Even though the last review I did was a two-parter of Michael Jackson covers, I felt that there was room for one more. And here it is.
For those of you unfamiliar with the artists involved, Fallout Boy is a pop rock band from a suburb of Chicago. They've been around since 2001, and have been quite successful, with 4 top 10 hits and an additional 2 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. John Mayer, on the other hand, is a solo singer-songwriter and guitarist with 6 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. But how do they do covering Michael Jackson? Read on to find out.
The guitar work on this song is a large part of what makes "Beat It" stand out. Luckily, John Mayer does a decent job at replicating the performance put forward by Eddie Van Halen. It sounds a little off, though. The notes are there, but it sounds like there's some kind of effect on John Mayer's guitar work that wasn't there in the original. Could just be me, though, or it could be because of the vocals. Speaking of which, Patrick Stump tries his best to get the feel of the original across in his performance, and to his credit, he does do just that...until he reminds us he is the lead singer of Fallout Boy. He has a signature style to his higher pitched notes that make them stand out from Michael Jackson, while still being fairly generic. It could be almost any pop rock band doing this cover, and the vocals wouldn't be all that different.
The real issue with this cover comes with the lyrics of the song. They are the same lyrics from the original, basically about life on the streets and gang activity. Neither Michael Jackson nor Fallout Boy really have any experience with this theme, but with Jackson, he approached it basically as an interpretation of movie gang scenes, while putting in some of his own experiences in life to make it more personal. Fallout Boy, on the other hand...just copies the lyrics. In so doing, the song fails to really stand out as anything other than a somewhat enjoyable cover.
In the end, I'd have to say this is the weakest of the 3 Michael Jackson covers I've done. John Mayer's guitar work isn't bad, but it just doesn't sound quite right, and the same could be said about Patrick Stump's vocals. At the end of the day, this doesn't hit on the technical notes, and it falls short on the enjoyment factor as well. It's not a bad cover, but I can't really think of a reason to listen to this over the original.
Let me know if you would like me to do any covers in particular! My only requirements are that it be a professional band performing the cover, and that the song be available to watch on Youtube or a similar site.
For those of you unfamiliar with the artists involved, Fallout Boy is a pop rock band from a suburb of Chicago. They've been around since 2001, and have been quite successful, with 4 top 10 hits and an additional 2 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. John Mayer, on the other hand, is a solo singer-songwriter and guitarist with 6 top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. But how do they do covering Michael Jackson? Read on to find out.
The guitar work on this song is a large part of what makes "Beat It" stand out. Luckily, John Mayer does a decent job at replicating the performance put forward by Eddie Van Halen. It sounds a little off, though. The notes are there, but it sounds like there's some kind of effect on John Mayer's guitar work that wasn't there in the original. Could just be me, though, or it could be because of the vocals. Speaking of which, Patrick Stump tries his best to get the feel of the original across in his performance, and to his credit, he does do just that...until he reminds us he is the lead singer of Fallout Boy. He has a signature style to his higher pitched notes that make them stand out from Michael Jackson, while still being fairly generic. It could be almost any pop rock band doing this cover, and the vocals wouldn't be all that different.
This is Fallout Boy. They...kind of look like every pop rock band.
The real issue with this cover comes with the lyrics of the song. They are the same lyrics from the original, basically about life on the streets and gang activity. Neither Michael Jackson nor Fallout Boy really have any experience with this theme, but with Jackson, he approached it basically as an interpretation of movie gang scenes, while putting in some of his own experiences in life to make it more personal. Fallout Boy, on the other hand...just copies the lyrics. In so doing, the song fails to really stand out as anything other than a somewhat enjoyable cover.
In the end, I'd have to say this is the weakest of the 3 Michael Jackson covers I've done. John Mayer's guitar work isn't bad, but it just doesn't sound quite right, and the same could be said about Patrick Stump's vocals. At the end of the day, this doesn't hit on the technical notes, and it falls short on the enjoyment factor as well. It's not a bad cover, but I can't really think of a reason to listen to this over the original.
Let me know if you would like me to do any covers in particular! My only requirements are that it be a professional band performing the cover, and that the song be available to watch on Youtube or a similar site.