According to Stereogum, Rivers Cuomo has unexpectedly dropped 15 song covers from wide variety of artists to his YouTube. The lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band, Weezer, surprised fans by uploading 15 acoustic song covers to YouTube yesterday. The songs were released in a playlist titled “randum cuverz,” multiple including “2018” and “2019” in their file names, while some date back much later from fans’ recollections of their previous releases. The covers are largely incomplete, with poor sound quality that seems to imply their having been recorded without the original intent of being publicly released.
The first cover on the newly released playlist is Radiohead’s “Creep.” Cuomo’s cover includes the first two verses, the two renditions of the chorus and the song’s bridge. The cover keeps the somber tone of the original through Cuomo’s low, heartfelt vocals.
The singer’s cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” provides an upbeat change of tone. The recording is a complete cover of the song and is also slightly more produced, including a layering of Cuomo’s vocals.
His cover of Green Day’s “When I Come Around” is more mellow than the original. It is also quite brief, at 52 seconds, only including the beginning of the first verse and then skipping to the chorus.
The singer’s cover of Nirvana’s “Drain You” offers a passionate, less intense version to the original. He cuts out the instrumental break in the song instead of singing the length of the recording.
His cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” unlike the previous covers, features more than just Cuomo and an acoustic guitar, resulting in one of the most produced-sounding covers of the collection.
The singer’s cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” takes on a deeper tone than the original with Cuomo’s lower vocals.
His cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” includes a distinct hissing noise in the background of the recording. The cover is otherwise a very soulful and passionate rendition.
He covers another Nirvana song with “Lithium,” belting out the lyrics and keeping the passion of the original.
The singer’s cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” only includes the first verse and chorus of the song. It offers a softer version of the original, leaning heavily into the longing of the lyrics.
His cover of Post Malone and Quavo’s “Congratulations” is another very brief snippet at only 46 seconds. It also seems to cut off at the end in the middle of a note.
The singer’s cover of Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road” is the shortest of the recordings at 23 seconds, also cutting off at the end, featuring only the chorus.
His cover of Eagles’ “Hotel California” is also incomplete, offering a slower version than the original, more in tune with many of the previous covers than with the original.
The singer’s cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” is much lighter in tone than the original. Some of the tone changes, though, can reasonably be attributed to the change from the heavy rock original to an acoustic cover. It also includes only the first minute of the song.
His cover of Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” begins with a softer and shorter rendition of the instrumental opening of the original and continues to divert tonally from the original, again following lighter, more soulful vocal choices and tone changes.
The final cover on the playlist is Morgan Evans’ “Country Outta My Girl” which keeps the light tone of the original, covering a section from the middle of the song.
Photo Credit: Conny Chavez
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