[Round 2: Cover Three – Week 3]
“Planet Caravan”by Pantera
Original Artist: Black Sabbath
“Jump”by Aztec Camera
Original Artist: Van Halen
“No Quarter”by Tool
Original Artist: Led Zeppelin
Original Artist: Black Sabbath
Original Artist: Van Halen
Original Artist: Led Zeppelin
Pantera: One of my favorite Black Sabbath Songs, never listened to Pantera but a pretty good cover, has that 80’s rock sound but doesn’t over do it.
Aztec Camera: I remember buying 1984 so I could “fit in” with the cool kids,I always listened to my dads music and didn’t care for anything mainstream, the version of this song is amazing. At first i didn’t know what direction it was going to take, but it was definitely a good one. Changed the tempo of the song completely but it works.
Tool: Just like the original with a tool twist
Pantera- I prophylactically put ear muffs on the dogs and put the crystal tea set away, thinking ‘this might get loud’. But it didn’t and I was pleasantly surprised. I could hear the faint allusions to Ozzie’s tone through the voc effects. Dont know the original well. I liked the laid back, bongo vibe. I was waiting for some crazy explosiveness and then pleased when it didn’t come.
Tool- My strongest impression of the original was from Plant and Page’s unplugged reboot of this song. This did not sound anything like this. It did sound like a lot of the Tool I have heard before. So, for a Tool tune. I’d rate it high. They have a great, identifiable tone For a Led Zeppelin cover, not as high.
Pantera – A trippy little diddy.
Aztec Camera – First things first, I think Roddy frame is a better guitarist than Eddie Van Halen. I loved the read of this track upon its release and still dig it to this day. The loungey vibe gets to me.
Tool – Zeppelin is a band I never really listened to. Knowing full well there are many who worship at the shrine, I found other bands who could give me heavy. I had to go and listen to the original for reference. The original sound like watered down King Crimson. The cover has all the earmarks of what made me dislike the alt-metal scene.
“Planet Caravan” / Pantera. By coincidence, the past couple years I’ve gotten into early Sabbath (first four albums). Atypical this, as no heavy riffing, or heaviness of any kind. It’s a lovely song, actually, and I think I might actually like this cover better because the original has an annoying effect on the vocal. The hand percussion is nice, too.
“Jump” / Aztec Camera. I remember people talking about this when it came out, back when I was in college (could not have been long after the original hit). I think people considered it a piss-take, Van Halen not having been very popular with ’80s hipsters of the sort I heard about this version from. But what did they know? Listening now, I don’t think it’s a send-up at all, but a nod to a swell little pop song, redone with a jazzy sensibility, with a tone that’s a bit world-weary rather than Diamond Dave-jaunty. I don’t like it more than the original, but I do like it, including the unexpected and extended rave-up coda.
“No Quarter” / Tool. Draggier, dragged-out post-grunge version of the Zeppelin tune. Lyrics maybe a bit different too, but mostly it’s a musical excursion. I trust they found it rewarding to explore the composition’s many rhythmic, melodic and harmonic possibilities, but not many songs can keep my attention for 11 minutes, and this one overstays its welcome too.
Pantera – Planet Caravan
Pantera doing Pearl Jam covering Black Sabbath? Didn’t know the song by name, but sounds somewhat familiar. Bongos, or similar, and the guitar noodling made this quite enjoyable.
Aztec Camera – Jump
I was probably one of the lads who, back in the day, initially thought this was a joke. My then disdain for Van Halen -still don’t “love” DLR’s voice- probably fueled the impression. But, yeah, this is a tasty pop tune. Love Aztec Camera and Roddy plays, and sings, pretty tastily. Extra points for a version seemingly digitized from vinyl.
Tool – No Quarter
I’m most familiar with the Maktub version of this song – which I need to revisit as I haven’t heard it in a good while. Tool sounds very Porcupine Tree-ish here (see Blackest Eyes) – not a bad thing. It all works – enjoyed the guitar, drums and vocals. Didn’t seem overly long to me, so I guess I was okay with the length.
Pantera – This is a straight remake of the song with less vocal effects. I always liked how this song was a much needed comedown at the tail end of a monster thrash fest. If you ended that CD with throes of rejection, people would walk out of the gym and kill people in the parking lot more often than they do now.
Aztec – Holy crap 2 songs I’m familiar with, WTF? Is this the intro to an 80’s TV show? Where is bob saggat? Good recovery with some great guitar work at the end.
Tool – wow 3 in a row that I know! I like tool and I love Zep, lets see how this goes…
Dammit, tool needs to stick with fucking up their own music.
it’s basically the same song but in the tone of tool and the vocals have been stripped of their emotion. Then we add about 5 more minutes of straight tool. This is actually the better half of the song =)
Pantera – Planet Caravan: I like the imagery of the lyrics. Song lulled a bit so I was happy when the guitar solo kicked in….just in the nick of time….well done …”I’m So Wasted Dude”
Aztec Camera – Jump: The original is burned into my skull as this is one of the cover songs the band I am in plays routinely and I am actually quite sick of the song. However, this version was so very different that it feels like a different song. Refreshing and very different interpretation of the song. Crazy ending too….I liked
Tool No Quarter: Cool Song, a tad long for me but the building tension just may make it worth it. A worthy cover version of the original in my opinion for sure…….real power here and oh how the end is just great