One thing you can always depend on in rock and metal are bands covering other band’s music. Which brings us to IN THIS MOMENT and NONPOINT who have both tackled the 1981 PHILL COLLINS hit ‘In The Air Tonight’ to great acclaim.
“In the Air Tonight” just resonates as one of the most iconic songs in rock history complete with a drum breakdown that could knock Mike Tyson on his ass, (catch that reference?) and even it’s own urban legend. You know the one. The story that claimed the lyrics are based on a drowning incident in which someone who was close enough to save the victim did not help them, while Collins, who was too far away to help, looked on. Increasingly embellished variations on the legend emerged over time, with the story often culminating in Collins singling out the guilty party while singing the song at a concert. Collins has denied all such stories. It never happened.
Now music is a personal choice, as we all know, so actually asking “Who did it better?” is somewhat redundant, however here at Loaded Radio we care about personal choice and tastes. Therefore we have launched this new feature titled ‘Who Did It Better?’ because it makes for better title spacing than ‘What version, in your opinion, do you prefer out of these 2 options?’.
That’s just silly. So anyways here we go.
First off we have IN THIS MOMENT’s cover of the PHILL COLLINS classic from their 2017 release ‘Ritual’ which saw the band undertake the project of a concept album revolving around a witch during the Salem witch trials. The song is definitely fitting for the album with lead singer Maria Brink putting her signature moan to the track’s ominous opening and eventually breaking into a full out wail for the chorus.
Check it out here.
And then we have Florida’s NONPOINT who featured their rendition on the album ‘Recoil’ which came out back in 2004. It also appeared in the 2006 Michael Mann directed Miami Vice feature film providing one of the few obvious links between the film and the television series, as director Mann wanted to keep the two entities separate.
Whereas the original song is essentially just an extended build-up to the final chorus, the NONPOINT cover is more of a traditional rock arrangement.
Check it out below.
So now we leave it up to you. Who did it better?