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109-493: The Metallica Blacklist is a various artists tribute album featuring covers of every track from Metallica 's 1991 self-titled album (commonly known as The Black Album ). The collection was assembled in conjunction with the original album's 30th anniversary. Most of the songs are covered multiple times, with 53 artists participating. The album was released in digital formats on September 10, 2021, and in physical formats on October 1, 2021. The Metallica Blacklist tribute album

218-513: A cover medley . On occasion, a cover can become more popular than the original, for instance Jimi Hendrix ’s version of Bob Dylan ’s " All Along the Watchtower " became the standard, and Dylan even adjusted his performance style closer to the Hendrix version. Johnny Cash ’s 2002 cover of " Hurt " by Nine Inch Nails is another example of the cover version eclipsing the original. This is

327-458: A canon of work. We wanted to see where we'd got to, sort out this huge amount of stuff that had poured out since the mid '60s. Everyone on the paper was into this. Led Zeppelin topped the " NME Pop Poll" for three consecutive years (1974–76) under the category of the best "Vocal Group". In 1976, NME lambasted German pioneer electronic band Kraftwerk with this title: "This is what your fathers fought to save you from ..." The article said that

436-458: A charity of that artist's choice. At Metacritic , which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album has an average score of 66 based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The album received reviews that were generally favorable toward the project's wide variety of genres and often surprising selection of contributors, but with some qualms about its repetitive or inconsistent nature as

545-530: A composer cannot deny anyone a mechanical license for a new recorded version, the composer has the right to decide who will release the first recording of a song. Bob Dylan took advantage of this right when he refused his own record company the right to release a live recording of " Mr. Tambourine Man ". Even with this, pre-release cover versions of songs can occasionally occur. Live performances of copyrighted songs are typically arranged through performing rights organizations such as ASCAP or BMI . Early in

654-464: A concert at Finsbury Park where Morrissey was seen to drape himself in a Union Jack . The series of articles (starting with Fadele's one) which followed in the next edition of NME (featuring the story on the front cover) soured Morrissey's relationship with the paper, and this led to Morrissey not speaking to the paper again for the next 12 years (i.e., until 2004). Later in 1992, Steve Sutherland, previously an assistant editor of Melody Maker ,

763-631: A decade and a half before. Some commented at this time that the NME had become less intellectual in its writing style and less inventive musically. Initially, NME writers themselves were ill at ease with the new regime, with most signing a letter of no confidence in Lewis shortly after he took over. However, this new direction for the NME proved to be a commercial success and the paper brought in new writers such as Andrew Collins , Andrew Harrison , Stuart Maconie , Mary Anne Hobbs and Steve Lamacq to give it

872-718: A free title, featuring Rihanna. Editor in Chief Mike Williams received the Editor Of The Year Award at the BSME Awards 2016, the judges stating that under Williams' leadership, NME had "bounced back from an uncertain future and established itself confidently and creatively in a new market." In March 2018, The Guardian reported that the NME was to cease publication in print after 66 years. The online publication would continue. In 2019, TI Media,

981-489: A fuller range of the artist's abilities and style. (See, for example, Please Please Me .) Artists might also perform interpretations ("covers") of a favorite artist's hit tunes for the simple pleasure of playing a familiar song or collection of tunes. Today, three broad types of entertainers depend on cover versions for their principal repertoire: Since the Copyright Act of 1909 , United States musicians have had

1090-423: A listening experience. Metal Hammer noted that there are too many versions of some songs, especially " Enter Sandman " and " Nothing Else Matters ", but concluded that the tribute album "underscores how, unlike any other band in history, Metallica have transcended heavy metal and emerged as one of music's greatest cultural exports." Metal Hammer also endeavored to rank all 53 songs on the album, concluding that

1199-644: A more authoritative tone. The first issue of the redesign featured a free seven-inch Coldplay vinyl single. Krissi Murison was appointed editor in June 2009, launching a new redesigned NME in April 2010. The issue had 10 different covers, highlighting the broader range of music the magazine would cover, and featured Jack White , Florence and the Machine , LCD Soundsystem , Rihanna , Kasabian , Laura Marling , Foals , M.I.A. , Biffy Clyro and Magnetic Man . Murison

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1308-473: A more straightforward and populist style. The paper also became more openly political during the time of punk. Its cover would sometimes feature youth-orientated issues rather than a musical act. It took an editorial stance against political parties like the National Front . With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the paper took a broadly socialist stance for much of the following decade. In

1417-403: A newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "rock inkie", the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a free publication, before becoming an online brand which includes its website and radio stations. As a "rock inkie", NME was the first British newspaper to include a singles chart , adding that feature in the edition of 14 November 1952. In the 1970s, it became

1526-530: A number of high-profile international pop stars on the cover such as Coldplay , Taylor Swift , Lana Del Rey , Kanye West and Green Day alongside emerging talent like Zara Larsson , Years & Years , Lady Leshurr and Christine and the Queens . The free, pop-oriented NME magazine was praised for reconnecting NME with its target audience, and was awarded a silver at the 2016 Professional Publishers Association Awards for its historic first-ever cover as

1635-419: A political symbol. The NME was generally thought to be rudderless at this time, with staff pulling simultaneously in a number of directions in what came to be known as the "hip-hop wars". It was haemorrhaging readers who were deserting NME in favour of Nick Logan 's two creations The Face and Smash Hits . This was brought to a head when the paper was about to publish a poster of an insert contained in

1744-422: A rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams ' 1949 hit tune " The Hucklebuck " and Hank Williams ' 1952 song " Jambalaya ". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd –

1853-440: A strand embodied by the [Arctic] Monkeys, Babyshambles and Muse – bands who you don't need specialist knowledge to write about and who are just "indie" enough to make readers feel they're part of a club. Like everything else in publishing, this particular direction must be in response to reader demand, but it doesn't half make for a self-limiting magazine. In May 2008, the magazine received a redesign aimed at an older readership with

1962-472: A stronger identity and sense of direction. Lewis prioritised readership over editorial independence, and Mark Sinker left in 1988 after Lewis refused to print his unfavourable review of U2 's Rattle and Hum ("the worst album by a major band in years"), replacing it with a glowing Stuart Baillie review intended to be more acceptable to readers. Initially many of the bands on the C86 tape were championed as well as

2071-455: A weekly segment called Like a Version in which a band or musician performs one of their own songs as well as a song they love by another artist. Originating in 2004, the popularity of the performances have resulted in the release of annual compilation albums of selected covers and, more recently, votes in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 poll (which has even sparked its own controversy). Conjoined cover songs are collectively referred to as

2180-460: A widespread, common occurrence in the music industry. With advancements in artificial intelligence , internet users can create covers using RVC models. Cover versions (as the term is now used) are often contemporary versions of familiar songs. For example, " Singin' in the Rain " was originally introduced by Cliff Edwards in the film The Hollywood Revue of 1929 . The famous Gene Kelly version

2289-515: Is " Mack the Knife " ("Die Moritat von Mackie Messer"), originally from Bertolt Brecht's 1928 Die Dreigroschenoper . It was popularized by a 1956 hit parade instrumental tune, "Moritat", for the Dick Hyman Trio, also recorded by Richard Hayman & Jan August , but a hit also for Louis Armstrong 1956/1959, Bobby Darin , 1959, and Ella Fitzgerald , 1960, as vocal versions of "Mack

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2398-452: Is part of a larger celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Black Album , and was released on the same day as a deluxe remastered version of the original album. The tribute album was envisioned as an illustration of how The Black Album influenced musicians from many different genres, and was inspired by the existence of several previous tributes to the album, by artists in genres ranging from electronica to classical . In preparation for

2507-410: Is the only one that might currently get widespread airplay on most media. Similarly, " Unchained Melody " was originally performed by Todd Duncan , featured in the 1955 film Unchained (based on the non-fiction story Prisoners are People by Kenyon J. Scudder); Al Hibbler having the biggest number of worldwide record sales for the vocal version with Jimmy Young's cover version rival outdoing this in

2616-483: The Bob Dylan track " Desolation Row ". This is more common with today's covers, taking older popular music and revamping it to compare with modern popular music. Aretha Franklin 's cover of Otis Redding 's " Respect " was voted the greatest cover song of all time, according to Forbes.com. NME New Musical Express ( NME ) is a British music , film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as

2725-605: The Buzzcocks and Ian Dury . A second tape titled C86 was released in 1986. From 1981 to 1988 the magazine released 36 cassette compilations. The NME responded to the Thatcher era by espousing socialism through movements such as Red Wedge . In the week of the 1987 election , the paper featured an interview with the leader of the Labour Party , Neil Kinnock , who appeared on the paper's cover. He had appeared on

2834-524: The Dead Kennedys ' album Frankenchrist , consisting of a painting by H.R. Giger called Penis Landscape , then a subject of an obscenity lawsuit in the US. In the summer and autumn of 1987, three senior editorial staff were sacked, including Pye, media editor Stuart Cosgrove , and art editor Joe Ewart. Former Sounds editor Alan Lewis was brought in to rescue the paper, mirroring Alan Smith's revival

2943-507: The Glenn Miller version (on RCA Victor's cheaper Bluebird label), not someone else's (sometimes presented on a more expensive record company's label). This trend was marked closely by the charting of record sales by the different artists, not just hit tunes, on the music industry's hit parades . However, for sound commercial reasons, record companies still continued to record different versions of tunes that sold well. Most audiences until

3052-539: The Harry Fox Agency , and is safe under copyright law even if they do not have any permission from the original author. A similar service was provided by Limelight by RightsFlow , until January 2015, when they announced they will be closing their service. The U.S. Congress introduced the mechanical license to head off an attempt by the Aeolian Company to monopolize the piano roll market. Although

3161-411: The NME was primarily dedicated to pop while its older rival, Melody Maker , was known for its more serious coverage of music. Other competing titles included Record Mirror , which led the way in championing American rhythm and blues , and Disc , which focused on chart news. The latter part of the decade the paper charted the rise of psychedelia and the continued dominance of British groups of

3270-460: The NME , and was replaced as editor by 26-year-old Melody Maker writer Ben Knowles. In the same year, Melody Maker officially merged with the NME , and many speculated the NME would be next to close, as the weekly music-magazine market was shrinking - the monthly magazine Select , which had thrived especially during the Britpop era, was closed down within a week of Melody Maker . In

3379-588: The New Musical Express "started to champion underground, up-and-coming music....NME became the gateway to a more rebellious world. First came glamrock , and bands such as T. Rex , and then came punk ....by 1977 it had become the place to keep in touch with a cultural revolution that was enthralling the nation's listless youth. Bands such as Sex Pistols , X-Ray Spex and Generation X were regular cover stars, eulogised by writers such as Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons , whose nihilistic tone narrated

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3488-722: The "electronic melodies flowed as slowly as a piece of garbage floating down the polluted Rhine ". The same year also saw punk rock arrive on what some people perceived to be a stagnant music scene. The NME gave the Sex Pistols their first music press coverage in a live review of their performance at the Marquee in February that year, but overall it was slow to cover this new phenomenon in comparison to Sounds and Melody Maker , where Jonh Ingham and Caroline Coon respectively were early champions of punk. Although articles by

3597-424: The 1950s, musicians now play what they call "cover versions" (the reworking, updating, or interpretation) of songs as a tribute to the original performer or group. Using familiar material (such as evergreen hits, standard tunes or classic recordings) is an important method of learning music styles. Until the mid-1960s most albums, or long playing records , contained a large number of evergreens or standards to present

3706-443: The 1980s, the NME became the most important music paper in the country. It released the influential C81 in 1981, in conjunction with Rough Trade Records , available to readers by mail order at a low price. The tape featured a number of then up-and-coming bands, including Duran Duran , Aztec Camera , Orange Juice , Linx , and Scritti Politti , as well as a number of more established artists such as Robert Wyatt , Pere Ubu ,

3815-441: The 2008 NME Award nominations, Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian criticised the magazine's lack of diversity, saying: "NME bands" fall within very narrow parameters. In the 80s, the paper prided itself on its coverage of hip hop, R&B and the emerging dance scene which it took seriously and featured prominently – alongside the usual Peel-endorsed indie fare. Now, though, its range of approved bands has dramatically shrunk to

3924-532: The 20th century it became common for phonograph record labels to have singers or musicians "cover" a commercially successful "hit" tune by recording a version for their own label in hopes of cashing in on the tune's success. For example, Ain't She Sweet was popularized in 1927 by Eddie Cantor (on stage) and by Ben Bernie and Gene Austin (on record), was repopularized through popular recordings by Mr. Goon Bones & Mr. Ford and Pearl Bailey in 1949, and later still revived as 33 1/3 and 45 RPM records by

4033-684: The Air" occur in Strictly Ballroom , Candi Staton 's "Young Hearts Run Free" appear in Romeo + Juliet , and adaptations of artists such as Nat King Cole , Nirvana , Kiss , Elton John , Thelma Houston , Marilyn Monroe , Madonna , T. Rex , David Bowie , Queen , and the Police are used in Moulin Rouge! . The covers are carefully designed to fit into the structure of each film and suit

4142-455: The American record market. Numerable English-language covers exist of " 99 Luftballons " by German singer Nena (notably one by punk band Goldfinger ), one having been recorded by Nena herself following the success of her original German version. " Popcorn ", a song that was originally completely instrumental, has had lyrics added in at least six different languages in various covers. During

4251-525: The Anglo-Saxon markets was once a popular part of the music business. For example, the 1954 worldwide hit " The Happy Wanderer " was originally " Der fröhliche Wanderer ", to this must be added " Hymne à l'amour ", " Mütterlein ", " Volare ", " Seeman ", " Quando, Quando, Quando ", " L'amour est bleu ", etc. Cover versions of many popular songs have been recorded, sometimes with a radically different style, sometimes virtually unrecognizable from

4360-599: The Asian music scene and acts such as The Itchyworms, SEVENTEEN, Voice Of Baceprot, Sponge Cola and I Belong To The Zoo from countries such as South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia. On 20 July 2023, NME announced that it would be relaunching its print magazine that summer. Starting with a July/August issue featuring D4vd , each bimonthly issue will showcase a rising musical talent. NME Networks' chief operating and commercial officer Holly Bishop explained that

4469-467: The Beatles in 1964. Because little promotion or advertising was done in the early days of record production, other than at the local music hall or music store, the average buyer purchasing a new record usually asked for the tune, not the artist. Record distribution was highly localized, so a locally popular artist could quickly record a version of a hit song from another area and reach an audience before

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4578-594: The Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor saw the paper dip to a sales low, and Sutherland later stated in his weekly editorial that he regretted putting them on the cover. For many, this was seen as an affront to the principles of the paper, and sales reached a low point at the turn of the millennium. From the issue of 21 March 1999, the paper was no longer printed on newsprint, and more recently, it has shifted to tabloid size with glossy colour covers. In 2000, Steve Sutherland left to become brand director of

4687-635: The Fire , although the German title was retained. The English version, which was not a direct translation of Falco's original but retained much of its spirit, reached the Top 5 on the US charts. " The Lion Sleeps Tonight " evolved over several decades and versions from a 1939 Solomon Linda a cappella song. Many of singer Laura Branigan 's 1980s hits were English-language covers of songs already successful in Europe, for

4796-433: The Knife". Europe's Radio Luxembourg , like many commercial stations, also sold "air time"; so record companies and others bought air time to promote their own artists or products, thus increasing the number of recorded versions of any tune then available. Add to this the fact that many radio stations were limited in their permitted " needle time " (the amount of recorded music they were allowed to play), or were regulated on

4905-586: The Manics, some new British bands were beginning to appear. Suede were quickly hailed by the paper as an alternative to the heavy grunge sound and hailed as the start of a new British music scene. Grunge, however, was still the dominant force, but the rise of new British bands would become something the paper would focus on more and more. In 1992, the NME also had a very public dispute with Morrissey due to allegations by NME ' s Dele Fadele that Morrissey had used racist lyrics and imagery. This erupted after

5014-534: The NME Networks brand in December 2021, when the company was restructured. The paper was established in 1952. The Accordion Times and Musical Express was bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn for £1,000, just 15 minutes before it was due to be officially closed. It was relaunched as the New Musical Express , and was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint . Under

5123-477: The NME Poll Winners' Concert, an awards event that featured artists voted as most popular by the paper's readers. The concert also featured a ceremony where the poll winners would collect their awards. The NME Poll Winners' Concerts took place between 1959 and 1972. From 1964 onwards, they were filmed, edited, and transmitted on British television a few weeks after they had taken place. In the mid-1960s,

5232-519: The Rain" has been covered and remixed by British act Mint Royale for a television commercial for Volkswagen . Another example of this, from a different angle, is the tune " Blueberry Hill ", many mistakenly believe the Fats Domino 1956 release to be the original recording and artist. In fact, it was originally introduced on film by Gene Autry and popularized on the record Hit Parade of 1940 by Glenn Miller. The Fats Domino rock and roll version

5341-766: The Strokes , the Vines , and the White Stripes . In 2002, Conor McNicholas was appointed editor, with a new wave of photographers including Dean Chalkley , Andrew Kendall, James Looker, and Pieter Van Hattem, and a high turnover of young writers. It focused on new British bands such as the Libertines , Franz Ferdinand , Bloc Party , and the Kaiser Chiefs , which had emerged as indie music continued to grow in commercial success. Later, Arctic Monkeys became

5450-1009: The UK, Les Baxter's Orchestra gaining the big instrumentalist sales, reaching the US Hit Parade number one spot in May 1955, but the Righteous Brothers ' later version (top five on the US Hit Parade of September 1965 stalling at number 14 in the UK in August) is by far the wider known version, and especially so following its appearance in the 1990 film Ghost . " House of the Rising Sun " has hundreds of versions and in many genres such as folk , blues rock and punk as well as dance and dubstep . Director Baz Luhrmann has contemporized and stylized older songs for use in his films. New or cover versions such as John Paul Young 's "Love Is in

5559-418: The UK. In March 2018, the publisher announced that the print edition of NME would cease publication after 66 years and become an online-only publication. However, this decision was reversed in 2023, with NME announcing that it would revive its print magazine as a bimonthly release. NME was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies , which put all of its music publications under

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5668-534: The UK. The first number one was " Here in My Heart " by Al Martino . During the 1960s, the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The NME circulation peaked under Andy Gray (editor 1957–1972) with a figure of 306,881 for the period from January to June 1964. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were frequently featured on the front cover. These and other artists also appeared at

5777-445: The US, mainly from Seattle . These bands would form a new movement called grunge , and by far the most popular bands were Nirvana and Pearl Jam . The NME took to grunge very slowly ("Sounds" was the first British music paper to write about grunge with John Robb being the first to interview Nirvana. Melody Maker was more enthusiastic early on, largely through the efforts of Everett True , who had previously written for NME under

5886-445: The album's best track. Metal Injection called the album "a complete reimagining of one of the most iconic records of all time." NME called it "a fitfully thrilling hodgepodge" that forces the listener to choose their own favorite version of each song, but concluded that the album is "a fantastic tribute to one of metal's sacred texts." Cover version The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described

5995-575: The amount of local talent they had to promote in live broadcasts, as with most national stations like the BBC in the UK. In the US, broadcasters pay royalties to authors and publishers. Artists are not paid royalties, so there is an incentive to record numerous versions of a song, particularly in different genres. For example, King Records frequently cut both rhythm and blues and country and western versions of novelty songs like "Good Morning, Judge" and "Don't Roll those Bloodshot Eyes at Me". This tradition

6104-552: The best is the version of "Nothing Else Matters" by Miley Cyrus , who was supported by Elton John , Yo-Yo Ma , Andrew Watt , Chad Smith , and current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo . Pitchfork also gave the album a mixed review, calling it "enormous and uneven" and criticizing some predictable covers by the hard rock and heavy metal artists, but praising genre-jumping contributions like those by Japanese-British pop singer Rina Sawayama and Ghanaian-American musician Moses Sumney . Rolling Stone made note of some of

6213-443: The best layouts, that sense of style of humour and a feeling of real adventure. We also set out to beat Melody Maker on its strong suit: being the serious, responsible journal of record. We did Looking Back and Consumer Guide features that beat the competition out of sight, and we did this not just to surpass our rivals but because we reckoned that rock had finished its first wind around 1969/70 and deserved to be treated as history, as

6322-413: The best-selling British music newspaper. From 1972 to 1976, it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism then became closely associated with punk rock through the writings of Julie Burchill , Paul Morley , and Tony Parsons . It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s, changing from newsprint in 1998. The magazine's website NME.com

6431-444: The bowdlerized popular cover versions more palatable for the mass audience of parents and their children. Artists targeting the white-majority family audience were more acceptable to programmers at most radio and TV stations. Singer-songwriter Don McLean called the cover version a "racist tool". Many parents in the 1950s - 60s, whether intentionally racist or not, felt deeply threatened by the rapid pace of social change. They had, for

6540-483: The company was "inspired by the resurgence we've seen in vinyl and cassette tapes" to bring a physical edition back for music fans. In December 2018, BandLab Technologies announced the launch of NME Australia . Initially a website only, new interviews were given covers and numbered as issues, with Amyl & The Sniffers on the inaugural cover. At the time BandLab announced the Australian edition would not have

6649-427: The cover once two years before, in April 1985. Writers at this time included Mat Snow , Chris Bohn (known in his later years at the paper as ' Biba Kopf '), Antonella Gambotto-Burke (known by her pseudonyms Antonella Black and, because of her then-dyed orange hair, Ginger Meggs ), Barney Hoskyns , Paolo Hewitt, Don Watson, Danny Kelly , Steven Wells , and David Quantick . However, sales were dropping, and by

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6758-459: The cover price and becoming a free publication. This was confirmed in July 2015. The free NME launched on 18 September 2015, with Rihanna on the cover. Distributed nationwide via universities, retail stores and the transport network, the first circulation numbers published in February 2016 of 307, 217 copies per week were the highest in the brand's history. Since relaunch the magazine has featured

6867-431: The development of rock music, particularly during the early years of psychedelia and progressive rock . In early 1972, the paper was on the verge of closure by its owner IPC (which had bought the paper from Kinn in 1963). According to Nick Kent (soon to play a prominent part in the paper's revival): After sales had plummeted to 60,000 and a review of guitar instrumentalist Duane Eddy had been printed which began with

6976-406: The disingenuous spirit of early cover versions remain. In the album-buying heyday of the 1970s, albums of sound-alike covers were created, commonly released to fill bargain bins in the music section of supermarkets and even specialized music stores , where uninformed customers might easily confuse them with original recordings. The packaging of such discs was often intentionally confusing, combining

7085-491: The early 2000s, the NME also attempted somewhat to broaden its coverage again, running cover stories on hip-hop acts such as Jay-Z and Missy Elliott , electronic musician Aphex Twin , Popstars winners Hear'say , and R&B groups such as Destiny's Child . However, as in the 1980s, these proved unpopular with much of the paper's readership, and were soon dropped. In 2001, the NME reasserted its position as an influence in new music, and helped to introduce bands including

7194-509: The editorship of Ray Sonin , the paper began publishing artist interviews, industry gossip and, on 14 November 1952, taking its cue from the US magazine Billboard , it created the first UK Singles Chart , a list of the Top Twelve best-selling singles. Sales of the magazine jumped by 50%. The first of these singles charts was, in contrast to more recent charts, a top twelve sourced by the magazine itself from sales in regional stores around

7303-475: The heyday of Cantopop in Hong Kong in the late 1970s to early 1990s, many hits were covers of English and Japanese titles that have gained international fame but with localized lyrics (sometimes multiple sets of lyrics sung to the same tune), and critics often chide the music industry of shorting the tune-composing process. Although modern cover versions are often produced for artistic reasons, some aspects of

7412-475: The likes of Mick Farren (whose article "The Titanic Sails at Dawn" called for a new street-led rock movement in response to stadium rock) were published by the NME that summer, it was felt that younger writing was needed to credibly cover the emerging punk movement, and the paper advertised for a pair of "hip young gunslingers" to join their editorial staff. This resulted in the recruitment of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill . The pair rapidly became champions of

7521-404: The logo still used on the paper's masthead today (albeit in a modified form) – this made its first appearance towards the end of 1978. Spencer's time as editor also coincided with the emergence of post-punk acts such as Joy Division and Gang of Four . This development was reflected in the writing of Ian Penman and Paul Morley . Danny Baker , who began as an NME writer around this time, had

7630-517: The mid-1950s still heard their favorite artists playing live music on stage or via the radio . And since radio shows were for the most part aimed at local audiences, it was still rare for an artist in one area to reach a mass audience. Also radio stations tended to cater to broad audience markets, so an artist in one vein might not get broadcast on other stations geared to a set audience. So popular versions of jazz , country and western or rhythm and blues tunes, and vice versa, were frequent. An example

7739-418: The mid-1980s, NME had hit a rough patch and was in danger of closing. During this period (now under the editorship of Ian Pye, who replaced Neil Spencer in 1985), they were split between those who wanted to write about hip hop , a genre that was relatively new to the UK, and those who wanted to stick to rock music. Sales were apparently lower when photos of hip hop artists appeared on the front and this led to

7848-456: The more eclectic covers, such as the contributions from jazz musician Kamasi Washington and punk rock supergroup Off! In a separate review, Rolling Stone concluded that the album is a fitting tribute to the ongoing influence of The Black Album . Exclaim! also noted that not all of the 53 songs are fully satisfying, but praised the project for its contributions to charity while ranking Washington's version of "My Friend of Misery" as

7957-483: The most part, shared entertainment with their parents in ways their children had become reluctant to do. The jukebox and the personal record disc player were still relatively expensive pieces of machinery — and the portable radio a great novelty, allowing truculent teenagers to shut themselves off. Tunes by introducing or "original" niche market artists that became successful on the mass audience hit parade charts are called crossovers as they "crossed over" from

8066-517: The most popular style of music in the mid-1950s / mid-1960s was still the professional light orchestra, therefore popular recording artists sought that format. For many purists these popular versions lacked the raw earthiness of the original introducing artists. Most did not have the kudos that rebellious teenagers craved, the street credibility — of rock and roll music; most were performed, and some were written, by black artists not heard in popular mass entertainment markets. Most parents considered

8175-405: The name "The Legend!"). For the most part, NME only became interested in grunge after Nevermind became popular. Although it still supported new British bands, the paper was dominated by American bands, as was the music scene in general. Although the period from 1991 to 1993 was dominated by American bands like Nirvana, British bands were not ignored. The NME still covered the indie scene and

8284-520: The name of the original artist in large letters with a tiny disclaimer like as originally sung by or as made popular by . More recently, albums such as the Kidz Bop series of compact discs , featuring versions of contemporary songs sung by children, have sold successfully. In 2009, the American musical comedy-drama television series Glee debuted, featuring several musical performances per episode. The series featured solely cover songs performed by

8393-409: The original sound electronically; cover versions give a performer the ability to adapt music to their own style, typically allowing them to change the genre of a song and recreating it to their own taste. For example, in 2008, Fall Out Boy covered Michael Jackson 's hit song " Beat It ", changing the genre from pop rock to a more punk rock feel. Another example is when My Chemical Romance covered

8502-403: The original. For example, Sir Mix-a-Lot 's 1992 rap " Baby Got Back " was covered by indie rock singer Jonathan Coulton in 2005, in an acoustic soft rock style. Coulton's cover was then covered, without attribution, in 2013 by the show Glee , and was so similar that Coulton, among others, alleged plagiarism of his arrangement and melody. Some producers or recording artists may also enlist

8611-473: The paper being criticised for not supporting rock or indie music. The paper did attempt to return to its highly politicised 1980s incarnation by running a cover story in March 1998 condemning Tony Blair , who had previously associated himself with Britpop bands such as Oasis, and this received a certain level of attention in the wider media. Sutherland did attempt to cover newer bands, but a 1998 cover feature on

8720-475: The paper suffering as the lack of direction became even more apparent to readers. A number of features entirely unrelated to music appeared on the cover in this era, including a piece by William Leith on computer crime and articles by Stuart Cosgrove on such subjects as the politics of sport and the presence of American troops in Britain, with Elvis Presley appearing on the cover not for musical reasons but as

8829-461: The poll. In October 2006, NME launched an Irish version of the magazine called NME Ireland . This coincided with the launch of Club NME in Dublin . Dublin-based band Humanzi was first to appear on the cover of NME Ireland. The Irish edition of the magazine could not compete with local competitors such as Hot Press therefore it was discontinued after its fourth issue in February 2007. After

8938-645: The production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event , even if it was reproduced at home via a copy of the sheet music , learned by heart or captured on a gramophone record . In fact, one of the principal objects of publishing sheet music was to have a composition performed by as many artists as possible. This made the song more important than the performing artist and rival cover or 'copycat' versions would vie for success. In previous generations, some artists made very successful careers of presenting revivals or reworkings of once-popular tunes, even out of doing contemporary cover versions of current hits. Since

9047-548: The project, Metallica invited some musicians who had gained notice for covering other Metallica songs in the past, such as the Warning , the Hu , and Rodrigo y Gabriela . Metallica then invited artists from a variety of genres to contribute unique interpretations of the songs. The invited artists were permitted to choose which song to cover. According to a statement made by the band, " The Metallica Blacklist offers up new dimensions of

9156-432: The punk scene and created a new tone for the paper. Parsons' time at NME is reflected in his 2005 novel Stories We Could Tell , about the misadventures of three young music-paper journalists on the night of 16 August 1977 – the night Elvis Presley died. In 1978, Logan moved on, and his deputy Neil Spencer was made editor. One of his earliest tasks was to oversee a redesign of the paper by Barney Bubbles , which included

9265-401: The punk years perfectly." By the time Smith handed the editor's chair to Logan in mid-1973, the paper was selling nearly 300,000 copies per week and was outstripping Melody Maker , Disc , Record Mirror and Sounds . According to MacDonald: I think all the other papers knew by 1974 that NME had become the best music paper in Britain. We had most of the best writers and photographers,

9374-471: The record whose gravitational pull first drew the mainstream to Metallica – and provides new insights into the universal and timeless appeal that kept it there: the boundary-smashing influence these 12 songs have had on fans and musicians of all stripes." For each song on the album, half of the proceeds are donated to Metallica's All Within My Hands Foundation, and the other half are donated to

9483-432: The right to record a version of someone else's previously recorded and released tune, whether it is music alone or music with lyrics. A license can be negotiated between representatives of the interpreting artist and the copyright holder, or recording published tunes can fall under a mechanical license whereby the recording artist pays a standard royalty to the original author/copyright holder through an organization such as

9592-618: The rise of gothic rock bands but new bands such as the Happy Mondays and the Stone Roses were coming out of Manchester . One scene over these years was Acid House which spawned " Madchester " which helped give the paper a new lease of life. By the end of the decade, Danny Kelly had replaced Lewis as editor. By the end of 1990, the Madchester scene was dying off, and NME had started to report on new bands coming from

9701-462: The rise of a new group from Manchester called Oasis , Britpop would continue its rise for the rest of 1994. By the end of the year, Blur and Oasis were the two biggest bands in the UK, and sales of the NME were increasing thanks to the Britpop effect. In 1995, NME covered these new bands, many of whom played the NME Stage at that year's Glastonbury Festival , where the paper had been sponsoring

9810-410: The second stage at the festival since 1993. This would be its last year sponsoring the stage; subsequently, the stage would be known as the 'Other Stage'. In August 1995, Blur and Oasis planned to release singles on the same day in a mass of media publicity. Steve Sutherland put the story on the front page of the paper, and was criticised for playing up the duel between the bands. Blur won the "race" for

9919-504: The series' titular glee club until near the end of its second season with the episode " Original Song ". The series still primarily uses cover songs of both chart hits and show tunes, occasionally as mashups or distinct variations. The show's musical performances have been a commercial success, with over twenty-one million copies of Glee cast single releases purchased digitally, and over nine million albums purchased worldwide. Australian alternative/indie radio station Triple J presents

10028-530: The services of a sample replay company such as Titan Tribute Media or Scorccio, in order to replicate an original recording with precision detail and accuracy. A song may be covered into another language. For example, in the 1930s, a recording of " Isle of Capri " in Spanish, by Osvaldo Fresedo and singer Roberto Ray, is known. Falco 's 1982 German-language hit " Der Kommissar " was covered in English by After

10137-418: The standard-bearers of the post-Libertines crop of indie bands, being both successfully championed by the NME and receiving widespread commercial and critical success. In December 2005, accusations were made that the NME end-of-year poll had been edited for commercial and political reasons. These criticisms were rebutted by McNicholas, who claimed that webzine Londonist.com had got hold of an early draft of

10246-516: The successor to IPC, sold NME and Uncut to Singaporean company BandLab Technologies . In 2021, the NME became the main brand for the music publishing division of Caldecott Music Group, when BandLab Technologies was reorganised. As well as publishing print magazines in the United Kingdom and Australia, NME Networks is responsible for a trio of online music publications and the main NME.com website, which now also has an area devoted to

10355-430: The targeted country, jazz or rhythm audience. Also, many songs originally recorded by male artists were rerecorded by female artists, and vice versa. Such a cover version is also sometimes called a cross cover version , male cover , or female cover . Some songs such as "If Only for One Night" were originally recorded by female artists but covered by mostly male artists. Reworking non-English language tunes and lyrics for

10464-405: The taste of the intended audience. Other artists release new versions of their own songs, like German singer Nena who recorded an entire album with great success, with new versions of older hits. Cover songs can be used to display creativity of a performers work through the talent of another artist's previous production. Not to be confused with a remix , which is defined as altering or distorting

10573-428: The time. During this period some sections of pop music began to be designated as rock. The paper became engaged in a sometimes tense rivalry with Melody Maker ; however, NME sales were healthy, with the paper selling as many as 200,000 issues per week, making it one of the UK's biggest sellers at the time. By the early 1970s, NME had lost ground to Melody Maker , as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with

10682-405: The top of the charts, and the resulting fallout from the publicity led to the paper enjoying increased sales during the 1990s as Britpop became the dominant genre. After this peak, the paper experienced a slow decline as Britpop burned itself out fairly rapidly over the next few years. This left the paper directionless again, and attempts to embrace the rise of DJ culture in the late 1990s only led to

10791-482: The version by the artist(s) who first introduced the tune, and highly competitive record companies were quick to take advantage of this. This began to change in the late 1930s, when the growing record-buying public began including a younger age group. During the swing era , when a bobby soxer went looking for a recorded tune, say " In the Mood ", typically she wanted the version popularized by her favorite artist(s), e.g.

10900-533: The words "On this, his 35th album, we find Duane in as good voice as ever," the NME had been told to rethink its policies or die on the vine. Alan Smith was made editor in 1972, and was told by IPC to turn things around quickly or face closure. To achieve this, Smith and his assistant editor Nick Logan raided the underground press for writers such as Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent, and recruited other writers such as Tony Tyler , Ian MacDonald and Californian Danny Holloway . According to The Economist ,

11009-426: Was a revision that brought it up to date for a 1950s Hollywood musical, and was used in the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain . In 1978, it was covered by French singer Sheila , accompanied by the B. Devotion group, as a disco song, once more updating it to suit the musical taste of the era. During the disco era there was a trend of taking well known songs and recording them in the disco style. More recently "Singin' in

11118-576: Was brought in as the NME ' s editor to replace Danny Kelly . Andrew Collins, Stuart Maconie , Steve Lamacq , and Mary Anne Hobbs all left the NME in protest, and moved to Select ; Collins, Maconie and Lamacq would all also write for Q , while Lamacq would join Melody Maker in 1997. Kelly, Collins, Maconie, Lamacq and Hobbs would all subsequently become prominent broadcasters with BBC Radio 1 as it reinvented itself under Matthew Bannister . In April 1994, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain

11227-415: Was criticized by the media. The Guardian pointed out that Features Editor Laura Snapes included, in her top 5 "greatest albums of all time", four albums from the same band which was The National . Consequence of Sound similarly observed that "if Laura Snapes had her wish, the top four would all be The National albums". In February 2015, it was reported that the NME was in discussions about removing

11336-427: Was expanded when rhythm and blues songs began appearing on pop music charts. In the early days of rock and roll , many tunes originally recorded by R&B and country musicians were still being re-recorded in a more popular vein by other artists with a more toned-down style or professional polish. This was inevitable because radio stations were reluctant to play formats outside their target audience's taste. By far

11445-518: Was found dead, a story which affected not only his fans and readers of the NME , but would see a massive change in British music. Grunge was about to be replaced by Britpop , a new genre influenced by 1960s British music and culture. The term was coined by NME after the band Blur released their album Parklife in the month of Cobain's death. Britpop began to fill the musical and cultural void left after Cobain's demise, and with Blur's success and

11554-414: Was involved with a war of words with a new band called Manic Street Preachers , who were criticising the NME for what they saw as an elitist view of bands they would champion. This came to a head in 1991, when, during an interview with Steve Lamacq , Richey Edwards would confirm the band's position by carving "4real" into his arm with a razor blade. By 1992, the Madchester scene had died and along with

11663-467: Was launched in 1996, and became the world's biggest standalone music site, with over sixteen million users per month. With newsstand sales falling across the UK magazine sector in the early 21st century, the magazine's paid circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830. In September 2015, the NME magazine was relaunched to be distributed nationally as a free publication. The first average circulation published in February 2016 of 307,217 copies per week

11772-536: Was replaced as editor in July 2012 by Mike Williams, who had previously been the magazine's deputy. Williams is now Editor in Chief, with full responsibility for NME's cross platform output. Under Williams, NME has launched the NME Daily app, a new career focussed event called Lifehacks, and successfully relaunched both the NME magazine and NME's website, NME.com. In 2013, NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

11881-462: Was the highest in the brand's history, beating the previous best of 306,881, recorded in 1964 at the height of the Beatles ' fame. By December 2017, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations , average distribution of NME had fallen to 289,432 copies a week, although its then-publisher Time Inc. UK claimed to have more than 13 million global unique users per month, including 3 million in

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