Clang & Clatter

Coheed and Cambria - “Keeping the Blade” (Good Apollo I’m Burning Star IV, Vol 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness, 2005)
I was unsure if I should count this one, but since it’s as long as some of the SST tunes I’ve covered here, I figured why not. Sounding very much like something from the movie Halloween—and very unlike what you might imagine from the title—“Keeping the Blade” is a pretty little intro to Coheed’s third album, the first of the two-album fourth and final section of Claudio’s The Amory Wars storyline. Confused yet?! Meow.

Hayseed Dixie - “Christine Sixteen” (Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to KISS, 2003)
Hayseed Dixie makes another Five appearance with their excellent rendition of a KISS song that reveals Gene’s disturbing attraction to a teenaged schoolgirl. Seems oddly appropriate for them to cover.

Bill Evans - “Mother Nature’s Son” (In Good Company, 2012)
From one bluegrass cover to another, this time a very, very short nod to the Beatles.

Five O’Clock People - “Now I Sing” (The Nothing Venture, 1999)
I have never found it as difficult to uncover information about a band as with Five O’Clock People. I discovered this act through a friend, and immediately fell in love with their acoustic flavor of CCM, a little like early-day independent label Caedmon’s Call, but without the aspiration to make it as the next big thing in modern pop Christiandom. It looks at this point as if their music is no longer available anywhere unless you can luck up and find a new or used physical copy at a specialty store somewhere. As such, I posted this song to my blog so you can hear it for yourself.

Iron Maiden - “The Number of the Beast (Los Angeles, USA, The Forum, Feb 19, 2008)” (Flight 666 Original Soundtrack, 2009)
Finally something rocking, although I’m not sure what I can say about this iconic Maiden number that hasn’t been said before. I guess the only thing I can add is that they sound really good for a bunch of old guys.

KISS - “I Stole Your Love” (Live at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA, 1977)
“You wanted the best, and you got the best!”

Hayseed Dixie - “Heaven’s on Fire” (Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to KISS, 2003)
Ha, ha! Very funny, iTunes!

The Cure - “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” (Boys Don’t Cry, 1980)
Great song from a period in the Cure’s history that I am unfortunately way too unfamiliar with.

The Damnwells - “H.C.E. (Here Comes Everyone)” (PMR (Poor Man’s Record) + 1, 2002)
I find that I either love a Damnwells song, or I don’t like it at all. There’s not much middle ground for me. This one I love.

Al Stewart - “Time Passages” (AM Gold: 1978, 1978)
A Popdose contribution to my collection. Didn’t realize I had hung onto this one. Thanks a lot!

Counting Crows - “Angels of the Silences” (Across a Wire: Live in New York City, 1998)
As irritated as I get at Adam Duritz’s live performances at times, Across a Wire is probably my favorite Counting Crows album, containing my favorite versions of some of their biggest songs, especially the VH1 Storytellers disc. These guys really shine in a live setting.

Ramones - “7-11” (Pleasant Dreams, 1981)
I (ahem) acquired this album from a friend along with Too Tough to Die, and honestly, I can’t remember ever hearing this song. iTunes informs me that I’ve listened to it one other time, but I think iTunes is a liar. But I’m glad I listened to it this time.

Sixpence None the Richer - “The Garden” (This Beautiful Mess, 1999)
This Beautiful Mess was my introduction to Sixpence None the Richer, and it’s still the gold standard by which I judge all their output. Sure, this track is late-90s jangly-alterno-pop navel-gazing music, but last time I checked, there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with that.

Jars of Clay - “Whatever She Wants” (The Eleventh Hour, 2002)
I still can’t quite put my finger what it is, but I remember thinking at the time The Eleventh Hour was different from anything Jars of Clay had done, and I still feel that way today. Maybe it’s that the band redefined itself by taking complete artistic control over everything for this album. Or maybe it’s that the songs feel darker, even the happy, upbeat ones. They continued in the more electric direction they had dabbled with on If I Left the Zoo (although there were enough acoustic instruments to satisfy fans of the first two albums), but the songs weren’t as immediately poppy and singalong. Still, it’s probably one of my favorite Jars releases.

Johnny Cash - “Danny Boy” (American IV: The Man Comes Around, 2002)
I was never a huge Johnny Cash fan, but I was definitely intrigued by his reworkings of popular songs in his American series, especially on tunes like “Personal Jesus,” “One,” and “Rusty Cage.” His version of “Danny Boy” has just the right amount of reverence, somberness, and sorrow for it to have been included alongside an excellent rendition of “In My Life” and my personal favorite “Hurt,” a song I like 100 times more than the original and the main reason I have this album in my collection.

Jars of Clay - “Liquid (‘SJM’ Remix)” (Vibe Central: The Essential Remixes, 2009)
Mostly electronic remix of a song that was originally produced by Adrian Belew for Jars of Clay’s full-length debut release, which (according to the mostly reliable Wikipedia) was one of the few Christian albums of the mid-nineties to achieve platinum status.

Ace Frehley - “What’s On Your Mind” (Ace Frehley, 1978)
Ace Frehley’s contribution is unquestionably the best of the KISS solo albums released in 1978. What could have been a stroke of genius turned nearly disastrous for the other members (I’m looking at you Peter!), while Ace’s album showcased what he was capable of given the freedom of musical exploration. The entire album is strong, with very few letdowns. Too bad Ace was mostly interested in other types of exploring and getting “spaced out” (pun intended) during his tenure with KISS.

Joe Satriani - “The Souls of Distortion” (Is There Love in Space?, 2004)
I like Satch best on these types of melodic compositions rather that his balls-out, screaming guitar wankery. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially from Joe, since he seems to have avoided the “Hey, look at me! I’m a guitar player!” shredder mentality that others with his talent so often fall into.

Galactic Cowboys - “Not of this World” (Never Say Dinosaur, 1996)
The Galactic Cowboys’ offering on this tribute to Christian rockers Petra reimagines the track as a typical Galactic thrash stomp number and resembles the laid-back acoustic original only by retaining the song’s main melody.

Temple of the Dog - “Hunger Strike” (Temple of the Dog, 1991)
Easily the best song—and most commercial as evidenced by the heavy MTV airplay of the video—from this one-off band of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam members and its tribute to fallen friend Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone.

Hayseed Dixie - “Detroit Rock City” (Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to KISS, 2003)
Hayseed Dixie is always a good time no matter who they are covering. Here they put their bluegrass spin on a KISS classic.

John Davis - “History” (Arigato, 2007)
Superdrag frontman pummels his way through this track from his self-released second solo album. Arigato! is a fun listen if you like Davis or Superdrag.

Queen - “Bring Back That Leroy Brown” (Sheer Heart Attack, 1974)
Sheer Heart Attack will always be my favorite Queen album if for no other reason than it is so over-the-top in the way it bounces back and forth between heavy (almost metal) songs and quirky numbers like this one.

Dream Theater - “Only a Matter of Time” (Live at Budokan, 2004)
Live recording of a Kevin Moore-penned track from Dream Theater’s debut album When Dream and Day Unite. I really like the original, but good grief, LaBrie’s vocals on this version are downright annoying.

Queens of the Stone Age - “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire” (Songs for the Deaf, 2002)
Is anyone else excited that Dave Grohl is drumming on the new album? I sure hope it’s as good as this one. Forget about Rated R; this is the only QOTSA album to own.

Chance - “Us, Stonehenge, and Them” (Unhenged: A Coverville Tribute to Spinal Tap, 2009)
Indie artist Chance combined Pink Floyd’s “Us and Them” with the hilarious lyrics of “Stonehenge” for a Spinal Tap tribute album put together by Brian Ibbott over at the always excellent Coverville podcast. I love a well-done mashup, and Chance did a great job on this one. The entire album is worth a download for any fan of Spinal Tap—the “band” or the movie.

Neal Morse - “A Whole Nother Trip: a. Bomb That Can’t Explode” (Neal Morse, 1999)
I’ve been a fan of Neal Morse, his former band Spock’s Beard, and all of his side projects for some time now. Neal is one of the biggest promoters and contributors of the progressive rock revival of the mid- to late-90s. Not only is he a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist, he actually knows how to write a darn good pop song. Being the first of a four-song suite from his first solo album prior to his departure from the Beard a few years later, and weighing in at around 9:00 by itself, this ain’t one of his pop gems (although it does have a lot of pop tendencies). It’s long on prog-ish inclinations, time signature changes, and setting up the musical themes for the rest of the songs. All four songs are great, as is the rest of the album. Check it out if you’re fan of great musicianship and thoughtful songwriting, or if you like Morse’s brand of prog-pop/rock.

Galactic Cowboys - “Where Are You Now?” (Space in Your Face, 1993)
Another band with progressive tendencies, Galactic Cowboys has popped up in my Fives a number of times now. Space in Your Face was the band’s second release and the last to feature original guitarist Dane Sonnier and their particular blend of metal, thrash, Beatles-influenced harmonies, crazy distorted bass guitar, and (at times) odd lyrical content that was sure to feature space and cowboys. The next album saw lots of changes for the band—a new guitarist, a new record label, and a shift toward a more straightforward metal approach (at least musically), although they held onto the vocal harmonies and remained a little too intelligent and quirky for most metal audiences. And that’s exactly what I liked about them. “Where Are You Now?” is a slow groove, heavy on the harmonies, with a faster thrashy middle section, and it chronicles bassist Monty Colvin’s unsuccessful attempts to catch up with former high school classmates, complete with fake phone calls during the song’s closing. What’s not to like?

Queensrÿche - “London” (Live at L’Amours East, 1987)
Man, I miss the real Queensrÿche. Rage for Order is one of my favorite ‘Rÿche albums, and although “London” isn’t a favorite track, frankly there’s not a stinker on the whole disc. Well maybe the creepy, voyeur/stalker cover of Dalbello’s “Gonna Get Close to You,” even though even it has its charms at times. But I digress. This is a live cut of “London” that I have on a bootleg of a 1987 show, although it also pops up on the 2001 live album Live Evolution. I’m not sure what’s up with that, just like I don’t know what’s up with all the Queensÿche drama these days.

Nirvana - “Something in the Way” (Nevermind, 1991)
Closing tune from the larger-than-life album that gave us both Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl, popularized a new genre of music (that coincidentally helped kill the Galactic Cowboys’ musical career; long story), sold a million flannel shirts, and helped put Seattle on the musical map forever.

R.E.M. - “Fireplace” (Document, 1987)
Um, best R.E.M. song to feature a sax solo?! Don’t know what else to say.

The Beatles - “She Said She Said” (The Alternate Revolver, 1966)
Bootleg of demos, outtakes, alternate versions, etc. of one of my favorite Beatles albums. This one starts out completely unrecognizable and then quickly shifts to a sparse acoustic version that more closely resembles what ended up on the album.

Kansas - “Two Cents Worth” (Masque, 1975)
Typical early prog-boogie from Kansas.

The Mob - “Wait” (The Mob, 2005)
The Mob was a “supergroup” project made up of Doug Pinnick (King’s X) on vocals, Reb Beach (Winger, Dokken, Whitesnake) on guitars, Kelly Keaggy (Night Ranger) on vocals and drums, and Timothy Drury (Whitesnake, hired gun) on keyboards. The album also featured Kip Winger on bass, although I’m not sure why when you’ve got Doug Friggin’ Pinnick right there. Doug’s vocals are great, and Keaggy’s are what you would expect, and while the album is good enough, the songwriting is somewhat spotty, and many of the songs (understandably) sound like they are trapped in the 80s and early 90s.

Dream Theater - “The Rover / Achiiles’ Last Stand / The song Remains the Same” (A Change of Seasons, 1995)
At one point in their career, Dream Theater would often cover other artists live, sometimes dedicating an entire night of a two-night appearance to a particular artist or album. I’m sure much of that was due to Mike Portnoy, so I don’t know how often the band does cover tunes live anymore now that he’s out of the picture, but I’m guessing not as much. It’s shame because Dream Theater is a great cover band even though they are a bit stiff and technical.