Music Review

Think of a list of pop songs that have been on the radio lately. “My love,” “Bulletproof,” “In My Head,” “Bad Romance,” “Need You Now,” “Airplanes.” Odds are that you’ve heard most of these songs before, but you’ve probably never heard them like this. The Punk Goes Pop series takes popular pop songs and have punk and hardcore bands cover them, and the recently released Punk Goes Pop 3 might be the best yet.We Came As Romans covered “My Love,” originally done by Justin Timberlake. It starts off with hard guitars, and the screamer of the band screaming the first few lines in a growling voice. Upon first listening to this song, I wasn’t really willing to give it much of a chance because of the beginning. However, even if you’re not the biggest fan of the screamo or hardcore genre, you may actually like this song. Only part of the chorus is truly screamed, and the rest of the song is sung. It’s actually a pretty good cover.

Mayday Parade covered “In My Head,” originally done by Jason Derulo. Like the We Came As Romans cover, this song sounds almost nothing like the original. The techno-y effects are replaced with actual drums and electric guitars. There’s also piano that is introduced at certain points, one of which is the ending of the song It’s an excellent cover. Mayday Parade does an excellent job of bringing their own sound to this song, making it sound like they’d written it themselves, rather than just the usual cover.

Sparks the Rescue covered ‘Need You Now’ originally done by Lady Antebellum. Like We Came as Romans, and Mayday Parade, Sparks the Rescue also does an excellent job of bringing their own personal sound to this cover. The song originally has a very country sound, and starts off a little bit slow. This version now sounds much more upbeat, and a bit faster. The punk guitars do a world of good for the cover. For those of you who aren’t country fans and may not have liked the original, definitely give this a listen. It’s a big improvement.

The three aforementioned songs are just a little taste of the 14 songs covered on Punk Goes Pop 3. They’re three of the songs that differ incredibly from their originals. Other songs on the CD that sound much different than their originals are Hot n Cold, Bulletproof, Heartless, and Run This Town. Bad Romance, Down, Airplanes, and Paper Planes generally have the same sound as their original, but the vocals can make a world of difference.

Punk Goes Pop 3 definitely has something for everyone that enjoys the punk genre as well as something for those that don’t. I’d definitely recommend picking up the cd. There are some songs that are merely alright, and other songs that are downright great. Give it a listen. You might be surprised at what you hear.

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