Battle of the Covers: Titanium

"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
09/21/2015 at 12:00 • Filed to: Battle of the Covers

Remember that whole Battle of the Covers thing last year? Whatever happened to that?

Surprise! I’m in Austin still and I’ve got some (a lot) of downtime, so I decided to revive Battle of the Covers. I don’t know yet if this will be a one-off or a full return, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping for a full return because I’ve got some great stuff for The Sound Of Silence. As for this round’s song, we’re using a recent hit, David Guetta’s Titanium, because reasons.

Titanium, released in 2011, was written by Guetta, Sia, Giorgio Turanfort, and Afrojack. After the song was written a demo was recorded with Sia providing the vocals, which was then sent to various female artists in the hopes of getting one of them to sign on to do the vocals in the final version. Katy Perry turned it down, as did Alicia Keys, and Mary J Blige recorded a version which ended up being leaked online, but in the end David Guetta decided to stick with Sia’s demo recording for the final version, releasing it as it was. This upset Sia because he released it without her knowing, and did so just after Sia had retired as a singer and was attempting to transition into simply being a pop songwriter. Titanium was a hit though, and charted top ten in over a dozen countries, including reaching #1 in the U.K. It’s time on the air in the States was ultimately cut “short” (it had an eight month run) when it and a few other songs were pulled from the air after the Sandy Hook shooting.

And now for our covers. We’ve got eight entries this time. As usual I tried to get a range of different styles. It was a tough selection as there are some great indie performances and some... “interesting” covers as well. Give them a listen and cast your vote!

Bastille - (2012)

Within Temptation - (2012)

Boyce Avenue - (2012)

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox - (2012)

Grant Scott - (2012)

Static Era - (2013)

Charice - (2013)

Ely Bruna - (2015)

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DISCUSSION (12)

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > Dusty Ventures
09/21/2015 at 12:32

Yes! thanks for bringing it back

macanamera > Dusty Ventures
09/21/2015 at 12:32

Dusty imma let you finish but Sia has one of the greatest voices of all time.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Dusty Ventures
09/21/2015 at 12:38

Only the Ely Bruna one is truly awful.

Dusty Ventures > macanamera
09/21/2015 at 13:28

No arguments here

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Dusty Ventures
09/21/2015 at 13:49

Another vote for White Temptation (who I’ve never heard of and am now going to luck up)

And another slap to the face of that postmodern jukebox.

Secondary slap to Bastille. Wish I had two negative votes to give.

Check out this one by Jasmine Thompson. She was apparently only 12 when she recorded this one, this girl can cover any song and is unbelievable. I think she’d get a few votes if included in this one. She has at least an entire Album of covers.

My favorite is her cover of Pompeii, I think it’s much better than the original.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Dusty Ventures
09/21/2015 at 21:29

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Do Bohemian rhapsody next!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNym…

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > Dusty Ventures
09/22/2015 at 16:41

Ahh, Sia, I love her so.

But as far as the covers go, Boyce Avenue wins it hands down.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Dusty Ventures
09/22/2015 at 17:16

Weird, Within Temptation is okay, but the vocalist is... not amazing.

Boyce Avenue seemed a lot better, and I’m surprised at the gap.

Dusty Ventures > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
09/22/2015 at 20:21

I voted for one of the others, but admittedly I’m hella biased

Stef Schrader > Dusty Ventures
09/23/2015 at 02:09

Bastille: Unlistenable. Off-beat, and that’s not meant as a compliment. Could not carry this tune with a front-end loader. Awful in every single way.

Within Temptation: Somewhat forgettable, but not awful. The vocalist doesn’t sound like she really believes that she’s titanium, youknowwhatImean? It’s like she’s going through the motions at the great shouty part.

Boyce Avenue: That is the single blandest cover of anything I’ve ever listened to. I feel like I just heard the auditory equivalent of a beige Corolla on downers.

Postmodern Jukebox: Owned it. I love nearly everything they touch, though, so there’s that.

Grant Scott: What in the name of bad “American Idol” rejects were the echoes all about? I typically dislike falsetto in songs like this. Use your normal stupid voice, you dingus. Someone in the echoes definitely sounds like they’ve either been punched in the nuts, are Adam Levine, or are Adam Levine post-nutectomy. Cut the castrato voice; it’s the number one reason why Maroon 5 sucks. Awful. At least he sort of gets the song, though, which I can’t say for Bastille. Then again, that’s like saying “at least it’s not cancer.”

Static Era: Great instrumentals. Guitar solo nails it! Vocals try too hard in some places, but I’d rather hear someone try too hard on this than sound completely uninterested (hi Within Temptation!). Not everything needs a scoop or a fry, though. Sheesh.

Charice: I kind of like this one! Decent voice, even if the whole package is a little 90s R&B-y. You know what? 90s R&B was good, and you know it. I don’t mind this. Not at all. Falls short of Sia’s vocals, but then again, pretty much everyone does here. No one can touch Sia on this.

Ely Bruna: Weird cover. I don’t entirely hate the idea here, but she tries way too hard to sound sexy when it just comes off as breathy and insufferable. A downbeat or acoustic cover that doesn’t either sound like blended oatmeal or horny cougars would’ve been nice here, but this is definitely the horny cougar side of it. No. Just no.

Dusty Ventures > Stef Schrader
09/23/2015 at 06:47

This play-by-play alone has just made bringing Battle of the Covers back worthwhile

Dusty Ventures > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
09/23/2015 at 21:52

Sadly I don’t know if I could use the Muppet version or if, like all Weird Al entries, it would have to be excluded as a parody instead of a cover