Duncan Sheik - Covers 80s (2011)

Yes, cover albums are usually novelty releases that capitalize on nostalgia, but that fact really doesn't bother me in the least. I loves me some covers and I loves me some '80s music, so this album is a can't miss proposition, right? Well, for the most part these covers are good, if not predictable. I can't complain about the song selection; Sheik has good taste (which, of course, means it's remarkably similar to mine). The gimmick here is to take synthpop songs and remove the synth part. And this album is exactly what you would expect from Sheik: it's like he showed up at the local coffee house with his guitar for an acoustic set, turning to the old out-of-tune piano on the stage from time to time. There's also some wonderful backing vocals from Rachael Yamagata that save many of these tracks (note to self: check out her stuff). So while this is refreshing and relaxing for a while, I'm left wanting something different by the end.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: I'll grade each track on the merit of the cover version, not whether the song being covered is any good. (I used a similar grading system on Erasure's Other People's Songs).

• Stripped - originally by Depeche Mode, 1986: D
• Hold Me Now - originally by Thompson Twins, 1983: A
• Love Vigilantes - originally by New Order, 1985: C
• Kyoto Song - originally by The Cure, 1985: B
• What Is Love - originally by Howard Jones, 1983: B
• So Alive - originally by Love and Rockets, 1989: C
• Shout - originally by Tears for Fears, 1985: F
• Gentlemen Take Polaroids - originally by Japan, 1980: A
• Life's What You Make It - originally by Talk Talk, 1985: B
• William It Was Really Nothing - originally by The Smiths, 1984: D
• Stay - originally by The Blue Nile, 1984: A
• The Ghost In You - originally by The Psychedelic Furs, 1984: C

If we averaged those grades, we'd get something around a B-, which sounds about right.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Humming (1998)
Reasons for Living (1997)
Duncan Sheik (1996)

Duncan Sheik - Humming (1998)

This is one of the CDs in my collection that I never gave a chance. I liked Sheik's debut album and the fantastic single Barely Breathing so I wanted more of the same or better. Unfortunately, like many sophomore releases, the songwriting here isn't as good as on the debut. This 1998 album is also quite a bit noisier than the first and I guess that was enough for me not to listen to it much. I liked the quiet moodiness of the earlier release. How dare an artist try a new sound without checking with me first.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #163

Tracks:  The first three tracks are pretty good, including the non-charting single Bite Your Tongue, then things start falling apart with Alibi which never really goes anywhere. Of the other tracks, I only like Everyone Everywhere. The worse tracks are Nichiren and the Jeff Buckley tribute song A Body Goes Down. And don't get me started on the dreaded hidden track.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Reasons for Living (1997)
Duncan Sheik (1996)

Duncan Sheik (1996)

This is one of my favorite rainy day CDs and a strong debut release. Sheik is an underrated singer/songwriter and his work, combined with Rupert Hine's production resulted in this moody, intimate gem of an album. I can't explain why the album wasn't more popular, especially among hipsters with goatees at the coffee shop. People magazine once wrote that Sheik could be John Mayer's older brother. Sheik's songwriting is more consistent than Mayer's, but I can see some similarities there. There are also valid comparisons with Nick Drake, but I think that comparison has more to do with the folky feel of the music than anything else.

Sheik has gone on to win Tony and Grammy awards for his work on Broadway, most notably his writing for the show Spring Awakening. In 2011, he released a album of 80s covers. I need to check that out. [update: I did]

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #83 (April 19, 1997)

Tracks:  The single Barely Breathing is fantastic and what originally caught my attention. Also good are She Runs Away, Reasons For Living, and The End Of Outside. I'm not a fan of the haunting November; it would have been better if placed at the end of the album sequence.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Rainy days. I encourage you to listen to this while quietly lying in your bed on a relaxed afternoon as rain softly hits the windows. After purchasing this CD, I immediately recommended it to a friend, who purchased it and, as often happens, he wasn't as enamored of it as I. I think he was expecting something peppier.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Reasons for Living (1997)

Duncan Sheik - Reasons for Living (1997)

CD Single

If it's '97, then this must be a dance remix CD. I don't mind admitting I love disco music and that I'm still stuck in the '80s, but this dance phase I went through around 1997 is a little embarrassing. I'm going to blame it on my friend Scott, who got me listening to this stuff. I guess it was OK when I was 30, but now it's just mind-numbing. Around '97, it was very popular to take slower songs and but a backbeat to them and call them a dance single (see EBTG's Missing or Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart). I think Sheik's self-titled debut album is one of the best rainy day CDs I have, but these remixes are all pretty forgettable.

Tracks:

1. Johnny Vicious Mix - 11 minutes long and Sheik sings in about 2 of those. I guess that's a typical remix for that time.
2. P.Q.M.'s Bootleg Revisited Mix - another common technique around '97 was to take one snippet of lyric and replay it over and over and over as a bass drum pounded beneath. For this mix, the oft-repeated lyric is "Welcome to another day." It's heard at least 100 times in 6 minutes.
3. La Leche Mix - this mix is probably the closest to the original song. You can actually hear the underlying chord structure. As a result, it's the best remix on the disc.
4. Madamix - now they're all starting to sound the same. The oft-repeated lyric in this mix is "Try to remember..."
5. Vicious Groove-A-Pella - the title of this remix suggests an a cappella treatment. Unfortunately, there's no a cappella. There's no groove either.
6. LP Mix - proves that the song was fine as it was.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This is probably only the second time this particular disc has been put in a CD player.