A momentary flash in the Metal pan for the old Lightning McQueen. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

Good Morning to you – it’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for your weekly Scuzz Sundays throwback – the time of the week where we mix it up with a re-evaluation of a Pop-Punk anthem from the late-1990’s up to the mid-2000’s. The LA-based US Heavy Metal band with no original members left in it’s line-up, apart from guitarist Dino Cazares, the million-selling band Fear Factory were highly influential on the global Metal scene in the mid-to-late 1990’s for the Groove Metal and the Industrial Metal sub-genres. Of course, their line-up woes haven’t really stopped them, despite a legal dispute between the original members and the current members over it’s legitimacy in a battle – with two albums still being released after the case was opened. ‘Cars’ was originally performed by Gary Numan in 1979, and Fear Factory would perform a cover of ‘Cars’ as an encore for their live tours. Then-frontman, Burton C. Bell, eventually got in touch with Numan’s management after word spread, who flew Numan out to the Vancouver studio for a three-day span to record a Spoken Word piece for the introduction of ‘Obsolete’, the associated album that ‘Cars – Remix’ was conceived for, in 1998. In this rendition, Numan performs a duet with Bell on the track. It was crucial in catapulting Fear Factory to attention in the mainstream eye, and it led to ‘Obsolete’ becoming Fear Factory’s highest-selling album, with over 750,000 units shifted, as of 2001. It also landed a place at #16 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US. Let’s revisit the Stanley Kubrick-esque Sci-Fi music video down below.

“There was a chance that it could introduce me to a new generation of people who didn’t know my history” said the super-cult UK Synth-Pop spearhead Gary Numan, who originally felt apprehensive about working with Fear Factory at the time, because he perceived it as dated music. It proved to be a fruitful collaboration, with Numan telling the press: “And that can be useful, because my music’s got a lot heavier and darker anyway”, in the same interview. He also said the band were “brilliant, really easy to work with. They didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone” after recording the reworking of ‘Cars’ with them. It served to bring both parties to audiences that were wider than their fan followings, as the uncharacteristically bright Synth-led rendition contrasts with the metal progressives reputation for fast-moving and grinding Metal music. However, you could argue that the heavy use of the synthesizer and the other harsh, electronic blueprints correspond with the qualities of the band’s Industrial roots. The electronics are powerful, with the familiarity of the original track giving room for the more chant-led vocals to breathe. “Here in my car, I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors” and “Here in my car, When the image breaks down, Will you visit me, please” are delivered melodically, as propulsive guitar riffs and lengthy, sustained Synth chords keep the psychedelic atmosphere rolling along. The rest feels simple, with light Dance music elements that keep the Heavy metal roots from getting too aggressive, and it still sounds predominantly like an 80’s Pop record, when you come to really think of it. Some Industrial-like riffing comes into play, and the drums have a slightly increased edge to them, but most of the original framework of Numan’s retro production remain intact. Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with this. The tempo is nice and the sound never feels overly produced at any one time. However, I did feel the band were playing it safe to a point. Their cover, although involving Numan, doesn’t really stray too far from the formula of Numan’s original, and so it didn’t do anything to suprise me. For the most part, however, the fusion of the electronic Synth-Pop original and the slight edge to the Metal-infused elements are definitely worth a spin. It’s also funny to think that re-workings like this are coming back into fashion too, with the recent Paul McCartney reimagining and Moby’s ‘Reprise’ album allowing artists to put a twist on their original work. It’s holding up fairly well in the present day, for that reason, too. Overall, it’s not brilliant, but it was a fun switch-off cover that should still appeal to a sizeable pool of listeners.

That’s all for now! Tomorrow is Bank Holiday Monday, and so I’m going to take you back to 2005 with a rarity that fits neither ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ or ‘Scuzz Sundays’ in it’s theme – and so it should make for a refreshing change to my regular output. This single comes from Miles Tackett’s Funk collective project who covered The Mohawks ‘Champ’ in 2005 for the video game soundtrack of ‘Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland’ for the Gamecube, PS2, Nintendo DS and the original Xbox. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/