After they desecrated “Revolution”, Rascal Flatts doesn’t have the right to complain about people covering their songs, though I imagine this quickly rising pop hit will not go over well with their die-hard fans:
There was a trend in the nineties of taking classic eighties pop ballads and turning them into dance hits, creating a novelty for listeners who remembered the original. It was done to “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Time after Time” with popular results, even if the original charm of the songs were lost in the translation.
There’s something oddly appropriate about doing the same to a Rascal Flatts hit, since they land somewhere between Styx and Wham! on the eighties wimp-rock scale. That Cascada’s take on their hit shows a steely resolve that the mushy, dignity-free Gary LeVox couldn’t muster on the original? The icing on the cake, my friends!
Then again, at least Flatts didn’t attempt to disco up their own hit. Remember when Reba took a shot at club immortality?
While you’re wiping away the tears of laughter, try to process this: it actually went to #2 on the dance chart. Get out! Get out!
At least she didn’t try to jump on the Peace Train:
It is with great shock that after listening to Cascada I yearn for Rascal Flatts.
While I respect the dance factor to Cascada’s version, I AM COMPLETELY TICKED!!! This version discards the power and meaning of the song that Rascal Flatts revealed. Personally I see it as an insult to not only Rascal FLatts but to country. As with Taylor Swifts pop version of Teardrops On My Guitar it stains what makes the song so good to start with.
Forget about both of these versions of this song…I can’t stand this new version and I can’t stand Gary LeVox’s voice at all….My advice is to listen to the Mark Wills version from his “And the Crowd Goes Wild” album which I believe came out in 2005 or thereabout.
The Cascada version has been a big hit in the UK, and Rascal Flatts are using the opportunity to launch here. What Hurts the Most comes out next week, followed a week later by an album, entitled ‘Rascal Flatts’, which is basically ‘Still Feels Good’, plus What Hurts the Most and Bless the Broken Road.
I actually like the Cascada version, and I do like the Rascal Flatts version too, but my favourite is Jo O’Meara’s recording, from 2005.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0E_PhH3hqM&rel=1]
Oops, sorry, tried to embed and it didn’t like it. Here’s a standard link:
This is one of the few songs by Rascal Flatts that I like. I actually like Gary’s voice, but it always sounds horrible on live recordings and I usually don’t like their song choices and instrumentation.
i am not a fan of rascal flats, but that is probably my favorite song by them. his voice, which i usually find very whiny, goes with the mood of that song. I kind off like the cover
I don’t mind listening to Rascal Flatts or Cascada but I really don’t like this version of the song at all. Gary’s voice was actually well suited to this song.
Not a fan of Rascal Flatts! I also think they sound fine on an album, but live…awful, to me that is! I got embarrassed for them at the CMAs with that duet with Jamie Foxx! It still amazes me how many people buy their albums and see them in concert. Can these people not hear good??
A little harsh on Gary LeVox there, Kevin. I mean, you can’t SERIOUSLY think Cascada’s version better captures the spirit of the song. Seriously?
This is another song, though, where I’d rather just listen to the original by Jeffrey Steele.
In any case, as much as I don’t like Rascal Flatts, I’ve yet to hear them produce anything quite as discomforting as those Reba and Dolly songs. Wow.
My sentiments exactly, Marjie.
Dan,
I actually do prefer the Flatts version of the song. As I wrote, though, I just find it funny that she sounds more resilient than LeVox when singing it. “What Hurts the Most” is one of his whiniest choruses to date. It’s his phrasing in the verses that impresses me.
The phrasing of the verses is what I like too. I wonder if it’s the most memorable part of the song too? People that I talk to who don’t really listen to country music hear the pop remix of it and hum the verse to show me what song they’re talking about when they’re trying to tell me that they know a little country music. They never seem to hum the chorus, just the verse.
I’m with Dan – Jeffrey Steele’s version gets to the heart of it.
I like this version better. Gary LeVox’s voice grates on my nerves and I like the dance beat. Not every song has to serve the role of tearing your heart out. Some days you just gotta dance (to quote the Chicks).
And I actually didn’t mind Reba or Dolly’s dance hits either.
Oh, and even Patty Loveless, my all-time fave, had a dance remix of Can’t Get Enough out. :)
Days after seeing the Cascada video I still crack up every time I remember seeing her get the “unbreakable” heart tattoo.
I’ve always thought this was a pop song, not a country song. And what makes the Cascada version better is that it does away with the ridiculous melodrama and pretense associated with Rascal Flatts.
I agree with Jim Malec! I like Cascade singing better and the video too!
This version of the song is pop music trash. Thats not to bash pop music, but even my brother (country music hater) agrees that the entire significance of the song is thrown away in this version. Cascada’s a good singer but she sings the song as if its a dance anthem not a heartbreak song. There is almost no feeling in this version so I don’t see how anyone can disagree that at least Mark Will’s version was better than this.
As far as Margie’s comment goes I love Rascal Flatt’s video because it brings whole new concept into it which is what makes a video so important for a song. I do agree in part with you however because where the vocals lack emotion when listening to the song it gains from the power in the video. Cascadas video is actually a very good interpretation of the song. However as far as the song itself I think Flatts did it much more justice.
By the way, Don Williams also jumped aboard that “Peace Train” on his “Borrowed Tales” album.
Classic case of a bunch of bitter people ripping into Rascal Flatts. Band has more talent in their little finger than you clowns do in your entire body.
So? We don’t get paid millions to make crappy records.
I think even if you aren’t a fan of Rascal Flatts you should agree that Rascal Flatts covers the song GREAT! Rascal Flatts are amazing anyway but they definetly are a country band and that suits them well all there albums are amazing!
Charles, I’m not bitter! I tried to like the Flatts until I heard them sing live and that did it for me. A lot of people can make a studio record sound decent, but it’s when you present that song live that does it for me and I’m sorry to say, the Flatts live singing is a big turnoff ! They came to my town last year and did not perform well, and the crowd was wanting their money back! People that attended the concert were calling the radio station the next day complaining how bad they were! A lady said her whole family bought RFs Tshirts before the concert and afterwards were swapping them for the opening acts shirts….it was Gary Allan!