rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (09/06/85)
>>>First of all, Benetar (in my humble opinion) puts far more emotion >>>into the song than Bush does. >>And 1 + 1 = 53, right? You call belting it out in typical programmed >>heavy metal Benetar fashion putting emotion into it? I think that Kate >>Bush puts more emotion into her voice than any other singer I've ever >>heard. Only Peter Gabriel even comes close. This is one of the most >>very important features of Kate's music! > First of all, Benetar doesn't do heavy metal, unless your definition of > heavy metal differs from everyone else's. Corporate rock and heavy metal are virtually indistinguishable. One is just a glossed over version of the other. > Secondly, while she does "belt out" some of her songs, *I* don't believe > that "Wuthering Heights" is one of them. Benatar is a trained skilled vocalist with a large vocal range. Such skill (be it in voice, guitar playing, or whatever) is often mistaken for artistry. This should start a nice juicy discussion that really transcends music and maybe even art: What is the difference between craftsmanship and artistry? In any case, Benatar's rendition of WH, while "skillful", sounded as dead as a doornail next to Bush's, even without the truly awful clone-rock arrangement. >>>Secondly, the lower register of Benetar's voice is much more >>>palatable. >>Who wants "palatable" music? I want challenging music! > Does one preclude the other? Palatability implies a sense of predictability absent in challenging music. >>[But] it is butchered! It isn't different enough to be interesting. It >>has all the wailing pain stripped from it. It has heavy metal guitar >>riffs thrown in at all the wrong places for no good reason. Benetar has >>her voice chorused in a manner totally inappropriate for the song -- it >>destroys the intimacy. Some of the melody was rewritten in assinine >>ways. Pat Benetar rewriting Kate Bush is tantamount to Sidney Sheldon >>rewriting Shakespeare! > Wait a minute. First you claim that it isn't different enough to be inter- > esting, then you detail all of the differences you see in it. Are you trying > to have your cake and eat it, too? A different arrangement of a song by a different artist, in order to have some sort of artistic worth, must somehow transcend the original, making it new and fresh, without "butchering" the feel and intent of the original. Some covers are virtual copies of the original, with as much originality as a Xerox machine. Some damage the original beyond recognition. Benatar's WH is a virtual copy of the original, with its differences mostly in the area of arrangement. Doug is dead on right when he says that the heavy metal guitars shred the original flavor of the song, and add nothing to it. I could never in my wildest imagination draw the analogy between Benatar's "interpretation" and the remaking of "Seven Samurai" into "Magnificent Seven". It is more like turning a classic novel into a comic book. In closing, I would be really amused when the day comes along when all those who complained about Doug Alan swamp this newsgroup with some particular artist or other, only to become the victims of the same vindictive abuse heaped upon Doug. Sure, Doug was a bit heavy handed. No more so, though, than those who boldly and proudly said "Here's a way to shut him up!" Doug has provided some valuable insights into the nature of industry music, factory produced schlock designed by marketing analysts rather than musicians, especially when compared to the work of serious artists. Which some snobs believe is an unheard-of quantity in the quagmire of "pop", which they believe to be only of the form I described above as "industry music". Thanks to the types of "stars" Doug has berated. I for one was glad to see Doug speak out about such things. Though I don't quite qualify as a fanatical Kate Bush fan, I like her music, and I sympathize with anyone who witnesses a class artist drowned in the quagmire of mediocrity, which others would seem to glorify as "good". (Please do not construe the above paragraph to be referring to the author of the parent article to this one (Jerry Boyajian). As evidenced above, he at least was engaging in civil discussion on the topics at hand.) -- "I was walking down the street. A man came up to me and asked me what was the capital of Bolivia. I hesitated. Three sailors jumped me. The next thing I knew I was making chicken salad." "I don't believe that for a minute. Everyone knows the capital of Bolivia is La Paz." Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr -- "There! I've run rings 'round you logically!" "Oh, intercourse the penguin!" Rich Rosen ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr