So, I was listening to Sirius (Hard Attack) and they played Trivium’s (WTF kind of name…?) cover of Master of Puppets. Now the song sounds just like the original, except that it lacks Metallica’s signature heavy sound. Trivium’s version is a bit more tinny, and IMO inferior as a result. Still, it’s basically the exact same song and the singer even does a decent job of sounding like Hetfield.
Here is my question. What’s the point? Why do a cover song that sounds almost exactly like the original? At a live concert, it’s pretty cool. But this is a single. To be fair, it’s a successful single, as it’s being played in the “Devil’s Dozen,” which is like a daily countdown of top requests. So they are making money from it. But I still don’t like it.
To me, a good cover song is something like Hazy Shade of Winter, a true remake of the original. Smooth Criminal is another nice example. Whether you like these covers or not, they add something of the band doing the covering.
So am I just being crotchety or is there something wrong with doing a perfect cover that changes nothing?