Nuance. A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound. In 1996, The Prodigy unleashed their biggest beast, a number one hit, still an anthem today. Firestarter. A song which it would be hard to think was capable of displaying nuance. That is until five years later, when hidden away on the B-side to their cover of Wham's Last Christmas, Jimmy Eat World had a go at it.
From being a three minute punk-dance blast, it became a six and a half minute emo-cresendo. If you sit and listen, really listen, you realise they've managed it whilst keeping every recogniseable part of the track in tact, musically and emotionally. The guitar riffs are there, the tune is there, the passion is there. The aggression is there, they're just making you wait four minutes for it, not spunking it all over the place with the opening blast. Listening to this, it's barely noticeable how the track has built from a delicate cry to a tower of feedback, the only hint of what came before a strummed acoustic beneath. Constantly changing, building a growing, an art in nuance as the subtle shades of sound pass you by.
This is, in my opinion, the greatest cover version ever performed. After a couple of weeks infrequent blogging due to problems with internet connections, I wanted to bring the cover version back with a real blast this week. What do you think? Is this the greatest cover version of all time? What would your nomination be?
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