I think the original recording of “Addicted to Love” is just as fantastic today as it was when it first came out. Performed by Brit Robert Palmer, it has a hard driving beat that’s infectious and hypnotic. The video was especially striking – the gentlemanly dashing, cool and suited Mr. Palmer with his vacant-eyed, zombie model back-up band. Endlessly listenable.
I know Florence + The Machine are really popular, but I’m not at all familiar with their work. I think I saw them once on Saturday Night Live and they just didn’t really do anything for me. Their take on the song is totally different from Palmer’s. I actually like the cool acapella way the recording opens. It has a slight ethereal, otherworldly sound to it. Once the music comes in, and the song goes on I’m less enamored of it. By the end, I’m like “Yeah, whatever”.
When the Skyler Grey version starts off, it reminds me a lot of Florence + The Machine. Even though this opening doesn’t grab me quite as much as Flo and the boys, Skyler maintains that ghostly, wispy-voiced sound most of the way through, which I appreciate.
74 year old Tina Turner is, without a doubt, a musical legend. (Is legend even good enough to describe the talent, strength and endurance of this woman? And those legs?! Good lord!) She sounds fantastic. She’s always had a unique sounding voice that cannot be duplicated. This video of her live show illustrates that she has not lost a step. Just an incredible performance and totally exhilarating to watch.
Warning: This next cover is a steaming pile of crap. But let me tell you how I really feel. By glancing at their wiki page, it seems like Eagles of Death Metal may have been going for something slightly… humorous??? In my estimation they missed the mark. By several solar systems and galaxies.
Remember what I just said about steaming pile of crap? I was wrong. The Eagles of Death Metal version is just crap. This one by Ciccone Youth is the real steaming pile. It features Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth, another group I don’t listen to, so maybe this is a good sound, for them, actually. I don’t know. But it’s not good for me. At all.
... but I digress 