Daughtry featuring Lajon Witherspoon - 'Hunger Strike'

So this is interesting: a new cover of "Hunger Strike" from Daughtry and Lajon Witherspoon (Sevendust). "Hunger Strike" was originally recorded by members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden known as the band Temple of the Dog. The song has remained one of my favorites from my middle school days. I appreciate the cover below - new music for the long holiday weekend!

Comments

[Gogmagog]

Random comments:

Listening to covers of his songs, no matter how good they might be, makes me appreciate the vocal talents of Chris Cornell even more. And the drumming talents of Matt Cameron, while we're at it.

"Hunger Strike" is great, but it's my ninth favorite song off that criminally underappreciated Temple Of The Dog record.

Auto-tune ruins everything, not just Top 40.

[Metalboy!]

Temple of the Dog - YES!
Daughtry - NO!
Lajon Witherspoon - NEVER!

Post Mortem: Sold my collection of 7,000+ CDs, but held onto my copy of Temple of the Dog ... Of the other 7,000+ CDs I owned, none are Daughtry or Sevendust.

[Him]

Thing is, I could understand and appreciate TotD a lot more than Mother Love Bone. Granted, it is sad that Andrew Wood's demons caught up with him. But I never understood their appeal.

Ditto Vedder. I get it. They of pearl-made jam (yuck!) are/were popular. Liked a couple of songs. Nothing more or less. I also never understood The Melvins, or Mudhoney. AiC I get. They made a smart move when they pivoted from trying to be glam and got with the flannel program. They were, and are, great. Cantrell (and his new hair) are talented and Layne had a distinct sound that is missed (though DuVall is doing just fine filling big shoes).

But Soundgarden? Cornell? Amazing. Gogmagog has it right: if you are going to cover a well known song, by a well known singer, either put your spin on it so as to distance yourself from the original or risk getting the question: why?

I suspect this cover comes from a place of respect. I am not trying to slam them for doing the cover. That is their choice as artists. But it sounds thin. There is a silver lining. If it gets people into some older (image calling this song 'old'?!?!) songs and bands, that is cool. Even if I don't like some of them. Because, again, who cares what I think?

[Him]

. . . oh, and welcome back, Metalboy! Been missing your posts as of late.

[Metalboy!]

Thank You, HIM! ... Great to be back! ... Great to see Rita back, too!😘 ... And great to see you and other fine Metal Commentors & Comedians are still carrying the torch for excellent repartee on all things BBG! ...

And speaking of comments ... We agree to disagree, HIM ... I actually slightly prefer Rattlbone over Temple of the Dog but that may be more about a perception (accurately or inaccurately on my part) that Rattlebone is slightly more Pop/Grunge, thus accessible, as exemplified by their amusing yet ultimately grating cover of Argent’s “Hold Your Head Up” ...

And your Old / New conundrum is even more revelatory when one can now take into account Daughtry is also OLD!

[Jeff]

Love the original, and this remake does the original justice. Both Daughtry and Witherspoon can sings their asses off and it shows on this. If you doubt Lajon's range, check out the song Angel's Son.

[Him]

Metalboy!, you confused me. Were Mother Love Bone ever called Rattlebone? I know of their cover of Argent (have heard most of their songs no less). Just never pulled me in. And, by all accounts, Wood was a fun-loving person, a good friend, but also troubled and addicted to being addicted to his demons. For me, the Temple one-off was catchy enough. But I do get your point about MLB being much more in the orbit of rock/glam than many of the other grunge bands.

Jeff, good counterpoint. Like I said, I think this cover comes from a place of respect. I just don't dig it.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their holiday weekend!