The Used & My Chemical Romance "Under Pressure"

[Nicholas2.0]

Nicholas2.0 said:

Another remarkable entry [on my personal chart] is the live cover of "Under Pressure" the Used and MCR did together as an encore on the Taste of Chaos tour stop. It's the first time I've charted something intangible. I so would love to have a copy of it, but I doubt that will ever happen, unless one day I happen to get in good with either of those bands.

Well just shut my fucking mouth. :o
www.mtv.com/news/articles/1498187/20050316/my_chemical_romance.jhtml?headlines=true

I was just hoping for a copy of a live version. This is gonna be an actual studio version! Can we say future #1 on Nick's personal chart?

[redsummersun]

Hey, I remember talking about this with you in Memphis back in November. I remember the whole idea seeming more like a pipe dream at the time. Awesome to see that they came through with it. Who sang whose part live?

This is excellent news, as recent viewings of The Girl Next Door have re-primed my interest in "Under Pressure." Such a sweet song. And I think with the musicianship of these two bands, they should be able to do it justice. And I hope it does something to get The Used's star back up where it deserves to be, next to where MCR's currently is.

[Nicholas2.0]

RedSummerSun said:

Hey, I remember talking about this with you in Memphis back in November.  I remember the whole idea seeming more like a pipe dream at the time. Awesome to see that they came through with it. Who sang whose part live?

You did? (see my latest post in your blog regarding the snow and the Christmas tree) Had they done this before? Honestly, I haven't heard "Under Pressure" since Bowie played it live last May and the Used/MCR duet was mostly a blur of jubilation, but I want to say Bert was Bowie and Gerard was Freddie. (It would make sense, since Bert's "All That I've Got"-inspiring dead chihuahua's name was "David Bowie." :'()

This is excellent news, as recent viewings of The Girl Next Door have re-primed my interest in "Under Pressure." Such a sweet song. And I think with the musicianship of these two bands, they should be able to do it justice. And I hope it does something to get The Used's star back up where it deserves to be, next to where MCR's currently is.

Y'know, if MCR could just take some of their fame and give it to the Used to even the two out, I'd be completely satisfied. I'd be forever happy if their respective fames were equal at all times.

Hopefully, I won't ever have to hear comments from ignorant teen fans thinking, "Hey, they jacked the bass line from 'Ice Ice Baby'!"

Oh, but then again, "Ice Ice Baby" had that extra note, so it wasn't the same.

Iceman:
Theirs goes, "Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding (quarter note rest) Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding."
Ours goes: "Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding (eighth note rest) Ding ding ding ding d-d-ding ding." It's not the same.

[redsummersun]

I don't know if they had covered it before that point; I think it was just speculation. I tried to go back and find the article where they first talked about it, but couldn't dredge it up. We didn't discuss it much, as I didn't even have 3 Cheers at that point. I want to say Bert talking about it was in an article that announced Taste of Chaos, but it's not in any of the ones from mtv.com.

And I think you're right on with the popularity level thing. While I would love MCR to outlive fad-hood and become huge, it wouldn't bug me if their popularity waned enough to put a clamp on the Hot-Topic-obsessed kids sporting Gerard's fashions.

[Nicholas2.0]

RedSummerSun said:

And I think you're right on with the popularity level thing. While I would love MCR to outlive fad-hood and become huge, it wouldn't bug me if their popularity waned enough to put a clamp on the Hot-Topic-obsessed kids sporting Gerard's fashions.

One kid in particular at my show totally had the Gerard look down (red eye makeup and all), except for the kid's hair was brown and it wasn't anywhere close to being long enough. When he walked by, I said to Vicky, "Huh. I wonder who that guy is here to see" and she said, "I don't know."

When Gerard and Bert both took the stage for the encore, Vicky jokingly said, "Well they're two different people after all."

[friday]

Nicholas2.0 said:

Iceman:
Theirs goes, "Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding (quarter note rest) Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding."
Ours goes: "Ding ding ding d-d-ding ding (eighth note rest) Ding ding ding ding d-d-ding ding."  It's not the same.

Hehe, I've seen that interview. One of the most unintentionally hilarious clips ever, I think.

My only question would be which one will be Queen and which one will be Bowie? When I think about it, I'd hope Gerard does Freddie Mercury's vocals, with Bert doing Bowie's. But both bands are entirely in on this? I mean, it's not going to be Bert with MCR or Gerard with The Used? I would think it'd be a little awkward with both guitarists, drummers, etc. but whatever works, I guess.

[reidster]

is this a single? or doing to be a single? if not.. its in the wrong section

[Matt4319]

reidster said:

is this a single? or doing to be a single? if not.. its in the wrong section

If you read the article, possibly you'd find out.

[Nicholas2.0]

If anyone has MTV2, they can check the schedule to see when the reruns of the $2Bill Concert Series are for the rest of the month: "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay" from MCR, "Take It Away" and "All That I've Got" by the Used, and "Under Pressure."

I believe MTV2 has the "Under Pressure" performance available for viewing on its website. Check that out if you are curious/able.

[friday]

That $2 Bill concert seems like a rip-off, with the only redeeming quality being the first nationwide exposure of "Under Pressure". I mean, just the two recent singles from each band? I could go to a number of places online and do the same thing. I remember when these concerts used to be an hour long, and were always scheduled on the 2nd of each month, I guess only because they were done in 2002, though.

[Nicholas2.0]

Word on the street is that this is hitting iTunes on the 12th. Fat lot of good that does me, though...

[icemannz]

www.breakingcustom.com has the video of the $2 bill show performance of this song to d/l in their multimedia section

[620 Soul Train]

Now available for download on Napster.

[Matt4319]

Debuts on the Hot 100 at #54.

[crash46]

And into the top 50 this goes. .

[Alex 101]

reidster said:

is this a single? or doing to be a single?  if not.. its in the wrong section

Yes, it is!

[singingsparrow]

Uggghhhh...this is pretty bad.

"Under Pressure" is one of those type of songs that just shouldn't be re-made. The chemistry between Freddie Mercury and David Bowie on the track is all-original, with the falsetto/cowbell interchanges really making it appealing, and then the whole crescendo and repose at the end making it sound like a mini-epic.

Songs like this, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Billy The Mountain" just SHOULDN'T be re-made.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[[upsilon]™]

This isn't that bad, but I think that their individual singles are better.

[reception]

Week ending 6/10/2005: Active Rock debut at #50.

[sleepy time]

Hooray for two mediocre bands remaking a classic song.

The great thing is when everyone's forgotten about MCR and The Used 5 years down the line, they'll have forgotten about this cover too. And that will be a very good thing.

It's just such a ballsy thing to do, to cover a song like this. And you have to be able to back it up with your body of work that proves that you're "worthy" of doing so.

And neither band is. Yuck.

[crash46]

Whether you like these guys or not, or like this song or not, if you have a problem with two pretty well established bands paying homage to two of their influences with a cover song made with the intention of benefitting a disaster fund, you're whining too much.

[[upsilon]™]

^ Haha, much agreed. Besides, I find both very respectable bands, one of which is doing very well.

Meanwhile, this song isn;t ever going for adds, right?