I know what you’re thinking: “Oh, great, it’s a cover of a classic. It’s gonna suck, and if it’s McTaggart posting it, it’s just loud screaming noises and heavy bass guitar. Moving on…” Hold on a second before you discount this particular choice. I’m more than just loud, fast, screaming rock music, ok? I’ve actually got a pretty broad taste in what I select, I just pick music based upon one simple thought: “What music goes with enjoying the car?” That could be in the shop, on the road, or laying stripes on some lonesome backroad somewhere in full defiance of the law.
Here’s a bit of perspective for you to chew on as you contemplate hitting the play button or not: I am the youngest out of us here at BangShift, a couple years younger than Brian and a few years younger than Chad. But I am the oldest child of young parents, who were barely out of high school when I showed up in the early 1980s. I grew up with some killer music blasting out of the house speakers because they had solid tastes. I got hair metal, early heavy metal, true outlaw country stuff, and pretty much the best hits of the 1970s as my formative music background. Hearing songs from bands like Yes was par for the course from birth.
I dig cover songs when they are done right. Spoofing something like an Adele song comes with low risk because all you are doing is shifting the flavor of the song. Taking on a classic like “Roundabout” is a monumental risk. The 1971 original is a masterpiece of prog-rock work that combines a ton of detailed music detail work with Jon Anderson’s stoned view on traveling through Scotland’s countryside on a tour. The risk of royally screwing up such a monumental piece of art is exceptionally high. You don’t take on such a song for a cover lightly, and as a band, if you want any hope of not getting absolutely skewered in the reviews, you put every last ounce of your skill into the production.
That being said, give this a listen. Just trust me this one time.
Still have the original 2 record Album from 1972-bought new
Yes I am old !!!
Great Song done right -Thank you
Wow, just wow. Good choice. As an aside I believe you are the same age as my daughter.
What makes the Yes version great and this version not great is the amount of subtlety Yes provides. ALLEGAEON gets all the notes right, gets all the tempos and changes correct, but everything is aggressively played. YES isn’t trying to beat you over the head. The monumentality of the composition creates the gravitas, not the volume of the production. That’s why Black Sabbath are still the kings of all Metal. They had subtlety even in their heaviest moments. And subtlety is the major dividing line between the old days and the new days.
Nice try.