The Metallica Blacklist

My friend Scott gives me musical recommendations from time to time. He sent me an innocuous text a week or so ago:

Normally a couple of songs sends me into an afternoon long diversion of musical exploration. This album is 54 songs! 12 Versions of Enter Sandman, alone. Yikes.

Full disclosure, I didn’t listen to the entire album… yet. I wanted to get back to Scott sometime before Christmas, so I focused on the songs that I know really well and love. I’ve mostly restricted myself to positive comments, though occasionally I can’t help myself.

FWIW, here are my thoughts on having listened to most of them through twice. If you subscribe to Apple Music, this is the link:

Enter Sandman

Alessia Cara

    • Probably the best of the pop versions of any of the songs (and Canadian!)

Rina Sawayama 

    • Loved some of the harmonic choices she used in her vocals, but was mostly underwhelmed by the music 

Sad but true

Sam fender

    • Soooo far from the original in style, but he completely owned it! On the right day, I might have missed that it is even a cover of one of my favourite songs.

The Unforgiven 

[Strangely, I liked nearly all of them, but particularly…]

Flatbush Zombies 

    • Unless I’m mistaken, it is the original vocals slowed down so that the rap works double time?!? Is that right. Anyway, I love original/diverse lyrics in a remake.

Ha*Ash

    • Latin/Country/Pop??? Didn’t know it was missing from my life. More, please.

Moses Sumney

    • My favourite from the whole album!!!
    • I was literally “hooked” by the guitar opener. His falsetto is terrific.

Nothing Else Matters

Phoebe Bridgers

    • Intimate and haunting. Such an appropriate take on this song. Haunting. The simplicity of the piano/violin combo and the occasionally duplicated/ghosted lyrics. Love.

Miley Cyrus (with one of the most amazing ‘feat’ lists of modern times)

    • I didn’t want to like it, but… the drum and guitar (and yes vocal) crescendo was great. I liked the cello ending, also. Yo-yo Ma is alright.

Dave Gahan 

    • Loved the careful, methodical lyrics. I could have used more of the ghostly digital effects. I was into it, but wanted (just a bit) more.

Chris Stapleton

    • Well adapted outside it’s genre (though not too far). And, while I don’t want to get into complaints, it certainly shows well after failed attempts by Igor levit, My Morning Jacket, and PG Roxette.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Master Gift Getter

Image
Perhaps there is a school you can attend that will teach you how to find perfect gifts for your friends. I haven't been there, but I know someone who should be lecturing. From the hands of the man who brought me lock-picks, Swiss army knives and countless... Liquid Metal ... dangerous (previous blog entry) Prince Rupert's Drops ... adventures !(another old post) I give you Shape Lock , which is a brand name for something more generally known as "friendly plastics" or polycaprolactone (wikipedia). We had loads of fun with it the first day, but had to keep it on a shelf for a few days to allow me to speak directly to other humans. Even then concentration was difficult. My mind raced constantly thinking of cool uses for this stuff. Eventually, when the Christmas hubbub was dying down, I settled on a project that I've wanted to attempt for a long time -- making a custom attachment for my Gorilla Pod . Before we go any further, if at any time you find yo
Read more

If you see Lake Louise, start walking in the other direction

Image
These direction might be a little bit rough. You could probably get away with these type of vague instructions on the prairie without becoming seriously lost. Although death from boredom is a distinct possibility for some. At any rate, the title of this post gives you a pretty good idea how to begin my latest mountain expedition. As always, I was guided into the wilds by fellow Quester, Dave Aschim. We are starting to have a bit of a mountain legacy: 2009 ,  2010 , 2011 , 2014 , and now 2015 A map with a rough route drawn on it can be found here . One more note. I took a series of "geo panoramas" or " photospheres " as Google calls them. If you follow one of the links to Google Maps (I tried to imbed on the site, but failed), it isn't just a static image. On a laptop or desktop PC, you should be able to click the compass or click and drag the image to see an entire 360 degree view. The resolution isn't as good as my DSLR camera, but for now, it is stil
Read more