Feel Like Intercourse With A Ukulele
The gigantic hits don’t suffer fools lightly. You try messing with an established song, you reap the whirlwind.
Sometimes, though, a band hits on a gentle glide path that fits the song. Take, for instance, Pantera. They did right by Sabbath with this tasty slab of dedication:
It helps that this fits their groove, and came before “white wine” fiascos and tragic deaths. Other bands stumble along the path, spitting up tangled messes of purported celebration. I mean, is it really a good thing for established (and glossy) metal bands to try and muster some punk
Megadeth tried:
So did Motley Crue:
Neither version offers a sneer worthy of the original. If anything, they sound as calculated as Malcolm McLaren andVivienne Westwood’s attempts to create punk so as to craft an easy road to commerce. At least Megadeth comes out a bit better. There are no SoCal shades in their version.
Then there are the outliers that somehow make sense. I give the right of way to founders who want to do whatever they want. It is their song. They own it. So do your best. Plant leads the pack in this category. He doesn’t give a grizzled damn what others think:
And that is when he wasn’t so grizzled. He actually just snuck something in. And people lost their minds! But others are a bit closer to the Ur Stone. Simon Kirke has done enough heavy hitting that he makes Chris Brown look like even more of a coward. And, still, he wants you to make love Hawaiian style:
Granted, this is more Sammy Hagar than Bad Company. If anything, it is good company. It is an easy blast of calm. But it works. And, even if it didn’t, you cannot claim right of way. Kirke slammed those skins. Now he plucks (pun potential). You pick which version you want. But you might want both. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.