Robbie Williams - Angels (cover)

This was one of those cases - and there are quite a few - when I got convinced after listening to Cygnus Rock Band's cover that the artist in question is much better than I previously thought.

I never liked boy bands, I never understood the hype around them. Okay, I was a rock/metal fan from a rather early age and I was always stunned watching the other girls in my school classes swooning over New Kids On The Block, Backstreet Boys or Take That. I didn't find anything exciting over some model-looking, skinny guys with bleached blonde hair, jumping around on coreography, singing songs that were so corny and stupid that made me feel ashamed. And I clearly remember about the fuss when Robbie Williams eventually left Take That

hereby I need to admit, this was probably the best he could do

and there were phone helplines all around for desperate fans who could call these numbers and got soothed by some professional.

I even remember rumors that a young German fan tried to commit suicide after Robbie and Take That took parts.

Seriously, I'm very glad I never belonged to these people. Rock and roll forever! 🔥 

Then the truth is that poor Robbie - in my case - had to carry the stigma of a former boy band member for too long. The truth is, local media, especially radio stations did their best to keep this image in my head as long as it was possible. They kept playing only maybe 3 songs by him ("She's The One", "Millennium" and "Let Me Entertain You") until the infamous "November Rain effect" took place.

There are people who know what it means. Those who don't - be happy that you have no idea.

I remember, Deneb told about it during a live session what an impact Robbie Williams made on him and it made me curious. I gave Robbie a listen and I was very pleasantly surprised. Complex, rich, well-orchestrated and well-arranged songs, each of them are exciting, none of them are this plain, boring pop track

and I say it as someone who keeps away from pop music as much as possible

and generally there is spirit, vision and message in the songs. And it's something I really, truly and honestly appreciate.

Perhaps there was one thing I was not 100% satisfied with, but that's merely my own personal taste, and that's Robbie's voice. He has a distinctive, relatively high-pitched, bit rusty voice that in fact goes very well for most of his songs. My own thought is that I usually prefer male singers with more masculine voice, but again, it's something absolutely personal.

Well.

Cygnus Rock Band solved that, too.

Hehehe. 

They picked a song from Robbie where this difference between the original vocals and those in the cover have a tangible difference for the advantage of the latter one. 

And this goes not only for the vocals, but the entire song as well, but I don't want to make spoilers, plus you nicely read it all, with the utmost respect for both Robbie and Cygnus.

Right in the beginning you can see in Cygnus's video that it's something very special. You can see candles burning in the studio while Reny has got a small box with incense stick on his keyboards. And what an idea (for me) to exchange the original intro's percussion to acoustic guitar! It gives a much softer, much deeper and emotional atmosphere for the cover right in the beginning.

And then Deneb starts to sing.

As I mentioned above, the vocals bring the strongest difference between the original song and the cover. When the original was recorded back in 1997, Robbie was still rather young (only 23 years old) and this can be heard on his voice. He sings with all his heart and soul - no wonder this song is his forever no. 1. all over the world - somehow, for me his vocals still carry a kind of harshness, something you would call uncut diamond. (Upon his songs released later he proved a million times what a great singer he is.) 

And here comes Deneb, letting all the emotions of his voice flow. 

I swear he had previously trained himself long for this cover. I swear. And finally his time has come.

Somehow for me it seems (and sounds) that this song was originally and by default written for Deneb's voice instead of Robbie's. It perfectly fits for his warm, mellow baritone and he engages all the emotions he can put into his vocals, with all the power and talent he has.

He sings as if his entire life would be upon this song. It's not just sweeping, it won't just hit you hard, but you will have goosebumps and tears will be flowing from your eyes unstoppably. His voice will cover you like a soft blanket on a cold and lonely night and warms you up like a sip of hot chocolate. You will beg for more, and for your great luck there's the replay button on your player, so you can smash on it and get addicted right there.

The rhythm section's entering makes this cover an actual rock song. I love how the chimes and the bass softly appear after the first verse, meanwhile Reny carries the song professionally, with heart and soul, being faithfully backed by Blu and the acoustic guitar.

At the chorus enter the drums, and I swear I hear orchestration as well, softly and humbly in the background, giving a very soft, romantic, deeply emotional tone for the by default passionate, powerful interpretation of the song.

The orchestration remains for the second verse, which I find again a great idea instead of the original's background choir. The very poetic, beautiful atmosphere of the song continues. I love the much stronger presence of the guitars

we are talking about a rock band's cover! Hail to maestro Blu!

and the same goes for the entire rhythm section. Ruxx adds a lot of percussions to make the sound more rock-ish and Deneb, even though he turned the "nuclearize" button on his bass to zero, the presence of his instrument is still palpable, but now instead of ploughing up the entire studio the sound of the bass guitar very softly, almost humbly sleeks into the song with an unusual warm tone.

The solo is brought by Blu and his usual top form and professionalism as well as Ruxx's trademark crashes. Very very interesting and I love this idea as well a lot that the cover solo consists of 4 times of the melody the guitar plays instead of the original's 2. I love that. I just love that. Somehow the entire song, the entire atmosphere gets a much deeper emphasis, it gets even deeper, even more poetic, and yes, cathartic, too.

And what I especially like is that even though the rhythm section's presence is strong - as always, in every Cygnus Rock Band song and cover - the two musicians, Ruxx and Deneb could find that very soft, very thin line to balance, where the drums and the bass give a deeper, rock-soaked tone to the song BUT at the same time they don't get too loud and this way the cover doesn't just get a rock sound, but they save the song's original atmosphere and message.

And now you kindly get addicted, thank you.