Townsman kpdexter submits the following:
In 2003, Robert Pollard released an album on Off Records called Beard of Lightning. What’s interesting about this album, besides the fact that it features some of the most intense, challenging, and exciting music of his career, as well as incredible melodies and lyrics, is the concept behind it.
Bob was given the master tapes to Phantom Tollbooth’s 1988 album, Power Toy (released on Homestead), and allowed to recreate it, wiping the original vocals and replacing them with his own vocals and lyrics, in effect creating a brand new lp. With the band’s blessing, he set about reshaping the album, laboring over it for months, trying to get it just right.
What he came up with not only improves on the original, but is also vastly different. This is no karaoke project, this is an entirely new beast. Pollard sings over parts that were originally instrumental breaks, and a lot of the parts that Dave Rick and Gerard Smith originally sang over are now the instrumental passages. What was once a “Minutemen-esque” jazz punk fusion, has now been transformed into a a dark, jazzy, psychedelic Math Rock opus.
The question I put forth to RTH is this: Could this conceivably be a new trend in Rock? Are there any other bands that should be considered for a project like this? What singers would you like to see tackle such a project? What other albums suffer from lame-ass vocals but musically are monsters?
For example, I’d like to see David Lee Roth tackle the tracks for the horrendous Van Halen III album, a VH do-over if you will.
How great would it be to hear Prince lay down some vocs and licks on that Tom Tom Club lp?
Maybe we could convince that Antony guy to redo Lou Reed’s vocals on his magnum opus, The Raven?
We get to decide!
Great video. Was Pollard behind this as well?
That is a cool video. I particularly dig the guy who looks like a cross between Benicio Del Toro in Fear and Loathing, and Meathead Rob Reiner.
Last lineup GBV bass player, Chris Slusarenko directed the video. He’s also the guy responsible for those Takeovers tracks I posted about a few months ago.
The new Yoko album I mentioned the other day supposedly was put together by giving the master tapes of tracks she had released over the years to various artists to do with as they wished. According to AMG most of the new versions were remade/remodeled by wiping most everything but her vocals and starting over. This is pretty much standard practice in the dance/electronica world. What are called “remixes” are actually very often radical reworkings. What Pollard has done sounds like a mirror image of that, or did he alter or at least remix the instruments?
I think a lot of people might enjoy the Smiths if it weren’t for Morrisey, but I don’t know who to nominate as singer/recomposer. I find the instrumental tracks so beautiful, I’d enjoy purely instrumental dubs.
as far as I know, there was no remixing done.
I do know that after working on it for two months, laying everything out, He hammered it it home in a mere six hours of actual studio time.
Can you Imagine what it would be like if the guys in Queen let Paul Rodgers have a go at the old master tapes to those old albums.
The Horror.
I’ve got one! I’ve been listening to AC/CD’s High Voltage all week. The guitars, arrangements, and overall production are outstanding. HOWEVER, the vocals and lyrics couldn’t be more STOOOOOPID and useless to my life. Give me Steve Marriott and his more interesting lyrics backed by those guys and I’m cool. The real Marriott, not the kid from Oliver!
Waitaminnit. You want Steve Mariott to improve on Bon Scott’s lyrics? Are you suuuure?
So hot ‘n’ nasty
Oh, hey Joe, don’t forget to shake it
While you sleepin’ on that bed
You know it really makes it
Look at me shake a leg, oh
I got my head in a cloud
I’m gonna stand out in the crowd
I wanna sing out loud
Ooh, got to do it with the feelin’
Now you gonna hit the ceiling
Do you get the message?
Do you get the message?
Do you get the message?
Hey, boogaloo, I really love you
Look what you’ve done to my head
Take all my time
Take all my money
But most of all you take all my bread
Oh, I got my head in a cloud
I wanna sing it loud
I’m gonna stand out in the crowd
You got to do it with the feelin’
Well, you gonna hit the ceiling
Do you get the message?
Do you get the message?
Do you get the message?
Don’t forget to shake that thing…
Do it with the feelin’
Then you gonna, then you gonna hit the ceiling
Hot ‘n’ nasty, hot ‘n’ nasty
It’s hot ‘n’ nasty, so hot ‘n’ nasty
So hot ‘n’ nasty