MR

why are groups doing whole albums of cover tunes?

it seems like every time you look around a group is doing a whole album of cover tunes.

tesla just did it,ozzy osbourne did it here recently,wasn't long ago aerosmith did it,guns n roses did one,metallica has done it,rod stewart is doing it,poison just did,queensryche is releasing one,styx did one if i'm correct.do bands do this when they are dead creatively?

Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

mikemarrs wrote:i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

Dokken (current line-up) are 80% done on doing just this. Release due in 2008.

mikemarrs wrote:i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

Sad as it is that I know this. Gordon Lightfoot has done that. He re-recorded songs for his compilations "Gord's Gold" and "Gord's Gold 2". His reasoning on re-recording his earlier material was that he didn't it.

i think for the most part the best rock music has already been released in our lifetime.i don't think there will ever be another zeppelin,aerosmith,journey,etc. especially with downloading and mostly singles being pushed plus rap,country and pop being as huge as they are.most of these groups are recording covers or covers of their own stuff because there is nothing left.

we all know the odds of journey recording another huge hit or styx suddenly having a million selling number one like babe.that just isn't going to happen.i'd say 95 percent of these groups except for maybe aersomith or bon jovi really aren't contemperary and are strictly about the hits.i'd be shocked as hell if another group similar to journey came out and got huge.creed or nickleback is as close as you can get to a melodic very successful rock group that older and young people enjoy that is new and sells millions.

Andrew wrote:

mikemarrs wrote:i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

Dokken (current line-up) are 80% done on doing just this. Release due in 2008.

Didn't Night Ranger re-record for their Hits, Rarities, etc. CD?

Andrew wrote:

mikemarrs wrote:i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

Dokken (current line-up) are 80% done on doing just this. Release due in 2008.

I didn't realize Dokken was doing the same, and wonder even why? I'm really looking forward to their new studio LP, "Lightning Strikes Again".

Also, ASIA did exact as described above with "Anthology" -- a GH package including re-recorded versions of 5 of their biggest hits with John Payne on vox (and mimicking Steve Howe's guitar parts to perfection, note-for-note and with the same tone). Why did they do it? This is from Amazon:

Then there are the remakes. In actuality, Asia wanted to release a compilation of songs from all of their albums- the 80's classics plus some current material. However, contractual problems kept them from using the original material from Geffen Records. They went around this by recording a few 'new' versions of the old hits, just with John Payne singing instead of John Wetton. The band know the fans probably would have preferred the originals with the newer stuff, but what can you do. So 1997 versions of HEAT OF THE MOMENT, GO, ONLY TIME WILL TELL, DON'T CRY, and THE HEAT GOES ON appear mixed in with the other material. These are performed ridiculouly note perfect to the original versions, only Payne's voice sounding obviouly different. He even manages to ape Steve Howe's parts pretty well.

Sound familiar?

Porcupine Tree (A very amazing modern band, check them out) re-recorded their song "Shesmovedon" for their 2005 album Deadwing.. it had already been on the 2001 album Lightbulb Sun.

All hope isn't lost for modern music.. Muse, for one, is incredible.

Cover albums are a waste of time. The only one I like is Rush's "Feedback".

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

mikemarrs wrote:why are groups doing whole albums of cover tunes?

it seems like every time you look around a group is doing a whole album of cover tunes.

tesla just did it,ozzy osbourne did it here recently,wasn't long ago aerosmith did it,guns n roses did one,metallica has done it,rod stewart is doing it,poison just did,queensryche is releasing one,styx did one if i'm correct.do bands do this when they are dead creatively?

Excellent question!!
Geez, I wait a million years for a new Shaw/Blades album and it's COVERS?????? lame. Good album, but not what I want to hear from these guys.
Same with Styx's last studio album.

Drives me nuts.

Favorite one is McCartney's "Run Devil Run"

Twisted Sister re-recorded their entire Stay Hungry album a few years back and it sucked. It's a cheapass way to NOT have to write new material. The band sends everyone home with a list of tunes and says "here, learn these", and they all come back a week later and record them. Simple and cheap. Don't get me wrong... I DO like when bands cover a song here and there, but not entire albums...

mikemarrs wrote:i think for the most part the best rock music has already been released in our lifetime.i don't think there will ever be another zeppelin,aerosmith,journey,etc. especially with downloading and mostly singles being pushed plus rap,country and pop being as huge as they are.most of these groups are recording covers or covers of their own stuff because there is nothing left.

we all know the odds of journey recording another huge hit or styx suddenly having a million selling number one like babe.that just isn't going to happen.i'd say 95 percent of these groups except for maybe aersomith or bon jovi really aren't contemperary and are strictly about the hits.i'd be shocked as hell if another group similar to journey came out and got huge.creed or nickleback is as close as you can get to a melodic very successful rock group that older and young people enjoy that is new and sells millions.

If Styx didn't hit huge with Cyclorama, something is wrong with their promotion and team behind the album. That was a killer album and in another time, it would've been a monster album.

Bon Jovi re-recorded their own hits, changing them up a bit.........and it sucked big time. Even Jon admitted on Larry King it wasn't one of their better decisions. He said the concensus from the fans was "don't mess with our songs". I bought the dvd/cd....being a Jovi fan, and have only listened to it the once. Sorry JoePa I know you liked it, but you are probably 1 of the only 2 that actually did.

I would think that the market for any bands re-recorded hits is pretty small. Only die hard fans.

Does anyone know if that's accurate.

conversationpc wrote:Cover albums are a waste of time. The only one I like is Rush's "Feedback".

That's a terrific CD. In that case, they wanted something to tour behind, from what I recall, for their 30th Anniversary. I'm glad they did, as I love the cuts, and it got them back into the mindset of recording with all three members being in the studio. The first product of that? Snakes & Arrows. Great CD!

The other is, believe it or not, the Shaw/Blades CD. Brilliant harmonies and renditions of classics. "Your Move" -- classic.

Lerxst101 wrote:The other is, believe it or not, the Shaw/Blades CD. Brilliant harmonies and renditions of classics. "Your Move" -- classic.

I listened to the tunes on that album and thought they all sucked.

belar wrote:

Andrew wrote:

mikemarrs wrote:i was wondering something.has a group ever just re-recorded all their own hits and put it out as a greatest hits? i remember someone doing it but i can't remember who.

Dokken (current line-up) are 80% done on doing just this. Release due in 2008.

Didn't Night Ranger re-record for their Hits, Rarities, etc. CD?

They did and it was horrible. Love that band, but it sucked.

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

...and still pushing the covers album
2008 will be in support of the next album.

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

...and still pushing the covers album
2008 will be in support of the next album.

Oh really! I didn't know that! They didn't have "Yeah" on their equipment or anything, so I just figured they toured just to make the money without the support. I think they only did one song from that Yeah album though. Hmmm.

Axe also re-recorded many of their own songs from their first four albums and spread them out over 2 anthology cds. I believe I read somewhere that they had to do this to get the songs on cd because they didn't have the rights to the originals.

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

...and still pushing the covers album
2008 will be in support of the next album.

Def Leppard with an all new album 2 years later WITH a tour??? Man....that's a mind blower. Let's go back a bit....X ('02)...good tour ('03) behind a new album (which I only liked a few song off of), Next tour was behind the Rock Of Ages collection (Greatest hits) with Bryan Adams...an OK tour but no new material. Yeah had NO "new" material, and the tour wasn't all that great in my eyes. The only thing that lifted that one up was Journey with Jeff. 2007 rolls around and they're STILL touring to promote a crappy covers album....I didn't even bother going. I think the only things I missed were "Mirror Mirror" by Leppard and Foreigner with the new singer. This new album/tour better be worth it 'cause the last tour that was absolutely worth it that I went to was the Sl@ng tour in '96.

Liam wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

...and still pushing the covers album
2008 will be in support of the next album.

Def Leppard with an all new album 2 years later WITH a tour??? Man....that's a mind blower. Let's go back a bit....X ('02)...good tour ('03) behind a new album (which I only liked a few song off of), Next tour was behind the Rock Of Ages collection (Greatest hits) with Bryan Adams...an OK tour but no new material. Yeah had NO "new" material, and the tour wasn't all that great in my eyes. The only thing that lifted that one up was Journey with Jeff. 2007 rolls around and they're STILL touring to promote a crappy covers album....I didn't even bother going. I think the only things I missed were "Mirror Mirror" by Leppard and Foreigner with the new singer. This new album/tour better be worth it 'cause the last tour that was absolutely worth it that I went to was the Sl@ng tour in '96.

I really enjoyed it this year with DL/Styx/Foreigner but that's just me. They did an acoustic set of Two Steps that lead into Bringin on the Heartbreak that went from unplugged to plugged that was really cool. I liked that they had the walkways into the audience too. There were things I liked better about it than the Yeah tour, mainly that they sang more songs off of High and Dry and less ongs off of Yeah. The only thing I missed was Journey lead by JSS.

StevePerryHair wrote:

Liam wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:

Andrew wrote:Lazy, uninspired, or a stop gap measure so they can keep product coming and stay on the road where the only chance of making money is. Or all 3.

I don't know. Def Leppard claimed they did their cover album (which I know got a lot of criticism ) to show their influences. And they also toured this last year and did pretty well with out any album to to support it. Seems like bands don't really need a reason to tour anymore. Maybe the cover albums are cheaper to make?

They were touring in support of that covers album.

Yeah, I know they were that year. But this year they were not supported by an album.

...and still pushing the covers album
2008 will be in support of the next album.

Def Leppard with an all new album 2 years later WITH a tour??? Man....that's a mind blower. Let's go back a bit....X ('02)...good tour ('03) behind a new album (which I only liked a few song off of), Next tour was behind the Rock Of Ages collection (Greatest hits) with Bryan Adams...an OK tour but no new material. Yeah had NO "new" material, and the tour wasn't all that great in my eyes. The only thing that lifted that one up was Journey with Jeff. 2007 rolls around and they're STILL touring to promote a crappy covers album....I didn't even bother going. I think the only things I missed were "Mirror Mirror" by Leppard and Foreigner with the new singer. This new album/tour better be worth it 'cause the last tour that was absolutely worth it that I went to was the Sl@ng tour in '96.

I really enjoyed it this year with DL/Styx/Foreigner but that's just me. They did an acoustic set of Two Steps that lead into Bringin on the Heartbreak that went from unplugged to plugged that was really cool. I liked that they had the walkways into the audience too. There were things I liked better about it than the Yeah tour, mainly that they sang more songs off of High and Dry and less ongs off of Yeah. The only thing I missed was Journey lead by JSS.

Well...the whole reason I didn't go this past summer is because I knew it'd be a rehashed GH setlist from all 3 bands (aside from a couple of songs) that I've heard again and again. Didn't really want to go through a boring concert again.
BUT...I made a mistake in my inital post. The last tour that was the best....Euphoria tour ('99). Unfortunately there were only 4 new songs played. At least the show I went to. Paper Sun was fuckin' GREAT.

Liam wrote:
Well...the whole reason I didn't go this past summer is because I knew it'd be a rehashed GH setlist from all 3 bands (aside from a couple of songs) that I've heard again and again. Didn't really want to go through a boring concert again.
BUT...I made a mistake in my inital post. The last tour that was the best....Euphoria tour ('99). Unfortunately there were only 4 new songs played. At least the show I went to. Paper Sun was fuckin' GREAT.

I would LOVED to have seen Paper Sun live. I love that song. Unfortunately I never saw DL live until last year so to me it was still great. I can see how if you've seen them a lot you could maybe get bored. I haven't yet though

StevePerryHair wrote:
I would LOVED to have seen Paper Sun live. I love that song.

Well....once I get on a cable modem (I hate SuddenLink already. ) I'll send you a boot of the Tulsa show in '99. Joe's voice is REEEEAAAALY rough. But it's still a cool thing to have.

The 4 Euphoria songs are: Demolition Man, Paper Sun, Promises, Goodbye.

Liam wrote:

StevePerryHair wrote:
I would LOVED to have seen Paper Sun live. I love that song.

Well....once I get on a cable modem (I hate SuddenLink already. ) I'll send you a boot of the Tulsa show in '99. Joe's voice is REEEEAAAALY rough. But it's still a cool thing to have.

The 4 Euphoria songs are: Demolition Man, Paper Sun, Promises, Goodbye.

Cool!! That would be great