a Billy Idol cover

The vocals need to be a little louder or actually a little EQ boosting just enough to have them sitting right on top of everything. This is not exactly something I would want to listen to because I'm an Idol fan and this just doesn't surpass what he's done and isn't different enough for you to have made it your own.

It's real close, I'm not trying to insult it in any way, but from an Idol fan's prospective it's just not done well enough to keep me entertained. It's real close, but close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.
 
FoulPhil said:
The vocals need to be a little louder or actually a little EQ boosting just enough to have them sitting right on top of everything.
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+1

Maybe bring the kick up a bit.

Other than that, bass and guitars sound great. Good job.
 
Not bad, but man... The mp3 compression is killing me. You wouldn't happen to have a higher quality version to listen to, would ya?
 
Sounds real good. :)

my 2 cents:

bring up the slap on the kick drum, it needs presence

The first line of the vocals - the guitars are competing a bit with the voice, maybe make them duck a bit more, maybe muffle them a bit in the verses so the vocals outshine them

Always liked that tune... I've thought of redoing "Eyes Without A Face" with a chick singer.
 
Billy Idol??? Not Simple Minds??:eek::D
Good version, Brad, really liked Simple Minds (hey, Keith, they're from your part of the woods....:D) about the time this came out. You sing pretty well on this one, too, congrats!;)
Voice is a little low in the mix, could come up a little. Drums sound very good, been practicing with SSD?
 
So wait, let me get this straight, this is a cover of a Billy Idol cover of a Simple Minds song? :confused:


It really lacks bigness. Everything seems small and compressed and, well, very home recorded. I can't quite put my finger on it. It doesn't breathe at all. Everything seems crammed into a one-dimensional plane. The performances are fine, it's totally a mix problem, but I don't know how to describe it in a way that could help you fix it. :o
 
I suppose I was a little off....It was recorded first by Simple Minds, but it was not written by them or Billy Idol. Billy Idol was offered the song first, but recorded the song after them in 2001. I like both recordings. If you haven't heard Billy Idol's take on it, you should.

I could not mimic Billy Idol's snarly voice or Jim Kerr's breathy delivery. I just did it my own crappy way. I had fun trying.
 
Its not bad overall performance wise.

I dont really know the idol version...Im more familiar with the simple minds version.

At first listen...some of the guitar is to dry and to up front...needs verb and delay...the song needs keyboard to fill it in...perhaps there is keyboard however it needs to come up more in the mix.

Mix needs some work as well however the performance sounds good overall.

Kick,snare and vocals need to sound bigger...80's reverb big
 
Totally unrelated personal anecdote:

The Breakfast Club was in heavy rotation this summer on cable stations. I watched it every time it came on. My wife thought I was nuts, and she was probably right.
 
definitely not the simple minds version....I havent heard idols one but I can imagine him singing this



The instrumentation sounds really good to me...I think I preferred simple minds 80s drums...loads of verb..big, wide...


the vocals seemed a little low and dry for me during the verses (perfect in the hey hey hey parts)...during the chorus Id maybe use a doubler on the vocals

ive got a free version of Martin Eastwoods Duet...great little plug if you want to try it


Id say this is a really solid effort needing just some tweaking...btw Abbey Road just came out with 80s drums, yes with roto toms!

my weekend treat I think :)
 
Greg_L said:
Totally unrelated personal anecdote:

The Breakfast Club was in heavy rotation this summer on cable stations. I watched it every time it came on. My wife thought I was nuts, and she was probably right.
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lol...i watched it again too...reminded me of the thing i had for ally sheedy back then...now its emilio estevez! :eek: :laughings:
 
I really liked the guitar playing. The style worked well.

I didn't care for the guitar tones. They just weren't full enough.

Double track vocal sync issue at 1:18 on the word "rain." I was going to say I thought the vocal was too dry, but I'm comparing it against the Simple Minds version, which was a product of the 80's and so shouldn't be emulated. :)

Snare was on the slappy side. Just a bit.

Liked the toms starting at around 3:20. A bit programmy in a spot or two, but they were still cool.
 
FoulPhil - Vocal eq boost, check. I would not even try to top Billy Idol; no problem.

Philbagg - Kick up! Thanks for the listen.

PI - I'll load the remix as a wav on Soundcloud.

dintymore - Thanks for the mix tips!

Joeym - Thanks for listening to my 1st attempt at recording a cover tune and for the kind words. :)

Greg - I heard the same thing, and from a few of the replies I think I have a reverb problem. I was afraid of using too much reverb. I think it just needs a better application; drums and all.

D_Vincent - Thanks for the pointers. I was trying to get a more guitar centered version here, and I'm not a very good keyboard player anyway. I agree that I fell short of the 80's vibe due to my 'verbphobia.:D I'm gonna work on that in the remix.

kcearl - Yea, I think you nailed part of it too. I need to put that drum set in a nice hall; I was scared, but you gave me courage! You are the wind beneath my wings! :eek:;)
 
kcearl said:
ive got a free version of Martin Eastwoods Duet...great little plug if you want to try it
Id say this is a really solid effort needing just some tweaking...btw Abbey Road just came out with 80s drums, yes with roto toms!

my weekend treat I think :)
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Yes Please! I'll take it! Thanks!! :D
 
Greg_L said:
It really lacks bigness. Everything seems small and compressed and, well, very home recorded. I can't quite put my finger on it. It doesn't breathe at all. Everything seems crammed into a one-dimensional plane. The performances are fine, it's totally a mix problem, but I don't know how to describe it in a way that could help you fix it. :o
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I totally agree. For me, it all sounds too centered. Not wide enough. The guitars sound too close to the middle for me. I think if they were pushed farther out the vocals would come through a little better too having that pocket to sit in. IMHO
 
TripleM said:
I really liked the guitar playing. The style worked well.

I didn't care for the guitar tones. They just weren't full enough.

Double track vocal sync issue at 1:18 on the word "rain." I was going to say I thought the vocal was too dry, but I'm comparing it against the Simple Minds version, which was a product of the 80's and so shouldn't be emulated. :)

Snare was on the slappy side. Just a bit.

Liked the toms starting at around 3:20. A bit programmy in a spot or two, but they were still cool.
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Thanks man! My goal was to give this song a few well needed guitar riffs, kinda 80's pop to 80's rock. I agree that the guitar tone should have some more balls to it. Too much 'slap' on the snare, huh? You think more 'thud' then? I think I am going to increase the verb on the verse vox though - I'm not going to be the one to try to 'update' the song or pull it out of the eighties, naww, I've been stuck there anyway :o.

More reverb! Maybe some more cowbell too! :D
 
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