It used to be that the greatest hits album would mark the twilight of creativity in a band or singer’s career. Either that or an attempt by the record label to sell just a few more copies of that artist’s music. But now, it seems like the cover album is the latest move, usually by someone who has already released a greatest hits collection or two.
Rod Stewart has done about 4 “Great American Songbook” albums. In 2006, he released Still the Same…Great Rock Classics Of Our Time, which, ironically, contains a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s “It’s A Heartache,” for which she was compared to a feminine version of Rod Stewart. Last year, Stewart released an album of soul covers called Soulbook.
Barry Manilow has released a number of collections ranging from 60s and 70s hits to love songs and Sinatra.
All of these artists were once on the rock and pop charts and still have quite a few rabid fans, but none of them has done anything original in quite a few years. They seem content to satisfy their old fans, but manage to play it safe by not doing anything original that might tank on the charts. Has anyone else noticed that the tendency to release cover albums is more frequent now than it has been previously?
A couple of exceptions to the idea that cover albums are a sign of stagnation would be David Bowie (Pin Ups) and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Kicking Against the Pricks). The artists had continued success.
Another exception would be The Bird & The Bee’s album of Hall & Oates covers.
But generally I agree. Smart move, too. I can’t imagine these cover albums take that much work to produce, and I’m sure a certain audience eats them up since it’s material they’re already familiar with.
Peter Gabriel’s new album, Scratch My Back, is an interesting case. In between covers of songs by artists like David Bowie and Paul Simon you have Arcade Fire, Bon Iver and Regina Spektor being covered. And all tracks feature a stripped-down, orchestral arrangement (“no guitar and no drums”) with production being handled jointly by Gabriel and (the legendary) Bob Ezrin.
In this case, I don’t see it as “career stagnation” so much as an experimental piece that focuses Gabriel’s creative energies. But this is an exception where real thought has been put into the project.
I agree with the OP’s premise, but my contribution to notable exceptions would be Shawn Colvin. *Cover Girl *was released two years prior to her mega-record A Few Small Repairs. She’s put out at least a couple of other albums of original material since then, too.
I have always suspected it’s a way for an artist to get through a 5-record deal with a label without having to work too hard or use too much of their own material. (Are there ever clauses in record deals that require albums to be original material?)
I remembered another exception after I posted this. John Fogerty recorded “The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again,” which is an album of covers. Fogerty is still a popular touring act and released two highly regarded albums this decade, “Deja Vu (All Over Again)” and “Revival”. His career can hardly be called stagnant despite the cover album. He is still a hugely successful performer entering his sixth decade in the music business.
Well…Fogerty has disappeared for long stretches in the last 30 years. Part of that was the legal battles with CCR’s old label Fantasy Records. But also part of that must be that he doesn’t feel like making new music. He’s made a lot fewer albums the last 40 years than contemporaries like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, etc.
I think in most cases an artist releasing a “covers album” is a sign that his career is about over and he is delaying for time. Another example of this would be The Band’s “Moondog Matinee”.
Yes, but since Fantasy Records was purchased by new owners and they restored his copyrights to him, he’s been a lot more active. He’s been touring regularly since 1997’s “Blue Moon Swamp” and seems a lot more content and rejuvenated at this stage. I think his recent covers album was just a chance to play some songs by other artists that he enjoyed and he doesn’t seem burned out at all. As I said, it followed two pretty successful albums, both only about two or three years apart. He hasn’t been the least bit reclusive for a pretty long stretch of time.
I think there are quite a few exceptions but generally, yeah, I think it does signal that their career is slowing down.
On the other hand, it can reinvigorate a career to have a familiar face from decades ago singing cover songs - every single volume of Rod’s “…book” series has gone top five in the US and top ten in the UK. Compare that with the US chart positions of his last three original albums, released from 1995 to 2001 - #35, #44 and #50.
Similarly, Johnny Cash was basically ressurrected career-wise with the American series, which was largely covers.
Loudon Wainwright II did Recovery, an album of cover versions of his own songs. It was excellent; the point was that 30 years or so had gone by and the meaning of the songs had changed.
John Lennon’s Rock and Roll may have been a slowdown, but only because he stopped writing for a while. His next album, Double Fantasy was fine and his career seemed to be rolling on just fine.
Not that their career is over, but that their career as a major recording star is one the wane. With the breakdown of the recording industry that’s happening, I’m not sure this is the case any longer. Artists are still mostly defined by the original music they release, true, but I think this was largely driven by industry needs. I also don’t think there is as much of a stigma associated with playing rock well into your dotage anymore, even if you aren’t producing new hits. So not “career over” but “career entering a new phase.”
I think that there is going to be more experimentation in terms of what gets released (kind of weird calling cover albums “experimentation” but it fits in my mind). Some of this is already happening - Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” release, NIN’s “Ghosts I-IV,” I suppose Peter Gabriel’s album Lobot mentions might fit the bill, too.
Petra Haden’s acapella cover version of *The Who Sell Out *wasn’t due to stagnation: it was the result of a request/challenge from her friend Mike Watt (of Minutemen fame).
Watt gave Petra a copy of the album (which she had never heard before) on one track of an 8-track tape. She listened to the playback on one track, and recorded her singing and vocal impressions of the instruments on the remaining tracks. The result was quite wonderful, receiving praise from not only fans, but Pete himself.
If anyone’s making a list of the exceptions, add on Siouxsie & the Banshees’ album Through The Looking Glass*. It’s a great album, made at a time when their fame was highest (right after Tinderbox and the hits from it, “Cities In Dust” and, well, I can’t remember what else because I didn’t pay attention to hits since for me it was an album album and not a singles album, maybe “The Sweetest Chill,”“92 Degrees,”“Party’s Fall” or “Candyman”), and they had more very good albums and even bigger hits after TTLG.