Blurryface Rebørn: A Rock Sound Tribute

By Kayla Harper

In honour of the ten year anniversary of Twenty Øne Piløts break-through record, Blurryface, Rock Sound, a UK-based alternative music publishing magazine, put together a tribute version of the Blurryface album featuring 14 different artists -one for each track. While many fans were disappointed with the original lineup, I do think some of our expectations were too high. Rock Sound has previously done a tribute album for the ten year anniversary of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade in which Twenty Øne Piløts was featured doing a rendition of “Cancer”.  As of right now the Blurryface tribute album only exists as a CD which can be purchased with the Rock Sound Blurryface ten year issue.

Upon my first listen of the Blurryface tribute it was a lot better than I anticipated based on the snippets Rock Sound teased of each track. I wouldn’t say I was blown away, but it definitely exceeded my low expectations. Tyler and Josh explained to Rock Sound how surreal it was to have a tribute album and that they were truly honoured, so I went in with an open mind.

I tried to assess each track separately from the original because of course in most cases nothing will come close and most of the artists did reimagine the songs completely different as that’s kind of the point. At the end of each track review I include a ranking out of 10, with ten being the original song. So, I guess it’s how well does the reimagined version stand up to the original, and the likeliness I would listen to it regularly.

 

1) “Heavydirtysoul”  – Reimagined by Bambie Thug

“Heavydirtysoul” is known for the fast-paced drumbeat and rap that starts it off anc carries through the rest of the song, it’s a fan-favourite and perfect opening track for Blurryface.  However, Bambie Thug takes a much different approach.  The intro feels ominous and is reminiscent of an In This Moment song intro in the way it builds over this initial creepy tone.  There are no verses, but the line “this is just an attempt to make the voices stop” from verse 1 is emphasized which is an interesting way of altering the tracks main point ever so slightly.  Even though I definitely prefer the original a million times more, I have to give them props for taking such an unexpected approach that I would have never thought of myself.

Final Ranking: 7/10

2) “Stressed Out”  – Reimagined by AWOLNATION

AWOLNATION was one of the few artists on this album who’s music I did know previously, however I wouldn’t say I’m necessarily a fan of theirs.  In their attempt at reimagining Twenty Øne Piløts Grammy-winning hit, “Stressed Out”, AWOLNATION creates an entirely new vibe in the production, giving it a more laid-back indie pop sound.  However, it’s lacking the emotion of the original track and this production choice fails to capture the essence of the original track.  It sounds the opposite of stressed out, in fact, it sounds like a chill, fun day at the beach, the opposite of what stress would sound like if it was a sound.  For this reason it really missed the mark for me.

 

Final Ranking: 2/10

3) “Ride”  – Reimagined by Arrows In Action 

“Ride” was probably the second biggest song from Blurryface, reimagined for this tribute by Arrows In Action, their rendition was immediately my favourite so far.  While it’s most similar to the original of the first three, they definitely made it their own.  The vocals are clean, but emotional and I love the guitars they added to the instrumental as well as the drums.  The scream and drums coming out of the bridge into the final chorus is gold.  I immediately felt more appreciation towards this band’s rendition of “Ride” because they were the first of the three to acknowledge Twenty Øne Piløts directly in their write up and you could tell they were genuine fans and felt a great amount of honour doing this track.

 

Final Ranking: 8/10

4) “Fairly Local”  – Reimagined by James Marriott

Fan-favourite “Fairly Local” was done by James Marriott.  The intro was cool with the guitar riff and old radio sound, which Marriott explains in his write-up was a happy mistake, but worked out as an ode to the lines on the album about never being on the radio: “this song will never be on the radio” (“Fairly Local”, 2015).  However, it’s one of my least favourites. The instrumental was cool, but his voice as it sounds almost too cleaned up to the point it lacks emotion and human inflections.  Twenty Øne Piløts songs require such emotion to convey the proper meaning of the lyrics and tracks, so for it to sound so emotionless really took away from the track.  The worst part is probably the “oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh’s” which quite literally sounds like AI.  However, I have to give him at least one point for guitars and taking such a…different approach.

 

Final Ranking: 1/10

5) “Tear In My Heart”  – Reimagined by AViVA

AViVA’s rendition of “Tear In My Heart” is different while still maintaining the roots of the original track. Right off the bat the intro was butchered so bad, but I was immediately intrigued by the edgier guitars following…and then taken aback again by her voice.  The vocals aren’t necessarily bad, she just has one of those female voices that’s very vanilla and once again lacks emotion as it sounds very effect-heavy and…cursive.  This is not to be taken the wrong way, but since a female vocalist is doing this rendition, it would have been nice to hear an alternate POV ex. “He’s the tear in my heart”.  Above all else, the mixing ruins the track by getting louder and softer at all the wrong parts, when she’s singing it’s super loud to the point you want to turn it down.  At the instrumental parts it suddenly gets multiple decibels quieter to the point you need to turn it up to hear anything.  Of course this kind of dynamic fluctuation in a song is great, but when utilized in a way that makes sense, this felt like they were just trying to make her louder over the instrumental and it sounded choppy.

 

Final Ranking: 2/10

6) “Lane Boy”  – Reimagined by Yonaka

Yonaka’s rendition of “Lane Boy” titled “Lane Girl” is definitely the best on the tribute album.  Based on her write-up you can tell she’s a true fan and influenced by this album and band.  The intro starts off with a slick and clean guitar riff before becoming more grunge and heavy, the beat drop at this part is prime.  I really love the addition of the heavier guitars on the chorus in comparison to the more laxed verses,  as well as her lyric change to “Lane Girl” she really made it her own.  Her voice is beautiful and really captures the emotion and diversity between the verses and chorus, it’s evident the song means a lot to her.  Something about the way she sings verse 2 really reminds me of the way Dora Jar sings the second verse of her song “Did I Get It Wrong?” you’ll just have to listen to them back-to-back and tell me if you hear it too.

 

Final Ranking: 10/10

7) “The Judge”  – Reimagined by Noah Finnce

Noah Finnce reimagined “The Judge” even included background vocals from one of his old covers of the song. He has been a long term tøp fan and seemed genuinely excited to do this project as he’s covered many of their songs in the past.  However, again his voice feels too clean and emotionless, which is funny because in his write-up he said he wanted to make the song more “emo”… also he sounds congested, like the whole song sounds like it’s underwater.  It’s fairly similar to the original in structure and instrumentation except he does it on an acoustic guitar.  It reminds me of the acoustic guitar cover I used to do, especially the way he sings the second verse.

 

Final Ranking: 5/10

8) “Doubt”  – Reimagined by Royal and the Serpent 

I didn’t realize Royal and the Serpent had such a personal experience and connection to the boys, specifically Tyler Joseph when he gave her some pointers and stood up for her when they were accompanying each other at the Game awards until reading her write-up.  I like the way you can tell she really admires and looks up to Tyler and Josh.  However, I swear a lot of the girls on this record have the exact same voice, minus Yonak, it’s too effect-heavy taking away the true emotion.  I found her approach to the track interesting as they initially recorded it with just a piano, getting all the final vocal tracks before adding further production as an attempt to capture the emotion of the track.  As for the production, it is definitely more mellow and takes away from the desperation of the original track.

 

Final Ranking: 4/10

9) “Polarize”  – Reimagined by Dead Pony

We listen and we don’t judge is all I have to say for Dead Pony’s rendition of “Polarize”…by their write-up it was difficult to tell if they were even fans or just here for the clout.  To be more specific, the intro and instrumental was cool with heavier drums and guitars and I have to give them props for changing everything, the tempo, melody and structure…it can be hard to take a song in it’s final form and completely changing it without getting stuck in the original sound. However,  the lyric changes felt lazy…ex. “I wanted to be a better brother, better son” was changed to “I wanna be a supermodel in the sun”… She also has the same female voice I was just criticizing in the last piece, I swear they all sound the same on this record.  I appreciate their attempt to make the track something completely new, but it more or less just sounds messy like a basic garage rock band from high school.

 

Final Ranking: 2/10

10) “We Don’t Believe What’s On Tv”  – Reimagined by Bear In Trees

Bears in Trees offered a great rendition of “We Don’t Believe What’s On Tv”.  Although it doesn’t stray far from the original it still sounds like their own.  The guitar is awesome, the backups and harmonies are great, it sounds like a bunch of buddies having a great time rocking out around a campfire.  Love their voices, the accents are great and they sing the song with true emotion.  You can tell they had a fun time reimagining this track.

 

Final Ranking: 6/10

11) “Message Man”  – Reimagined by As December Falls

As December Falls made “Message Man” their own, giving it a heavier sound…the guitars are awesome on this track. AGAIN why do all these girls sound the same?! Listen to it and you’ll understand.  Although, I will say As December Falls captures more emotion in their vocals than the others have.  She explains in the write-up that doing this rendition really pushed her out of her comfort zone, especially the rap part which she did really well.  However, it definitely doesn’t contain the same individuality that “Message Man” has.

Final Ranking: 5/10

12) “Hometown”  – Reimagined by Artio

In the write-up it was evident Artio were big fans of Twenty Øne Piløts seeing them live many times and talking about watching funny video compilations from the band back in the day.  For this reason, I already had more respect for them going into it.  The instrumental on their rendition of “Hometown” is awesome, I love the addition of the guitars and the heavier drums, giving it a hard-rock sound.  Artio stands out on the record compared to the other female fronted bands because she has a unique voice compared to Dead Pony, AViVA, Royal and the Serpent, As December Falls and Bambie Thug who you could fool me were the same artist.  She really channelled her emotions in this track and her vocals truly shine especially in the outro.

 

Final Ranking: 8/10

13) “Not Today”  – Reimagined by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus being on this tribute album is a full circle moment considering their song, “Your Guardian Angel” was the first Tyler ever sang live in public.  The instrumental is great, the electric guitars really add to the track especially with the way they decided to approach it.  He also nailed Tyler’s vocal style, singing with similar inflections while still making it his own, such as the slight melody change in the pre-chorus.  I was about to say he’s lacking Tyler’s aggression in verse two, but later on I was proved wrong, “don’t you test me though, just because I play the piano” was ANGRY woah!  THE SCREAM!  Not as sassy as Tyler but he definitely got the anger aspect down.  This is one of the best tracks vocally on the album.

Final Ranking: 9/10

14) “Goner”  – Reimagined by As It Is

As It Is’s rendition of “Goner” was interesting in the way they led with guitar instead of piano, but the track was still very similar to the original, starting mellow and building up.  The use of guitars really adds to the build-up at the final chorus.  While the vocals are good and emotional, they do feel effect-heavy at times.  I definitely prefer the raw vocal approach Tyler takes to this one, making it feel more authentic -like he’s actually up in the middle of the night fighting for his life.  Regardless, As It Is did a really great job and was one of the better songs on the record.

 

Final Ranking: 6/10