Various Artists – (Ăhk-to͝ong Ba͞y-bi) Covered (2011)

So, this is the first compilation album in this blog. (Ăhk-to͝ong Ba͞y-bi) Covered is a compilation album of U2 cover songs by various artists. I'm not much of a U2 fan. I mean, I do like some of their 80's stuff, but I've never really actively listened to the band. I got this CD for free as a bonus CD buying a bunch of other albums. I was fairly excited about this album though, since it featured some interesting artists that I have listened to Quite a bit. I'm not usually a fan of compilation albums, but I do like them if there's a good idea, or it consists of songs that are not available on artists' own albums. This is the case with this one. Most of these cover songs only appear on this compilation. Some of these songs are quite different from the originals, which is always a good thing for a cover song.


It's quite appropriate that this kind of cover compilation should appear in this blog now, since I only just published a playlist of great covers. Many of these songs on this album are not on Spotify though, so not many of them made it to that list.

The album starts with a Nine Inch Nails cover of Zoo Station. This song is quite a good cover song and even though there is the signature buzzing sound of NIN, it's not too noisy for my taste. I guess that's because U2 has very clear and recognisable melodies. This actually feels like a hybrid of those two bands. The second song is actually also performed by U2 but this version of Even Better Than the Real Thing has been mixed by Jacques Lu Cont. The mix is quite generic dance mix of the song, so I don't think there's anything special about it.

Then in the third song we really get into business. Damien Rice's One is a beautiful and delicate ballad. The grandiloquent expression of U2 is gone and in place there's an intimate and beautifully quiet expression of one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of early 00's. The album then continues with an amazing dark version of Until the End of the World by Patti Smith. Even though Patti Smith is not technically that good of a singer, she has an amazing skill in singing in a way that you can really feel and believe.

After that we get a treat from one of the most popular alternative rock bands of the 90's. Garbage's version of Who's Gonna Ride Your White Horses is a beautiful and well produced song that sounds eerily creepy with lots of electronic samples and beats. The song gets quite loud in the chorus and I do think that the verses are actually the best part of this version. Then we get to hear a Depeche Mode version of So Cruel. The sound is similar to other Depeche Mode songs, but the song doesn't really fit into that kind of sound that well, being too happy sounding.

Depeche Mode is followed by dark and electronic version of The Fly by Irish musician Gavin Friday. This version is quite well made and the electronic sounds are very stylish. There's a dark feel throughout the song. Then we get a version of Mysterious Ways by Snow Patrol. I've always felt that Snow Patrol sounds too commercial for my taste, but so does obviously U2. In this song, Snow Patrol actually does quite well as they understand to keep the originally huge sounding song quite quiet.

Next we have probably the most boring song of the album. Trying' to Throw Your Arms Around the World is quite a cheesy song to begin with, but this The Frays version is possibly even more cheesy than the original even though there is nice edginess in the vocalists voice. There is the same problem with Killers' version of Ultra Violet. Nevertheless, this song actually sounds like a Killers song and if you didn't know the original you wouldn't even recognise this song as a cover.

Second to last, there's a Glasvegas version of Acrobat. This noisy version is not, at least, commercial, but it doesn't have the great sound of early Glasvegas either, because the vocalist doesn't get to do his trademark wails as much on this one. The best song on the album has been saved for last. Jack White's amazing version of Love is Blindness is a masterpiece. He shows how you can make a beautifully organic version of a U2 song that originally just sounds very cheesy.

So, there we have it. There are ups and downs on this list, but if you're a U2 fan, this album is, no doubt, a great curiosity. 

Album on Youtube.