Killers Cover Joy Division

[grlNIN]

http://www.stereogum.com/archives/the-killers-cover-joy-division.html

With the biopic of Ian Curtis' life Controll on its way i guess it was only a matter of time before some set of quasi hipster assholes covered a Joy Division song.

I heard it on the radio while driving to work today and I've never been more repulsed and rejecting in my life. Not only did i have to turn the dial but i plugged in my ipod asap to actually put JD on and filter the previous defamation out of my head.

I know Fuzzy will also be dismayed by this news.

[mikeyboy]

It sucks, but it's a fact of life. Shitty bands cover good bands all the time. Plus, it's not like Joy Division has never been covered before. (http://www.coversproject.com/artist/joy%20division)

[grlNIN]

I have never heard any of those sans NIN.

Please give that list back to the hounds of hell you got it from.

[TheMojoPin]

Prepare yourself for something so awful it'll make your soul actually bleed and shit itself at the same time:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Just to cleanse the pallette:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BNMbuygEju8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BNMbuygEju8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[JesterOfSadness]

When I first heard on the radio about it, I didn't think it was going to be that bad. And then once it actually played I nearly drove off the road in a fit of rage.

Only other time that's happened was when I heard Green Day covering John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero', which they absolutely butchered...those shits.

[TheMojoPin]

When I first heard on the radio about it, I didn't think it was going to be that bad. And then once it actually played I nearly drove off the road in a fit of rage.

Only other time that's happened was when I heard Green Day covering John Lennon's 'Working Class Hero', which they absolutely butchered...those shits.

Especially since the Manic Street Preachers just did the same cover as a hidden track on their latest album and it's about a zillion times better. Yes, I checked the math...A ZILLION TIMES BETTER.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nY5f6hm2zH4&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nY5f6hm2zH4&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[spoon]

Never thought much of either band in question to be honest. Just not my usual style, but is that cover by FOB that much different in truth? They probably love JD as much as any fan and in the least they didn't destroy the structure in an effort to make it there own. I've always had issues when bands do that.

[torker]

Buncha killjoys.

[JesterOfSadness]

Especially since the Manic Street Preachers just did the same cover as a hidden track on their latest album and it's about a zillion times better. Yes, I checked the math...A ZILLION TIMES BETTER.


Wow..that really is a zillion times better.

[mikeyboy]

Prepare yourself for something so awful it'll make your soul actually bleed and shit itself at the same time:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>



Erg. I really hate the term "douche chills", but...uh...yeah

[TheMojoPin]

Never thought much of either band in question to be honest. Just not my usual style, but is that cover by FOB that much different in truth?

Yes. The singer's voice is way too weak and just isn't suited at all for the song or the content. He's a "yelper," and it just doesn't work.

They probably love JD as much as any fan and in the least they didn't destroy the structure in an effort to make it there own. I've always had issues when bands do that.

I actually prefer when bands at least attempt to make a cover their own. I agree it sucks when they totally re-arrange a song so it sounds nothing like the original, but this cover sounds like them just completely failing to replicate the sound and feel of the original as opposed to just tweeking it a bit. Some bands simply reach too far beyond their ability when attempting a cover, and this definitely sounds like one of those times.

[Badinia]

The first time I really got upset about a cover was the piss-poor, annoying, wimpy, skinny whiteboy, shitty, shitty, shitty Offspring recording of the Damned's "Smash It Up" in Batman Forever. When it played in the film, I had to leave the movie and go stalk around in the lobby and smoke like the angry young person I was. Yes, you could smoke in a movie theatre lobby in those days.

I'm just saying, GrlNin, that eventually you become inured to disappointment and betrayal through repetition.

[TheMojoPin]

Man, the original topic in this thread really is the result of some twisted, ripoff-ery/"homage-ing"...

OK, a few years ago, New Order, the band that emerged from the wreck of Joy Division, released the song "Crystal" as their comeback single. The video was a glossy affair that presents a "fake band" performing the song, making a comment about how 20-year old band would have to "young" things up to be accepted again, no matter what the music sounded like.

Here's the video:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0-cxzbOIleU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0-cxzbOIleU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Note the big light screen background and the name of the band on the drum kit..."the Killers."

Flash forward a couple years, and a Las Vegas band drops their debut single and video on an unsuspecting public:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKHU8OELYu0&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKHU8OELYu0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Interesting. And now the band completely "inspired" by the fake band in a New Order video is covering a a song by Joy Division, New Order's original band. Full circle?

Anyway, here's a good Joy Division cover...NIN doing "Dead Souls" for The Crow:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/er2KEEuQdoE&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/er2KEEuQdoE&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[JesterOfSadness]

Nice, now I gotta watch The Crow again. Greatest movie ever..in my mind.:happy:

[TheMojoPin]

Man, watching that "Crystal" video again, I'd swear New Order somehow used a time machine to steal a 20-year-old Bobby Gillespie to play the frontman.

[deepinthewoods]

First off, play all the utube embeds on this page at once and you will come up with a truly beautiful new collage.

For my part I have always like Grace Jones's cover of She's Lost Control (not mentioned on Mikey Boy's list) because Grace has lost and regained control many times over, and because it is reggae-punkified enough to be its own animal.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/I0U9ApTT094&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/I0U9ApTT094&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

I also like V/VM's fucked up remix of Love Will Tear Us Apart becasue they basically tear it apart a new asshole through lo-fi anti-wizardry. Unfortunately there is no video for that, but here's one for their cover of Chris DeBurgh's Lady In Red just to give an idea of their skewed angle.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pxlzRjZQ8bM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pxlzRjZQ8bM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>


Fun!!!

[mikeyboy]

Man, watching that "Crystal" video again, I'd swear New Order somehow used a time machine to steal a 20-year-old Bobby Gillespie to play the frontman.

I thought that too.

[TheMojoPin]

I thought that too.

Just for you, MB:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zvBlKcyfeoU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zvBlKcyfeoU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[sailor]

Man, the original topic in this thread really is the result of some twisted, ripoff-ery/"homage-ing"...

OK, a few years ago, New Order, the band that emerged from the wreck of Joy Division, released the song "Crystal" as their comeback single. The video was a glossy affair that presents a "fake band" performing the song, making a comment about how 20-year old band would have to "young" things up to be accepted again, no matter what the music sounded like.

Here's the video:


Note the big light screen background and the name of the band on the drum kit..."the Killers."

Flash forward a couple years, and a Las Vegas band drops their debut single and video on an unsuspecting public:


Interesting. And now the band completely "inspired" by the fake band in a New Order video is covering a a song by Joy Division, New Order's original band. Full circle?



the killers took their name from the band in that video, why wouldn't they use similar elements in their first video as an homage?

[IMSlacker]

Prepare yourself for something so awful it'll make your soul actually bleed and shit itself at the same time:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>


This one makes the Killers' cover seem not so bad.

[drusilla]

the killers took their name from the band in that video, why wouldn't they use similar elements in their first video as an homage?


that's what i was thinking. t hey were obviously big fans of new order/ joy divsion to begin with, so it's like a tribute to them. i listened to both versions of shadowplay last night & i think they are pretty different. i mean it wasn't always one the better joy division songs in my eyes anyway. i might be biased because i am a big killers fan.

Prepare yourself for something so awful it'll make your soul actually bleed and shit itself at the same time:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>



anything done by fall out boy is going to be pretty shitty.

[Lenay]

Listen to my show at 11am today :wink:i have a new Killers song with Lou Reed singing in it, it;s my Halloween Special :drunk:

Lenay D

[TheMojoPin]

the killers took their name from the band in that video, why wouldn't they use similar elements in their first video as an homage?

Isn't that what I was pointing out? I figured most people wouldn't know the origin.

[sailor]

Isn't that what I was pointing out? I figured most people wouldn't know the origin.

it seemed like you were pointing it out as a coincidence. in any event i would not have known of the connection without your post.

[TheMojoPin]

it seemed like you were pointing it out as a coincidence. in any event i would not have known of the connection without your post.

Oh, no, that wasn't my intention. I definitely kind of had a negative spin on it, since I think the Killers have been terribly derivative and unoriginal on both of their albums...the first generally ripping off Gang of Four and, ho-ho, New Order and the second essentially humping Springsteen's leg...so them being so unoriginal in their band identity doesn't really surprise me at all.

[TheMojoPin]

Hmmmm...my original posting of "Crystal" is already gone, so here it is again:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0-cxzbOIleU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0-cxzbOIleU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[sailor]

Oh, no, that wasn't my intention. I definitely kind of had a negative spin on it, since I think the Killers have been terribly derivative and unoriginal on both of their albums...the first generally ripping off Gang of Four and, ho-ho, New Order and the second essentially humping Springsteen's leg...so them being so unoriginal in their band identity doesn't really surprise me at all.

yeah, i got that from your post before. :)

i never got the argumant about people being "derivative." so what? i can't argue whether they sound like other people or not, i don't own either album (i stopped buying cd's years ago and rarely will download tracks) and frankly, have never heard of gang of 4. but, who cares if they sound like them? if you like their music, you like it; if you don't, you don't. like if director joe schmoe made a movie that reminded you a lot of the coen brothers, if you liked the movie what would it matter?

[Stankfoot]

OK you too, can we get back to Joy Division / New Order covers now?

Galaxie 500 - Ceremony (live)

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G43m0zTM_Dc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G43m0zTM_Dc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[El Mudo]

yeah, i got that from your post before. :)

i never got the argumant about people being "derivative." so what? i can't argue whether they sound like other people or not, i don't own either album (i stopped buying cd's years ago and rarely will download tracks) and frankly, have never heard of gang of 4. but, who cares if they sound like them? if you like their music, you like it; if you don't, you don't. like if director joe schmoe made a movie that reminded you a lot of the coen brothers, if you liked the movie what would it matter?


Because its unoriginal and uncreative if you make what is essentially a cover band

[Recyclerz]

Prepare yourself for something so awful it'll make your soul actually bleed and shit itself at the same time:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kzQ8_2X8zrs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>


:blink:

QFT. I can now, for the first time, understand the shock and outrage of a sincere born again Christian type upon seeing an image like the Piss Christ.

http://www.philowiki.com/wiki/images/a/ae/Pisschrist.jpg

[TheMojoPin]

yeah, i got that from your post before. :)

i never got the argumant about people being "derivative." so what? i can't argue whether they sound like other people or not, i don't own either album (i stopped buying cd's years ago and rarely will download tracks) and frankly, have never heard of gang of 4. but, who cares if they sound like them? if you like their music, you like it; if you don't, you don't. like if director joe schmoe made a movie that reminded you a lot of the coen brothers, if you liked the movie what would it matter?

Because there's a difference between "sounding like" someone or something and then seemingly trying to all but copy that style or sound as much as possible. Bands like the Killers do it to a point where they essentially have no identity of their own.

I'm not telling people to not listen to them...I'm just pointed out something I think I hear and see.

[IMSlacker]

The Killers' "Shadowplay" cover came on the radio while we were driving home from dinner tonight, and my daughter announced that it was her favorite song. She then sang "hoo-hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo hoo-hoo" for the rest of the ride home. She only three though, so I can't stay mad at her.