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seedarklyxeroWelcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Well it's the end of another year on a calendar established to represent the passage of time from a specific and yet unsubstantiated point in history. Without the supposed birth of Christ would we celebrate the New Year now? More importantly, would Martin Gore have ever written the song covered by so many and featured on today's Second Sunday A La Mode? Of course, the song is actually about an entirely different king whose birthday (eight days from this post) some might also still celebrate this season.
Electric Riot - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Depeche Mode were recently hailed for having one of the most successful U.S. tours in 2017, outselling many number-one pop artists, despite never achieving a number-one hit of their own on the same charts. One of their tracks that got close was promoted before release with a controversial marketing campaign during the summer of 1989. They had placed ads in the personal sections of UK newspapers and magazines with only a phone number and the message, "Your own personal Jesus." If you "picked up the receiver" to make the call, you would hear Personal Jesus before its August 1989 release. Between then and after the full release of their seventh studio album Violator in March 1990, they suffered numerous complaints and some near-riots over the track, while enjoying simultaneously one of the best selling singles of their career.
In part due to the widely varying interpretations of the track, ranging from evangelistic to blasphemous, Gore made it clear that the song was far from an assault or endorsement of religion and was actually inspired by Priscilla Presley and her 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me. The theme was drawn from her professed exaltation for the King of Rock and Roll as "her man, her mentor" and the idea that some look to those whom they love with a reverence, care, and hope akin to that one might receive from Jesus. Gore expounded that it was about how, in some relationships, "everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?"
Personal Jesus is also noted for being the first of their songs in which guitars are the dominant instruments, creating one of the most recognizable hooks in their catalog.
There are well over a hundred covers of Personal Jesus; some of the most notable were done by Gravity Kills, Marilyn Manson, Pigface, Nina Hagen, Komor Kommando, Mindless Self Indulgence, Sammy Hagar (do yourself a favor and NEVER google that), and Johnny Cash (David Gahan reportedly said in one interview that Gore had to be convinced uncharacteristically that signing off on that one was a great idea.)
In 2011, Electric Riot, a London based indie dance act, we're offered the opportunity to replace a band on a tour of Italy. One of the requirements of the gig was that they perform at least one cover. Frontman Tim Trouble, a fan of Depeche Mode who considers their 101 one of the " top 5 best live albums ever" decided on Personal Jesus. It was a instant favorite for their audiences and in August 2012, just a week before the 35th anniversary of Presley's death, they released their cover online. Their sound matches the caliber of groups like The Presets, a brand of synthpop wrapped in a modern interpretation of 80's new wave. Where most covers remain true in the expression of Depeche Mode's signature bluesy riff that is the foundation of the song, Electric Riot offer a very divergent guitar riff, heavily syncopated and wildly energetic. They also use a looped section of an Azari & III remix and sequenced in a number of breaks that add to its dramatic flare. Its tempo is a full ten beats per minute slower than the original, but it is so kinetically active it feels much faster in comparison.
Trouble also wrote four additional original lines of lyrics he sings in the song's penultimate measures that seem surprisingly well suited to their version of the song where the "Jesus" figure might potentially be female:
"Take my fears and throw them away, like the cinders and ashes of yesterday
She heals my heart as it fractures again and then takes my hand as we sail away... Let's sail away"
Again, this is one out of well over a hundred covers, and many have merit, but it is a stand alone gem and a truly exceptional adaptation of Depeche Mode's classic.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
The first cover of 2018 was just released on the first day of winter and comes to us from a mechanically inclined industrial EBM group who pumps up the volume of an 80's techno electronic jam!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm spinning three Friday nights in a row this January, ranging in style and throughout New England. As always, my schedule has the details and you're welcome to join if you like and can! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 24 - Misters of Circe - Clanging Chimes of Doom (originally Do The Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid)
Dec 17 - Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Dec 10 - Noir - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran)
Dec 03 - Obscenity Trial - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
Nov 26 - NoNotNever - Cold-Hearted Snake (Paula Abdul)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
Well it's the end of another year on a calendar established to represent the passage of time from a specific and yet unsubstantiated point in history. Without the supposed birth of Christ would we celebrate the New Year now? More importantly, would Martin Gore have ever written the song covered by so many and featured on today's Second Sunday A La Mode? Of course, the song is actually about an entirely different king whose birthday (eight days from this post) some might also still celebrate this season.
Electric Riot - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)
Depeche Mode were recently hailed for having one of the most successful U.S. tours in 2017, outselling many number-one pop artists, despite never achieving a number-one hit of their own on the same charts. One of their tracks that got close was promoted before release with a controversial marketing campaign during the summer of 1989. They had placed ads in the personal sections of UK newspapers and magazines with only a phone number and the message, "Your own personal Jesus." If you "picked up the receiver" to make the call, you would hear Personal Jesus before its August 1989 release. Between then and after the full release of their seventh studio album Violator in March 1990, they suffered numerous complaints and some near-riots over the track, while enjoying simultaneously one of the best selling singles of their career.
In part due to the widely varying interpretations of the track, ranging from evangelistic to blasphemous, Gore made it clear that the song was far from an assault or endorsement of religion and was actually inspired by Priscilla Presley and her 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me. The theme was drawn from her professed exaltation for the King of Rock and Roll as "her man, her mentor" and the idea that some look to those whom they love with a reverence, care, and hope akin to that one might receive from Jesus. Gore expounded that it was about how, in some relationships, "everybody's heart is like a god in some way, and that's not a very balanced view of someone, is it?"
Personal Jesus is also noted for being the first of their songs in which guitars are the dominant instruments, creating one of the most recognizable hooks in their catalog.
There are well over a hundred covers of Personal Jesus; some of the most notable were done by Gravity Kills, Marilyn Manson, Pigface, Nina Hagen, Komor Kommando, Mindless Self Indulgence, Sammy Hagar (do yourself a favor and NEVER google that), and Johnny Cash (David Gahan reportedly said in one interview that Gore had to be convinced uncharacteristically that signing off on that one was a great idea.)
In 2011, Electric Riot, a London based indie dance act, we're offered the opportunity to replace a band on a tour of Italy. One of the requirements of the gig was that they perform at least one cover. Frontman Tim Trouble, a fan of Depeche Mode who considers their 101 one of the " top 5 best live albums ever" decided on Personal Jesus. It was a instant favorite for their audiences and in August 2012, just a week before the 35th anniversary of Presley's death, they released their cover online. Their sound matches the caliber of groups like The Presets, a brand of synthpop wrapped in a modern interpretation of 80's new wave. Where most covers remain true in the expression of Depeche Mode's signature bluesy riff that is the foundation of the song, Electric Riot offer a very divergent guitar riff, heavily syncopated and wildly energetic. They also use a looped section of an Azari & III remix and sequenced in a number of breaks that add to its dramatic flare. Its tempo is a full ten beats per minute slower than the original, but it is so kinetically active it feels much faster in comparison.
Trouble also wrote four additional original lines of lyrics he sings in the song's penultimate measures that seem surprisingly well suited to their version of the song where the "Jesus" figure might potentially be female:
"Take my fears and throw them away, like the cinders and ashes of yesterday
She heals my heart as it fractures again and then takes my hand as we sail away... Let's sail away"
Again, this is one out of well over a hundred covers, and many have merit, but it is a stand alone gem and a truly exceptional adaptation of Depeche Mode's classic.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
The first cover of 2018 was just released on the first day of winter and comes to us from a mechanically inclined industrial EBM group who pumps up the volume of an 80's techno electronic jam!
Feel free to tell me what you think about today's cover! Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'm spinning three Friday nights in a row this January, ranging in style and throughout New England. As always, my schedule has the details and you're welcome to join if you like and can! ಠ‿↼
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Dec 24 - Misters of Circe - Clanging Chimes of Doom (originally Do The Know It's Christmas? by Band Aid)
Dec 17 - Armageddon Dildos - Everyday Is Like Sunday (Morrissey)
Dec 10 - Noir - The Chauffeur (Duran Duran)
Dec 03 - Obscenity Trial - Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
Nov 26 - NoNotNever - Cold-Hearted Snake (Paula Abdul)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies