Friday 1 July 2011

GOOD COVER/BAD COVER #5 - Outlandish vs Michael Bolton

GOOD COVER

Outlandish
Aicha

originally by
Cheb Khaled
Aicha


I KNOW! I KNOW! I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking, "uum.... whaaaat? Why is this filed under Good Cover?" and you'd be right to think this.

For any of you who isn't familiar with the Danish-Muslim hip-hop group Outlandish, then I wouldn't really blame you as they've only conquered a select handful of European countries, however they've always been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since I heard Walou back in 2003. Don't ask me why, it was catchy and I enjoyed their unique blend of multilingual/multicultural influences.

Moving on to "Aicha", widely ignored here in the UK but caused a monumental storm over in the rest of the continent, is an English language tribute to Cheb Khalib's ("The King of Rai") song of the same name replacing the stereotypical 90's production with a more down-tempo hip-hop edge topped off with some gorgeously crisp guitar licking.

But "WHY" have I filed this under 'Good Cover'? Surely it's just yet another uninspired and lackluster cover version? Yeah, it kind of is, BUT it's not been bastardised to hell and by any means it's not 'bad', and it could be worse is the point I'm getting at. It could be a lot worse. Bottom line is, I kinda enjoy it.

BAD COVER

Michael Bolton
When A Man Loves A Woman


is a bastardisation of
Percy Sledge
When A Man Loves A Woman


I don't really need to go into too much detail with this one. Here we have the Percy Sledge version, a staggering behemoth of sheer vocal horsepower and then we have the soul-less, watery and white Michael Bolton version.

Get the hell outta here...

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