Temptation

 

I’ve tried to under sta-and—why on earth Cradle of Filth decided to cover Heaven 17… Cradle of Filth is an extreme metal band that made the inexplicable choice to cover an 80’s pop metal band’s song “Temptation”. Whatever the reason, I feel that Cradle of Filth managed to make this song listenable. Normally, I don’t much care for Cradle of Filth’s music, but somehow, by covering a pretty terrible song, they managed to do a song that I love and listen to all of the time. I even went out and bought Cradle of Filth’s album, Thornography, which contains the song.

The original song done by Heaven 17 is really upbeat and innocent-sounding. The musical tracks are low in intensity and give the song a carefree air. However, Cradle of Filth’s version has high-intensity musical tracks and added melodic musical tracks that harmonize with the rest of the song, adding a great deal of depth to the song, making it sound like a symphony. The Cradle of Filth version does a lot more justice to the lyrics which are about temptation gripping you with an unbreakable hold. The vocals, which are sang with guttural vocals by frontman Dani Filth and backing vocals done by featured artist Dirty Harry are loud and full of emotion. The backing vocals done by Carol Kenyon in Heaven 17’s rendition are higher in pitch and don’t do much to bring emotion to the song. It’s like listening to Pat Boone sing "Long Tall Sally" after hearing Little Richard sing it.

If you listen to Heaven 17’s version and then Cradle of Filth’s, you can see that there’s a massive difference between the two. But if you listen closely, you can see that Cradle of Filth don’t really change that much. The rhythm is the same. The drummer uses the same beat, the speed is kept consistent, the Cradle of Filth version is actually longer. So what did they change? Well for one, they increased the intensity ratio between the synthesizer, guitar, bass, and drums and the vocals. The levels are more even in Cradle of Filth’s version, but the two vocal tracks still manage to stand out. The pitch is lower, especially in the female backing vocals, however every note is still sung at the same pitch, just at a lower octave. The lower pitch, I feel, changes the groove somewhat and makes it sound sexier, which is good for a song that’s about temptation.

It’s easy, of course, to identify the different timbre. The added distortion of the string instruments combined with the synthesizers make Cradle of Filth’s version sound a lot more dangerous and filled with intrigue and sensuality. The emotion with which Filth and Harry sing and the strain they put on their voices make the lyrics sound much more passionate.

The creative elements that Cradle of Filth added and manipulated to enhance the sound of the song combined with those elements they chose to keep similar, work extremely well, in my honest opinion, and transform an irritating and insignificant 80’s pop song into a song that can be enjoyed by many.