Covered Up

Covers are a great opportunity for a band to pay tribute to someone who inspired them or who they respect, and it's also a great way to put a new twist on an old classic. Sometimes the new version is a little...odd, but experimentation is an important thing.

The song I'll be examining in this post is "Head Like a Hole", originally by Nine Inch Nails and covered by a band that's quite different...Devo?
Yes, Devo, the new-wave nerds from the 80s covered Head Like A Hole. It's a bizarre loop of Devo influencing Trent Reznor then covering his music. Obviously, since Reznor makes rather serious music on the whole and the band covering him is Devo, there's going to be a lot of contrast.

Before I begin...
"Head Like a Hole", Nine Inch Nails
"Head Like a Hole", Devo

The songs both start differently: The NIN version builds up from a very bare-bones drum machine track while the Devo version jumps straight into the drum beat. However, both songs then go into the main riff with heavy bass guitar/keyboard. The songs (obviously) have the same lyrics, but the rhythm of the lyrics during the verses is quite different. Reznor delivers his lyrics at an irregular speed without elongating any words or syllables. Mark Mothersbaugh (the lead singer of Devo) uses a more consistent speed of singing and elongates a few words, making his version seem more relaxed.
The choruses of the song are much heavier than the verses, Reznor going into full shouting, verging on screaming, and Mark shouting as well, possibly being the heaviest section of a song Devo has ever played. The intensity of both songs changes, but to a different level. Reznor's song becomes full of distorted, amplified guitar and shouting. Devo's song introduces a heavier, tom-filled drum line and some distorted guitar, but it's mostly the vocals that get heavier.
The similar instrumentation in both songs (drum machines, vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards) gives them an affinity, but there are noticable differences. The most noticeable is the vocal line: besides having a different singer, it's just...sillier. The trademark altered voices are there, shouting "More MONEY!" during the verses and "No!" during the pre-chorus. During the post-chorus, they sing "Bow down!". Reznor is the only singer (aside from some background notes and cackling) in his version, but Mark is not alone in his. This gives the songs a very contrasted timbre- the Devo version feels a bit fuller, a bit more chaotic. Aside from the vocals, Devo uses some guitar during the verses, where Reznor does not. The voices they use during their intro and breaks are also very different, being general higher and less serious.

Overall I have to say I'm a bigger fan of Devo's version, simply because I'm a big Devo version. The NIN version isn't bad, in fact I enjoy it, but I've never been a huge fan of theirs. I like Mark's voice, and I like Devo's instruments.