Bjcorbin's Blog

1. Turn the Page (Bob Seger) – Metallica.  This remarkably straight up remake retains all the road weariness of the original, while replacing the iconic saxophone arrangement with a surprisingly effective guitar line.
2. Sounds of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel) – Disturbed.  The mix of Paul Simon’s epic lyrics, a sweeping orchestral arrangement, and David Draiman’s powerful vocals makes for compelling musical theater.
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana) – Tori Amos  Somehow Amos’ striped down, piano arrangement manages to build its own strange sort of tension.
4. Solitary Man (Neil Diamond) – The Sidewinders  A slightly grittier, more muscular version of a Neil Diamond classic.
5. Hurt (Nine Inch Nails) – Johnny Cash  Cash’s take on this Trent Reznor lamentation is as emotionally raw as anything you’ll ever hear on the radio.
6. Sweet Jane (The Velvet Underground) – The Cowboy Junkies  The Junkies seem to transport the urban cool of this Lou Reed tune to a roadhouse somewhere in the Midwest.
7. Bad Company (Bad Company) – Five Finger Death Punch  The ultra-cool original gets a dose of steroids from this Vegas hard-rock outfit.
8. Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder) – Red Hot Chili Peppers  Though not a radical departure from the original, the Peppers still manage to leave their distinctive fingerprints on it.
9. Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix) – Sting  The jazzy recasting of this Hendrix classic makes it almost unrecognizable when compared to the original.
10. Careless Whisper (Wham) – Seether.  Even those of us who loathed the frothy pop of Wham can appreciate Seether’s roughed up arrangement of this chart topper.

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