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100 best covers: #45 Jane’s Addiction “Sympathy”

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Jane’s Addiction were one of those bands that I got into just as I was getting into ‘alternative’ music and my introduction was their commercial breakthrough, 1990’s “Ritual de lo habitual”. Of course, we now know that this was their ‘final’ album* before disbanding the following year. At the time, though, I was super excited about them and listened to both of their albums on cassette tape ad nauseum.

I later learned that they also had a self-titled live album that the band released a year before their major label debut, solely because they wanted their first release to be on an independent label. It was recorded at a small club in L.A. a bit before they had started generating a buzz and was later produced and mixed in-studio, including the addition of an applause track on some songs from another band’s live recording. Their performance is a bit messy at times but it aptly captures the excitement and energy of their live performances that garnered them such a following and for this reason, it’s still a favourite of mine and I included when I counted down my top ten albums for 1987. The track listing includes early versions of classics that would later be re-recorded for their proper debut, “Nothing’s shocking”, as well as a couple of covers: Velvet Underground’s “Rock n roll” and this one, The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the devil”.**

The original recording is probably my favourite ever song by The Rolling Stones, not that I really consider myself a huge fan of that band. I purchased a copy of “Hot rocks” on cassette tape when I was a teenager and that’s really only the material of theirs that I know. I do know that “Sympathy” is a rocking tune that really changed public perception of the band – for better and for worse – and has been covered by more than a few bands since then. Jane’s Addiction’s version feels somewhat faithful to the feel of the original, even including hand drums and maracas. Of course, Perry Farrell is not Mick Jagger. Their vocal styles are not quite diametrically opposed but they are different enough that it changes the overall feel. The cover is a lot more raw and angry than the original, perhaps a less slick devil but definitely not less sexy. And of course, there’s the live element as well that makes you think that everything might just fall apart at any given moment.

I still prefer The Stones’ original version of “Sympathy for devil”, it’s probably one of my favourite ever tunes, but Jane’s Addicition definitely makes it run a little faster and harder for the prize.

Cover:

Original:

*Final until they reunited more than a decade later and released a couple more.

**Listed simply as “Sympathy” on the album’s track listing.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #46 R.E.M. “First we take Manhattan”

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I wrote about the very excellent Leonard Cohen tribute album, “I’m your fan”, back in 2020* when I was posting about Pixies’ cover of “I can’t forget”, which appeared at #71 on this list and was on the very same aforementioned compilation.

At the time, I had never heard R.E.M. covering anyone else (or at least, I thought I hadn’t), given I was a somewhat new convert, and this one blew my mind. Indeed, “First we take Manhattan” was one of my early favourites when listening to “I’m your fan” because the Athens, Georgia quartet was one of the only artists on it that I had heard before. The song appeared as track one on the North American release of the compilation, given R.E.M.’s increasingly high profile, but appeared as track 10 everywhere else in the world. I loved the raging and driving guitars and the contrast of Michael Stipe’s deadpan and austere delivery in the verses with the offset harmonies of the chorus. It was all very clear, though, and respectful of the words, allowing them their own space to breathe.

By the time I purchased Leonard Cohen’s “I’m your man” on CD a couple of years later**, I knew all the words by heart and could sing along with Mr. Cohen*** in his exploration on terrorism. And though I loved the poet’s deep voice and sing-speak delivery, I was less a fan of the instrumentation. Heavy on the synths and drum machine, it was definitely a product of its time and was maybe even a little late to the synthpop party. It definitely took me a little to get past that and for many years preferred the R.E.M. cover but I now can appreciate the version Cohen recorded for “I’m your man”.

Interestingly, though, his wasn’t the original recording of the song. That came two years earlier, care of frequent collaborator Jennifer Warnes, when she recorded it for her Cohen tribute album “Famous blue raincoat”. Hers is a much shorter version and more straightforwardly pedestrian than the versions I’ve already mentioned. To be honest, I only listened to it for the first time this past week while preparing to write this post because I suspected I wouldn’t be a fan and… well… I wasn’t wrong. Sure, it’s got Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitars but even those feel a bit wasted here and Warnes’ vocals a bit too cabaret for the subject matter.

So if we consider this last the original, I can definitely put my vote behind R.E.M.’s cover.

R.E.M.’s cover:

Leonard Cohen’s version:

Jennifer Warnes’ original recording:

*Right around the time that the world was deciding whether to shut its doors to take try to stem the rising COVID-19 tide.

**Incidentally, this was the first Leonard Cohen album I ever owned and purchased on the back of this song and “Everybody knows”, which I knew from the film, “Pump up the volume”.

***Yes, that’s right. I heard R.E.M.’s version before Cohen’s.

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.

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100 best covers: #47 The Decemberists “Human behaviour”

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You can mark this down in the column of cover songs that shouldn’t work on paper but in reality, are quite splendid.

I have written before in these pages about how I discovered Portland, Oregon-based indie folk band, The Decemberists, at some point circa 2004 after reading about them in Under the Radar. I fell hard for them upon first listen and immediately consumed their first two albums in rapid succession. Then, hearing that a third album was still in the works, went on the hunt for anything else I could find, which included a five song EP (called “5 songs”), a close to 20 minute prog-folk interpretation of a Celtic myth (“The Tain”), and then, this, a cover of Björk’s early solo career single, “Human behaviour”.

It was included on a compilation called “Read: Interpreting Björk” that was put together by Portland indie label Hush Records. The idea was floated and most of the recordings happened in 2001 but then they shelved the project because they were worried folks might think they were trying to capitalize on the success of one of their heroes. They ended up releasing it a few years later, after plenty of interest was shown just based on word of mouth. The Decemberists’ cover was one of the late additions to compilation track list and in my own humble opinion, the best of the bunch, though there are some other interesting interpretations worth exploring.

Björk’s original version is actually one of my favourites of her tunes. It appeared at number fourteen on my list of favourite tunes from 1993 and like many of the tunes from “Debut”, it’s an industrial dance party, very “synth, sample, and percussion heavy”. Inspired by wildlife documentaries, Björk explores and exploits the human condition and looks at it from an outsider’s vantage point.

In The Decemberists’ capable hands, it’s a very different sounding beast. Obviously, it’s more organic in feel. With their expansive instrumentation palette, however, they do a great job of replicating the tempo and energy of the original. Of course, Colin Meloy sounds nothing like Björk but he certainly sounds like he’s having fun trying.

Ir’s a great cover of a great tune that only made me love both artists more. Don’t make me choose between them.

Cover:

The original:

For the rest of the 100 best covers list, click here.