It was FROTH city last week when two former My Chemical Romance members joined forces again for a small reunion to cover the Simon & Garfunkel classic 'A Hazy Shade of Winter' for the upcoming The Umbrella Academy series on Netflix. Gerard Way (whose comic book the series is based upon) teamed up with Ray Toro to deliver a fucking stellar rendition of the song, which over the years has been covered by stacks of bands and musicians across many different genres.
So, we decided to gather all of the best ROCK versions we came across (that were worthy of a spot) and judge them on their awesomeness (because, you know, that's what we do) and the results are in for The Top 5 'Hazy Shade Of Winter' Rock Covers...
#7 - Cranial Screwtop
If you dig rock with a touch of rockabilly, chances are you'll dig these guys (who we literally only just discovered on this quest). The guys named themselves after the classic 80's movie The Man With 2 Brains and vowed to only release covers of 80's pop songs with a faster, punkier spin. They do it well in the process too (just check out their cover of 'You Spin Me Round' from the 2017 album As Seen On TV). We dig this one and so will you! Find them on Facebook.
https://open.spotify.com/track/54OuemgWV7rsGCjo8yYRKc?si=GLpBcHPkQeWgkTUz4zxePw
#6 - She Wants Revenge
The band was founded in 2004 and shortly after in 2006, this cover featured on the KROQChristmas albumKevin & Bean's Super Christmas amongst the likes of Angels & Airwaves, OK Go, Papa Roach, 30 Seconds to Mars, +44 and heaps more. They're still floating around today so if you like what you hear, why not give them a 'LIKE' here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoAleubvp9M&w=640&h=360]
#5 - Snuff
If old school punk rock akin to that of Bad Religion, NOFX and The Offspring is up your alley, you may dig this rendition by English band Snuff who performed a whole bunch of coveres and jingles on their 1990 EP Flibbidydibbidydob. The band have had a few lineup changes over the years since starting out in 1986, more importantly, they lost original bassist Andrew Crighton back in 1999. Guitarist/Vocalist Simon Wells can be found in the band Southport these days while drummer/vocalist Duncan Redmonds is still smashing away on the kit after all this time. Check them out on Facebook.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfNWt6aGsog&w=640&h=360]
# 4 - Bodyjar
Probably one of the better-known covers came from our very own Bodyjar who nailed their rendition which was released back in 2000. 19 years later it still plays like it was only released yesterday.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sGJl2LNFaE&w=640&h=360]
#3 - The Bangles
Wayyyy back in 1987 a movie called Less Than Zero needed some youthful music to add to its soundtrack and the all-female group The Bangles were given the opportunity to do one of the very first covers of the Simon & Garfunkel classic... Did they nail it? Well, after all of these years, many rock fans still reckon the song originally belonged to them because of how well they performed it and even us Aussies loved it too, sending it to #7 on the Kent Charts back in the day and #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band still play it live to this day...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRx4PkXeVM&w=640&h=360]
#2 - Sodom
If you like your music HEAVY chances are you'll prefer this rendition by German thrash metallers Sodom, who featured it on their 1997 album 'Til Death Do Us Unite which was the first album to have Bernd "Bernemann" Køst on guitar and Bobby Schottkowski on drums, both of whom have since departed. Still, this version still BANGS after all of this time...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GL-3TTh8Q0&w=640&h=360]
and the winner is...
#1 - Gerard Way & Ray Toro
Call me biased, call me a hack, call me whatever you want, but that won't change my opinion on this new version of the song being the best to have been released so far since the song's original conception and release back in 1966. Whether it's the combination of two great new age rockers or the minor reunion of 2/5 My Chemical Romance members, everything about this song works perfectly.
So much so I'm going to go out on a limb here and say because fo how well this track worked out between Gerard Way and Ray Toro, I dare would put it down on paper that this may just be the start of an MCR reformation. We are in early days here, but, if two of the members can get on so well in the recording studio for a track, imagine what could happen if the rest of them did the same. Consider this me stating that this is the start of the band getting back together again and (if true) what a way to do it...
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTCrqXpKHec&w=853&h=480]
But that's just me... what do you think? Any versions we missed that absolutely deserved a place in our list or any of the above-mentioned covers not belong there? Tell us, or we'll never know...
Browny @brownypaul
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DAmWHxeoKw&w=853&h=480]
