'Ahk-toong Bay-bi' Covered: Q magazine CD

[Fly-2000]

The funny thing about the 'Even Better' remix is that the first fifty seconds before the vocals kick in sounds like it could've been a 'Zoo Station' remix.

 

[Cactus Annie]

I didn't like it. snip

 

[fall125]

Ultraviolet is probably in my top 5 songs of all time so I was very curious about the Killers cover.

1. I think they did a really good job. Flowers' vocal was very well done and the tempo change really turned it into a Killer's song.

2. Stripping away the atmosphere of the original recording really emphasizes how well written the song's lyrics are

However ... the cover also brings to the surface a lot of issues I have with the Killers, namely that their instrumentation isn't particularly interesting. The chiming riff towards the end of the song in the original is what takes it up several notches for me.

The Killers' version is like Bono without the Edge.

 

[morgan1098]

I finally got the magazine/CD from LiveNation over the weekend and have listened a few times through. Based on the feedback here and my own personal biases, I expected to really hate the Snow Patrol and Fray songs. But those are among my favorites! Then again, I have never listened to Snow Patrol or the Fray, aside from hearing them a few times on the radio and seeing the latter open for U2 in Denver.

The only cover that really doesn't grab me is Glasvegas (again, another band that I've never listened to before). It's just sort of meh and by-the-numbers.

I'm liking Gavin Friday's take on "The Fly" as well. The super-smooth programming combined with a tacky barroom piano is interesting.

 

[deltau922]

Ultraviolet is by far my favorite track on this one. Probably listened to it 10 times today. Of 12 tracks, I'd say 1/3 are excellent, 1/3 are fine, and the other 1/3 are not that great. Overall pretty good considering how high the bar was set. And incase you're wondering, the other three excellents are Wild Horses, So Cruel and Acrobat.

 

[LadySpinHead]

Finally got to listen to the whole thing, too- some are awful, but overall, not bad. Love Wild Horses, UV SC and the Fly are pretty good. Coming around to Jack White's LIB- that may end up being a favorite, just took some getting used to. Agree with a previous poster, wish someone had covered EBTTRT, that would have been interesting.

 

[j72]

Hey fall 125

I think they did a really good job. Flowers' vocal was very well done and the tempo change really turned it into a Killer's song. Fall 125

I liked your whole post and this point, when i first heard The Killers version i thought this is total cheese but it really grew on me plus cheese can still have soul. I also get the feeling inside that from two mins or so on Brandons vocal sudden;y seems to inhabit the spirit of the song more and more.
Do you or anyone else feel this way, it is still his interpretation but..

Your comment about the guitar is also spot on for me, beautiful chiming, bruised and repetitive from the Edge gives this song such an atmosphere for me.

 

[digitize]

My favorite radio station does a block of new music only some nights. Tonight, they opened it with Garbage's cover of WGRYWH. I kind of couldn't believe it - it made me really happy. I like that cover a lot.

 

[fall125]

I think they did a really good job. Flowers' vocal was very well done and the tempo change really turned it into a Killer's song. Fall 125

I liked your whole post and this point, when i first heard The Killers version i thought this is total cheese but it really grew on me plus cheese can still have soul. I also get the feeling inside that from two mins or so on Brandons vocal sudden;y seems to inhabit the spirit of the song more and more.
Do you or anyone else feel this way, it is still his interpretation but..

Your comment about the guitar is also spot on for me, beautiful chiming, bruised and repetitive from the Edge gives this song such an atmosphere for me.

Yeah, about halfway through Flowers realizes this song isn't an anthem but a sort of desperate plea ... good for him

Still not so good for the Killers' guitarist who phoned in his performance as usual.

 

[last unicorn]

Did you guys see this: Patti Smith performing UTEOTW live for the first time. She changed (fucked up?) some of the lyrics, but I totally love this version, it's even better than the one on the album, very dark and raw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W9DsdS3sQs&feature=youtu.be

 

[j72]

Hi Fall 125

Like what you say here, have just seen your post as i have been away from forum for a while.
"about halfway through Flowers realizes this song isn't an anthem but a sort of desperate plea"

This seems to further add to what i said earlier about Brandon beginning to inhabit the song. Anthems to my ears (though not always) can sometimes sound shallow and a bit robotic by numbers which i think the odd killers song can be like though i like some of their stuff. This vocal though grows in feeling alongside the "pop song" twist the Killers put on it that Bono has commented upon and applauded elsewhere -take care

I

 

[fall125]

well said J.

Great minds think alike I suppose, haha.

 

[LadySpinHead]

Sorry to pull an old thread, I wasn't sure where to put this. Looks like the Jack White version of Love Is Blindness will be featured on the Great Gatsby soundtrack coming out next month.

 

[digitize]

Sorry to pull an old thread, I wasn't sure where to put this. Looks like the Jack White version of Love Is Blindness will be featured on the Great Gatsby soundtrack coming out next month.

I hope so! The new trailer that came out today lists artists in the movie (the list is at the very end of the trailer), and Jack White is not listed. However, LIB is prominently in the first trailer and the TV spot that came out recently, and it fits the story quite well. So we'll see.

I'm extremely excited for this movie. Like, nearly as much as I am for the new U2 album.

 

[LemonMirrorSky]

I haven't listened to these cover versions. Will do so on youtube or something soon. But I just wanted to comment that... I always have to laugh at Achtung Baby spelled out phonetically like that. As if it is that difficult to pronounce a simple German word!

 

[cleazer]

My 2 favorites on this album are UTEOTW and LIB.

A beautiful stripped down version of UTEOTW, but still just oozing with all the angst and emotion of the original song.

 

[cobl04]

Just went to listen to a few of the tracks in iTunes, and it looks like Love is Blindness and UTEOTW were the only ones I kept. I also thought The Fray's cover of Tryin' to Throw was great, despite thinking they are one of the most offensively inoffensive bands around, and the Killers' cover of Ultraviolet was pretty good.

Jack White's cover is fucking sensational.

 

[Nick66]

There are some decent artists on there, but for the most part I found this record unlistenable. It's not that these covers are any worse than any of the countless others, but with the possible exception of REM's performance of One, I don't think I've ever heard a U2 cover that I like. For some reason I just don't find U2's music as "coverable" as some other bands. I think their sound is pretty unique to them, and their songs always sound off to me when performed by someone else.

 

[MikeyJB]

I've always thought Nine Inch Nails' version of 'Zoo Station' was an ingenius interpretation of that song. Wonderfully sparse and atmospheric.

 

[djerdap]

I've always thought Nine Inch Nails' version of 'Zoo Station' was an ingenius interpretation of that song. Wonderfully sparse and atmospheric.

Agreed.

 

[Popmartijn]

But I just wanted to comment that... I always have to laugh at Achtung Baby spelled out phonetically like that. As if it is that difficult to pronounce a simple German word!

Considering the many people that can't even spell the title correctly, I think it is that difficult for some.
(Plus it was a nice marketing angle)

 

[djerdap]

Actually, members of U2 pronounce it wrong as well. Acktung Baby is their shtick.

 

[Galeongirl]

Larry nearly threw up when he tried to pronounce it correctly.