The Carnival Within: A Tribute to Dead Can Dance – Review

The Carnival Within

A Tribute to Dead Can Dance (Cleopatra)
by Angela Dauthi

Oh, I was trying to avoid this one, but it came up in the pile, and I can’t get rid of it. Who in their right mind would cover Dead Can Dance? Well, obviously Leather Strip, The Last Dance, Rhea’s Obsession, Deep Red, Surface 10 (featuring Athan Maroulis of Spahn Ranch), EXP, The Prophetess, Evil Mothers, Ex-Voto, Ikon, Jarboe & PBK, and Disciples of Astaroth. But why would they want to try something like that? Okay, they put up a good effort. Leather Strip reinvents “The Carnival is Over,” reshaping it into something that sounds like their own creation. For the most part, so do the rest of the bands, with the exception of the Surface 10 and Deep Red tracks. The other thing I noticed is that over half the songs (if you count each version of “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove” as separate) are the ones Brendan Perry sings, and therefore more like pop than the others, making it easier to cover. I dunno. Most of the songs don’t suck. EXP does a great job on “Yulunga (Spirit Dance)” and, of course, Jarboe and PBK are fantastic with “I Can See Now.” The two “…Lovegrove” covers (Ex-Voto and Disciples of Astaroth) are probably the least impressive works, simply because that song has been so overplayed in clubs, etc. Still, even with the decent tracks, nothing really surpasses or even equals the originals. If you can’t add any new ideas to the material, you shouldn’t do a cover.
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