Various Artists: Life Beyond Mars - Bowie Covered
Various Artists: Life Beyond Mars - Bowie Covered
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Friday, 20, Jun 2008 03:18
Rapster Records/!K7, out Monday, June 30th 2008.
In a nutshell...
Indulgent with few redeeming features.
What's it all about?
Don't be fooled by the title and cover artwork - this album has next-to-nothing to do with David Bowie. To say it did would be like saying the collage your three-year-old just made in some way resembles the issue of Vogue or Cosmopolitan that was hacked apart during the creative process. Instead, Life Beyond Mars is all about indulging the artists who appear on the playlist.
Each was given free rein to choose a song from the Bowie back catalogue and then basically pull it apart - or ignore it completely - while coming up with their own version covering, reworking or re-envisioning the original. Some are similar to Bowie's version, some unrecognisable, others frankly painful to listen to. Only one of the 12 tracks is likely to meet with approval from Bowie fans - and that's Au Revoir Simone's Oh! You Pretty Things, the first song on the album.
Who's it by?
Various performers described as "electronic artists" by !K7 were apparently hunted down in 2007 - the year of Bowie's 60th birthday - to create this disc, reinterpreting their chosen song in their own style, whatever it may be.
Admittedly the disc does live up to that promise, ranging from the clear and charming vocals of the opening track through to its closure with The Thing's take on Life On Mars which never really gets out of the blocks, sounding at the end as though the band's still tuning up.
Unless you're a fan of electronic music, many of the names on the playlist are likely to be unfamiliar.
As an example...
"Oh! You pretty things/Don't you know you're driving your/Mamas and papas insane?/Let me make it plain/You gotta make way for the homo superior." - Oh! You Pretty Things
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
This album is the musical equivalent of one of those movies which are devoid of storyline or merit but, thanks to being really beautifully shot, take home the Oscar for best film. There'll probably be an award just for bothering to try.
What the others say
"You've got to at least give it a go. And give it a go we did. Our conclusion? The last thing the world needs is a David Bowie covers album." - FactMagazine
"Seems like it could go either way ... more intriguing than I'd expected, but nobody has that voice." - brandon, stereogum
So is it any good?
For once I have a definitive answer to that question - no, it is not any good. I've given this some thought, and still can't understand why this album was even made. Bowie is a music icon - that's is, not was - the idea that any of his songs could be reworked into anything remotely as good as the original is frankly offensive both to me and most of the people who seem to have heard this album.
Life Beyond Mars has two saving graces, however - Au Revoir Simone's take on Oh! You Pretty Things is different to the original yet still makes for good listening, although it has been accused elsewhere of being a bit "whatever". The second point of redemption is that, while I went into this expecting semi-faithful reproductions of Bowie songs, anyone who actually approaches it knowing what to expect might not hate what they hear.
For me, though, the tracks from two onwards seem to rely on either a poor Bowie impersonation or post-production effects to add the individuality that Bowie has naturally, while some wander so far off course that they actually become painful to listen to.
If you buy one album of Bowie music this year, just buy a Bowie album eh? I'd suggest Hunky Dory.
2/10
Bob Bardsley