Just listening to Robbie Willams new album with re-recorded versions of his old songs and i feel the new recordings are not good enough compared to the orginal releases . so does it annoy you when an artist you like records new versions of the old songs ?
When it's something like Beth (Eric Carr vocal) it does, yes. And I don't even like Beth... On the other hand, what Bowie did with his 60s songs on TOY was fantastic.
Ellington did it often and well, but Duke was an exceptional artist. Monk did it a fair bit too. Depends how creatively they do it.
I would make an exception for Joni Mitchell’s update of “Big Yellow Taxi” on her Shine album. Mostly though it annoys me. I can understand why they do it though. Often it’s just a cash grab, but sometimes they think the original recording did not do the song justice.
Robbie Williams, though...? Do you think he's ever gonna get any credit for even recording them the first time? If he can get away with it, and sell more copies he gets a better rate for, more power to him!
If it is the artists artistic vision it does not make me mad although I may not like or buy it. But some 50s artists re-recorded their past hits to get around ownership issues and these re-recordings were almost always inferior. Sometimes one could not tell which version one was purchasing. THAT would make me mad.
I am only annoyed if I do not know if it is a re-recording before I buy it. I did, knowingly, buy an ELO Greatest Hits CD that had all new recordings Jeff Lynne did. KISS did it as well..
Exactly what I came here to say. Nothing against the artists who are getting some sweet cash I assume but I want it to be written in the same font as songs and stuff like that on the CD cover. I've been trying to buy a bunch of '70s hits of my childhood and I've gotten suckered into buying re-recordings quite a few times. None have been anything close to the originals.
not always...I loved John Denver and Gordon Lightfoot re-recordings...on Greatest Hits and Gord's Gold...
Robbie Williams annoys me period Once of the worst offenders is "Sting and The Police" re-doing Don't Stand So Close to Me in 1986 for a compilation LP. An incredibly dull and boring remake. On a positive note when Bowie rerecorded Space Oddity in 1979 is was an incredibly stripped down affair and just brilliant.
Pink Floyd re-recorded Money for A Collection of Great Dance Songs - couldn't tell the difference back then. I can now.
Gord should not have re-recorded certain songs..."The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" being at the top of that list.
Chris Rea did this very successfully when he switched labels and recorded "New Light Through Old Windows", which involved re-recording a lot of earlier songs. To my ears, the remakes are mainly far better than the originals, with the one exception of "Fool (If You Think It's Over)", which loses something, in part through transposition to a much lower key and also, in part, due to some yukkee 80s keyboard and the lack of a string section. At the other extreme, the remake of "Stainsby Girls" is superb. Rea was still in his thirties when he did this, however, and none of the originals were more than 10 or 11 years old at that time. Doing remakes after a quarter of a century is a different thing entirely and is unlikely to draw favourable comparisons unless the artist has something new and good to bring to the songs, such as Frank Sinatra might have back in the day.
Often it is a strategic move in order for an artist to get a larger share of the film and tv licensing income because the original label still own their old masters and the revenue splits in their deal are awful. There is no reason for those recordings to end up on an album. That said the bonus disc of re-recorded Kiss hits that came with Sonic Boom was really very good. I also like the recent-ish Paul Simon set of self-covers. Overall I find it odd that people are cool with live albums of old songs (often with a plethora of post event fixes and overdubs) but draw the line at the same thing happening as a studio project.
It only annoys me when the re-recorded version replaced the original version in a greatest hits or best of compilation album.
