Choose Yr. Poison

I like cover versions. I mean, I like them because it let me see more of the band, who they like, what sort of music they actually listen to other than their own genre. It gives me an insight of what’s going on within the band. Case in point: Celtic Frost’s doing Mexican Radio. Who would have thought that those guys listen to Wall of Voodoo, let alone cover one of their songs. Don’t get me wrong, I love Celtic Frost, but the thought of covering Mexican Radio is totally mind blowing/boggling. I personally don’t like Mexican Radio, even the Celtic Frost’s cover. But the thing is, with that cover, I caught a glimpse of the other side of Celtic Frost. I though these guys are the heaviest, meanest dudes in town, and with that cover, I saw the other part, the not so dark part.

Another stunner was Carcass’ version of A Girl Who Lives on Heaven Hill. In this case, I like both bands. But the thing is, it surprised me to know that Carcass listens to Husker Du, being the lords of grind and all. (Unfortunately, they went death and eventually dead).

While going to the other side of the fence, they contend that if a band covers a song, they should make it a spectacular or make it their own, not just a true-blue cover.

Well, I kind of agree to that. But, if you’re just gonna do a ska version of an 80’s song, forget it. That’s where I draw the line. I fucking HATE ska versions, I’d rather listen to a true-blue cover. At least, they are actually paying homage to the originals. And to tell you honestly, true-blue covers are not that bad. I read in the liner notes of Anthrax’s Attack of the Killer B’s that they wanted, for a long time to have their own version of Protest and Survive. And so they did it. It’s not best cover but at least they let the whole world know that they liked the Discharge. And introduced Discharge to the rest of the world (I knew guys who didn’t know the Discharge prior to that cover)

Which brings me to why my ranting ‘bout cover versions. I’ve prepared a compilation of cover songs and their original versions for my 50th post. It contains, among others, one of my favorite cover songs of all time – Extreme Noise Terror’s cover of I’m a Bloody Fool! The original song was already awesome but ENT added their signature dual vocals attack to it. I can still remember when I first got my ENT’s Peel Sessions CD, it ruled my player for weeks.

I had fun doing it, I hope have fun listening to it.

Have a Peaceful New Year!!!

Choose Yr. Poison Tracklist:

RATTUS SOTAHULLAT EXTREME NOISE TERROR
MOB47 STOP THE SLAUGHTER DOOM
DIE KREUZEN I'M TIRED NAPALM DEATH
HUSKER DU A GIRL WHO LIVES ON HEAVEN HILL CARCASS
POISON IDEA ALAN'S ON FIRE MACHINEHEAD
DOOM EXPLOITATION NAILBOMB
DYS CITY TO CITY EARTH CRISIS
BAD RELIGION WE'RE ONLY GONNA DIE BIOHAZARD
FLUX OF PINK INDIANS TUBE DISASTERS AUS-ROTTEN
DISCHARGE STATE VIOLENCE STATE CONTROL CLUSTER BOMB UNIT
SIEGE COLD WAR DISRUPT
BGK ARMS RACE MOB47
NEGATIVE APPROACH NOTHING PROPAIN
COCKNEY REJECTS I'M A BLOODY FOOL EXTREME NOISE TERROR
ANTICIMEX CRIMINAL TRAP SELFISH

Choose Yr. Poison Disc 1

Choose Yr. Poison Disc 2

* Disc 1 contains the originals while disc 2 contains the covers