Various Artists - I Predict a Clone
1994, REX
1. Circle of Dust - "Am I In Sync?"
2. Hot Pink Turtle - "A Principled Man"
3. Starflyer 59 - "Sin For a Season"
4. Sixpence None the Richer - "Bouquet"
5. DigHayZoose - "Steeplechase/I Want to Be a Clone" (Instant Cake Mix)
6. Fleming and John - "Harder to Believe Than Not To"
7. Argyle Park - "Drive, He Said" (D-Wee Dub)
8. Deliverance - "On the Fritz"
9. The Wayside - "To Forgive"
10. Bride - "We Don't Need No Color Code"
11. Sanctified Glory Mountain Revival Family - "Guilty By Association"
Steve Taylor has said that these cover songs are mostly better than his originals. Yeah... they are. As much as I love Steve's work... and I do love it... it sounds a bit dated when you listen to it today. Almost every single band takes Steve's original song and bumps it up to the next level. Sixpence injects the appropriate amount of melancholy that a song like "Bouquet" requires. Fleming and John take the originally minimalistic "Harder to Believe Than Not To" and totally rock it out. Circle of Dust mastermind Klay Scott works his industrial magic on two tracks. Though I think I actually like the original version of "Drive, He Said" better. The remix cuts out a lot of the lyrics which ruins the story of the song. Deliverance does an amazing job of "On the Fritz" though giving it the River Disturbance treatment. The only song I don't like as much is Bride's cover. Why they thought it was a good idea to change the lyrics I don't know, but they did and it's lame. Otherwise, a stellar tribute.
Useless Fact: The cover is a parody of the original cover to Steve Taylor's I Predict 1990.
I still play this album a bit, specifically a few tracks. Fleming and John's cover was incredible, and I bought their next 2 albums on the strength of this song!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile HotPinkTurtle and Bride fell flat on their faces. Bride was sort of on the long slide south after this (although The Jesus Experience was much better), and for the life of me I don't know what the heck he was singing on this track.
Sixpence and DigHayZoose's covers were significant enough to alter Steve's life. Few covers get that kind of respect :)