It, Popcorn, Axel F, get ready For This and Pump Up the Jam. The album went top 20 here. Shame, Australia, shame.
Thank You, Duran Duran
Q magazine ranked the 1995 covers collection from the British band as the worst album ever. Fans partly disagreed with the album reaching the top 20 in America. And Lou Reed allegedly declared the band’s version of Perfect Day as “possibly the best rerecording of a song of mine.” The band’s version of Grandmaster Melle Mel’s White Lines also made a decent dent in the charts worldwide.
Final record … Guns N’ Roses last record with Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum was the covers collection Spaghetti Incident. Picture: Supplied.
Source: News Corp Australia
The Spaghetti Incident, Guns N Roses
The final album to feature core members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum was released after the band finished their epic Use Your Illusion world tour. The punk and hard rock covers record borrowed its name from the food fight reference in former drummer Steve Adler’s law suit against his sacking. The band received favourable reviews but lacked some of the raw punk energy required of the songs.
Reggae head … Radiohead’s OK Computer album got dubbed by the Easy Star All-Stars. Picture: Marc Robertson.
Source: News Limited
Radiodread, Easy Star All-Stars
A reggae, dub and ska makeover of Radiohead’s OK Computer. It sounds almost as fraught a concept as Dylan doing Sinatra, right? The band absolutely loved it and surely it had nothing to do with the potential royalty revenue. Critics generally gave it the thumbs up as well and if you love reggae music, then this is a hit and miss affair with Karma Police a win but Airbag an abject disaster. If you don’t love reggae, nothing to hear here.
