New Manics cover on Radio 2 cd

[Old Man Elian]

Didn't see a thread for this, but please feel free to delete if I've missed it.

New volume of the Radio 2 'Sounds of the 80s' covers cd is on the way, apparently featuring a cover of (Feels Like) Heaven :

Disc: 1
1. I'm on Fire - James Bay
2. The Boys of Summer - Stereophonics
3. Owner of a Lonely Heart - Seal
4. Red Red Wine - James Morrison
5. Another Day In Paradise - Ronan Keating
6. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Jamie Cullum
7. Road to Nowhere - The Feeling
8. Ain't Nobody - Foxes
9. This Woman's Work - Ella Henderson
10. How Will I Know - Will Young
11. Dancing In the Dark - Tom Odell
12. (Feels Like) Heaven - Manic Street Preachers
13. Let's Dance - Guy Garvey
14. Sledgehammer - Jamie Woon
15. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Gabrielle Aplin
16. Heartbreaker - Katie Melua
17. Like a Prayer - All Saints
18. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Rae Morris

Disc: 2
1. Billie Jean - Kodaline
2. All Night Long - Jack Savoretti
3. Through the Fire - Charlie Puth
4. I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near) - Hurts
5. Time After Time - Leona Lewis
6. Sign Your Name - Corinne Bailey Rae
7. Teardrops - Izzy Bizu
8. Once in a Lifetime - Lemar
9. Baby Can I Hold You - Tom Chaplin
10. Wonderful Life - Turin Brakes
11. I'm on Fire - LeAnn Rimes
12. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Mika
13. Here Comes the Rain Again - Shaun Escoffery and Andreya Triana
14. Don't Dream It's Over - Nell Bryden
15. All Through the Night - Stevie McCrorie
16. Purple Rain - The Waterboys
17. Borderline - Steve Mason
18. Everywhere - The Shires & Ward Thomas

This is the original :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQBoeBgb0uk

Whilst on the topic, did anyone ever get a hold of Volume One which included the 'Start Me Up' cover ?

[Routine Builder]

I'm really surprised the Manics haven't released cover album of 80's indie band classics already...

[Europa Gluten Free]

I'd say it's 99% that they do this stuff cos James loves being in the studio.

I'd also say it's 99% that Wire didn't even play on it.

I don't understand why they do this stuff. Must be some contractual thing. *Controversial* but the Manics are not a great covers band. At all.

[Nobody]

ooh I love that song. Should be interesting to hear. Like the last album and the bunch of recent "Sessions" CDs they've appeared there doesn't seem any other tracks on there I'm interested in though.

It appears to be out May 6th, looks like it'll be a busy (and expensive) month with the re-issue, new single and tour.

[bachelorette]

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

I'd say it's 99% that they do this stuff cos James loves being in the studio.

I'd also say it's 99% that Wire didn't even play on it.

I don't understand why they do this stuff. Must be some contractual thing. *Controversial* but the Manics are not a great covers band. At all.

Totally agree with all of this. Usually it's the choice of song or the bland interpretation that lets them down. Or both. *Controversial* I strangely enjoy Umbrella, though. I know, I shouldn't.

[Glass Angel]

Are these not recorded live at Maidea Vale? It's pretty standard for bands on Radio 2 to perform one of their own and a cover. Although I've clearly missed when they might have recorded this!

[Dac X Lee]

Originally Posted by Europa Gluten Free

*Controversial* but the Manics are not a great covers band. At all.

Originally Posted by bachelorette

Totally agree with all of this. Usually it's the choice of song or the bland interpretation that lets them down. Or both. *Controversial* I strangely enjoy Umbrella, though. I know, I shouldn't.

Come on, the McCarthy ones are all well made, Charles Windsor even sounds better in Manics version. The The's This is the Day wasn't bad either. It's so Easy sounds better done by Manics as well, although the recording is a bit trashy, but that's just adding up to the whole pleasant punky atmosphere. Working Class Hero is nice too. And Raindrops is pure sing-along beauty. Velocity Girl is cute too. I'm sure there's more, but these are just some on top of my head.

Having said that, I'm actually kinda glad that the Manics spend more time, talent and marketing making their own songs (even if combined out of part from numerous other musical influences sometimes) than getting serious fame by trying to make the best version of songs that have been covered an Nth number of times. Their only cover single isn't that much of a success compared to all the others of their own. Manics do covers more out of pleasure and that's just plain cute.

[bachelorette]

Originally Posted by Dac X Lee

Come on, the McCarthy ones are all well made, Charles Windsor even sounds better in Manics version. The The's This is the Day wasn't bad either. It's so Easy sounds better done by Manics as well, although the recording is a bit trashy, but that's just adding up to the whole pleasant punky atmosphere. Working Class Hero is nice too. And Raindrops is pure sing-along beauty. Velocity Girl is cute too. I'm sure there's more, but these are just some on top of my head.

Having said that, I'm actually kinda glad that the Manics spend more time, talent and marketing making their own songs (even if combined out of part from numerous other musical influences sometimes) than getting serious fame by trying to make the best version of songs that have been covered an Nth number of times. Their only cover single isn't that much of a success compared to all the others of their own. Manics do covers more out of pleasure and that's just plain cute.

The McCarthy ones are indeed commendable exceptions, though I wouldn't go so far as to concede that Charles Windsor is better than the original. This is the day I'll forgive, for Bradfield biographical reasons, but it wasn't anything outstanding in itself. It's So Easy is a travesty, how could they pick the only Gunners song in existence that James doesn't have the vocal range for (or the macho testosterone)? The rest, well well. I will concede here, though, that to me Suicide Is Painless is the great, outstanding exception of a cover that the band actually transformed and made their own.

I totally agree with the second part of your comment, though, and you did remind me of quite a few covers I should listen to again. ps Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel is strangely good, though, isn't it?

[darkanddivine]

To me at least, it's not especially surprising that the band don't always make the covers their own. Firstly, a lot of the covers could be considered classic rock/indie songs. And the Manics have a classic rock setup and sound. So any difference in the song tends to come from the arrangement as much as the actual playing of the track. But as the Manics aren't much of a jamming band, so that makes it less likely that they'd tear the rule book up. Putting a novel twist on a song essentially involves completely re-writing it.

I suppose it's also about song selection. A lot of the songs the guys do are songs they like. So without significant changes, it's really about whether you like the song in its original form. And then, like so many people would say, "if you like it just listen to the original." Etc etc...

I quite like the JDB version of Been a Son as that feels like a nice homage, and it's not just playing the track as-is. I'm also partial to Take the Skinheads Bowling (hat tip to anyone who saw me play that at the Manics fan gig in the early 00's ) and This is the Day is kinda sweet. Train in Vain (live) has a nice zip about it too. Overall though, I'd agree with bachelorette that MASH is the cover for the band. It's become their own through brute force and persistence. And obviously the original has fairly sparse instrumentation, so the rockout section gives it that touch that makes it unique enough.

[Dancing Kirby]

Even though they never recorded it properly, JDB's take on Last Christmas gave me a newfound appreciation of just how sad that song is. Chris Martin said the same thing in an interview a couple of years ago so you know it's a winner.

[Porco]

I like nearly all of their covers a lot, I think it's way past time for them to release a covers compliation frankly! Endless Plain of Fortune and Vision Blurred both deserve a proper release at the very least, IMHO.

Looking forward to this one, always liked the original.

[roi]

Originally Posted by Porco

I like nearly all of their covers a lot, I think it's way past time for them to release a covers compliation frankly! Endless Plain of Fortune and Vision Blurred both deserve a proper release at the very least, IMHO

Yes, definitely. Vision Blurred is amazing.

The original of Feels Like Heaven has that kind of keyboard-heavy 80s British indie sound that's all over Lifeblood and Futurology.

[Automatik]

Last Christmas, Vision Blurred and the McCarthy covers are their best. I do agree that they have some very weak covers as well, though: Start Me Up, for example, wasn't great. As a rule I don't expect much from their covers.

I don't mind the odd dud from them, of course. Same with b-sides, album tracks, etc.

[Strawberry]

Manic Street Preachers and Jamie Cullum on the same album, flipping heck.

[Lindz Delirium]

Love the original so I'm really looking forward to this.