About music, in which cases do you think other versions of a song improved on an original?

[Dawnshine Wonder 279]

I can't think of many newer versions of songs that improved on what an original did, in some cases they can be terrible, however I would say the song Rave Alert by Praga Khan and Jade U4 is a more upbeat version of Rave Alarm that came out before it, which is not surprising as it came from the same artist. I cannot speak for Lords of Acid, I do not know anything about their performances with whatever song that came from them. Rave Alert 1992, the remastered version, is very dynamic, and with the right audio gear, feels like you're there to listen to their live performance.

About Rave Alert 1992, formerly known as Rave Alarm 1991, I never liked the original, in my opinion, it was boring, and without the vocals from Jade 4 U, there is no rave feeling in the song, what dopamine could you possibly get from a song like that? Normally I do not care about what songs other people like or prefer, but I don't know why people praise the original version of this particular song so much. It's just deadpan instrumental noise with no humanity in it, the high pitched, monotonous instrumentals themselves were grating on the ears, almost like nails on a chalkboard, and why I hated the original one. In a rave song, in my opinion, it made far more sense for it to sound like you were at a rave concert, and without this, you have this sense that nobody cared about the music enough to show up at a rave! if you want to listen to that at a party, be my guest, but I cannot say it's my cup of tea. I find the newer version linked below, to be more engaging, and I am not alone in thinking this, if you have a pair of decent headphones with a wide soundstage, you'd probably see where I'm coming from. In short, rave song with no vocals = boring, and the lyrics are not terrible in this one, either, Jade 4 U/Praga Khan and their audience clearly had a good time with this one. Injected with a Poison is another notable example where vocals work so well in a rave/EDM song, it's more than just about voice, it is about expressing your passion for a fun night out, that's what music is about, fun, in this case, pure 90's bliss.

This point is emphasized further with this part of the lyrics of the song from Nikkie Van Kielorp herself.

"The night is neverending and I can't stop
The room is spinning round I'm going to the top
Moving and grooving, feeling allright
Tonight we'll be raving 'cos the music's high"

Pertaining to what I mentioned earlier about the undue praise the original version of the song got, people seriously think positive vibes like this in the newer version makes this objectively worse than the original? for the record, I'm not talking about subjectivity, if you admit your opinion is subjective, this doesn't concern you, however, if people are going to state their opinions and pass them off as fact, to that I say, please provide a reason, don't just make a claim. I've already given my reasons, and I didn't just vapidly call something "based" or "They ruined this" without substance to my point of view, a criticism that is not informed can feel like an indirect attack on people who like something, and using nostalgia to justify that is, even worse IMO. Why do I say that? because it shows an inability to adapt or try something new, it's a can't do better fallacy, that is why nostalgia alone is never a good reason, a concept can be original and bad in its execution at the same time, and I believe it to be the case here, it's not a simple matter of reinventing the wheel. I'm not saying instrumentals are inherently bad, it depends on the context however I do not believe it works as well for this specific genre.

Some people may disagree, some people may even dislike this song altogether in which case this song doesn't matter to them, they may think my taste in 90's songs is bad, but that is as subjective as liking any song or form of entertainment, whatever, however I bought a copy of this version with Conquers Your Love remastered on Bandcamp and never looked back. If I wanted to listen to instrumentals, I would be listening to a different kind of song, many of the best instrumentals I can think of existed in video games. That is not to say good instrumentals never existed outside of video games, but IMO nostalgia in itself is not a good reason to prefer something over another. I have a soft spot for Sega Genesis soundtracks, but guess what? even I can admit the limitations of the Yamaha chip hurt the music more than helped, Streets of Rage 2 music hasn't aged well and feels dated, even for a soundtrack that came out in the 90's, the YM2612 was widely criticized for holding the system back from what could have been. I am not making this post to offend anyone, only to share different perspectives while explaining the reason for my preferences. TDLR; passion put into the song, any song, regardless of the artist or band, matters as much as the song itself.

 

 

[Megas 27,769]

The Weird Al Star Wars Parody(The Saga Begins) of American Pie is leagues better than the song it's based on