EXCLUSIVE SONG: Alt Rockers Cover Tom Petty
MP3
The Almost
The Almost didn't stray too far, geographically speaking, for their contribution to the upcoming compilation Punk Goes Classic Rock. The Clearwater, Florida, quintet covered fellow Floridian Tom Petty's 1989 classic "Free Fallin.'" Hear an exclusive stream right here!
LISTEN: The Almost, "Free Fallin"
"We always came back to Tom Petty," guitarist Jay Vilardi tells SPIN.com. "He's an easy choice for us, the ultimate argument ender."
The Almost's version of "Free Fallin'" employs a bit of polished production, but beyond that, doesn't stray far from the original. "To us, the song is flawless," says Vilardi. "Butchering the work of one of our collective idols would be a real 'heartbreaker.'"
The band -- fronted by Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie -- has covered the iconic Petty track during their shows, and their love affair for the Gainesville rocker extends back into childhood. "Hopefully, if we ever met, we could all have a drink and tell him what a pleasure it was recording and releasing a song we grew up playing air guitar to in our bedrooms," Vilardi says.
Check out this video of the band recording their Petty cover at Hurley Studios in California:
Punk Goes Classic Rock, out April 27 on Fearless Records, also features We the Kings covering .38 Special's "Caught Up in You," the Maine covering Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and Forever the Sickest Kids covering Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." To see the full track listing, check out the album's MySpace page.
35 Comments
Click here to comment- Posted By jessi
03.30.10 3:09 AM
OK everyone stfu!
music is music meant to be enjoyed :p
if the artists chooses to write his/her songs for money then thats their **** we are the fans we choose what we wish to listen to no ones music sucks music is music it is not meant to be criticized nor put down the artists write their music to be enjoyed and to express their felling,views,etc. well unless the artist is a ****en sellout then thats a different story then they're music would still be good but the fans wouldn't be able to relate to it as well
as for real music wtf is real music? anyway honestly! jesus!
and chrsitofer drew ingle i fear is becoming a sellout :/
- Posted By JR
03.23.10 11:49 PM
Ahhh I love when people criticize, but can't take the criticism! Tom Petty was "scene" in his day who came out of the world of rock and it was all about image and glam. I appreciate The Almosts take on this. It's conceptual, not an exact replica. The music purists should just stick to their vinyl records and never get online to read or check out new music. In their eyes it'll never be "as good as when _____ did it!" I dug on the Punk Goes Hip Hop. Hip Hop is pretty much trash, but I thought the covers were decent. Get over the opinionated BS and enjoy music for what it is! By the way, NSN is pretty much all hype! Kind of like Owl City & Ke$ha! haha... lookin forward to Anberlins new CD! Was told they're recording on tape for a true gritty rock sound. Could be good, possibly bad, but huge cajones for trying!
- Posted By Anonymous
03.23.10 10:19 AM
@ Chuck
Wow really. So if we don't think like you and stick up for something we believe in makes us emo/scenie/goth rich bitches, so be it. All you are doing is calling us a name, a stupid pathetic name. But what does that make you, a preppy little poor kid that becomes the tough guy by dising what people like? Most people might just call you a bully. I feel tears coming down for you. I love NSN, he took something he liked and threw it out there. So what if little girls like it? Everyone has fans of some sort. So tell me what do you find to be good music? There's probably something wrong with that band too. But why even point that out? So that feelings can get hurt? So instead find the good in the world. Love is our weapon.
- Posted By Chuck
03.13.10 10:56 AM
Yeah excuse me for not knowing the name of a "musician" that I find to be absolute garbage. First off, thats not a spelling error. It'd be easier to take you seriously if you weren't defending a musician like Christofer. Secondly, didn't I just say everyone is doing it? they are, search myspace, absolutepunk.net, any music website. Wow, so he's popular, that means he's good? god why do ideals like the one you have exist? Hitler was popular for a while. See thats all you've got, "he's been to guam, he's good" so? i've been to Paris, am i good at being a musician? WOW being popular or going to places have NOTHING, 0, AT ALL, TO DO, WITH BEING A GOOD MUSICIAN. And as for being jealous, give me 5 minutes and I could write a song about the caliber of "Christofer's". Please, stop dressing the way you do, stop acting the way you do, get a job, somewhere other than hot topic or a record store, and just drop the charade. Its all so old, you moronic emo's/scenies/goth's what have you, think you have problems, yet you all seem to be sons and daughters of pretty rich people. One last thing, don't try to act like you're not what I just described. Don't lie.
- Posted By Anonymous
03.12.10 10:00 PM
@jbo
*Hot Topic
I don't shop there, but if you even know about any of these bands, you could at least get the name right.Who cares about 14 year olds listening? It proves nothing for your argument. Sure, I hate when I see groups of preteen girls at shows, but you shouldn't blame the bands for having likeable music.
People will like what they like. Bands like Motley Crue even have ****ing teenies at their shows. I've seen it before. It's not pretty. But my point is that judging a band based on their fans is just plain stupid.
Or the Beatles, for example. Everyone liked them. No way to deny that. The main fan-base for them when they started off was teenagers. Now, people in their sixties are still listening. Are you really going to stereotype them because of their fans?I listen to "real" music, but I also love every band on this compilation. People have different tastes - get over it. Bands like this are not going away, in fact, more and more are coming. While I do admit that a very good amount of them are horrible, even more of them are amazing. You just have to learn to live with it because it's going to be around for a long ass time.
- Posted By Anonymous
03.12.10 9:49 PM
You're just bitter that you're not as successful as NSN is. :)
Christofer Drew is musician. His stage name is NeverShoutNever.
It's very difficult to take you seriously when you can't even seem to spell correctly.
But how does it take no talent? That would mean anyone could do it. If that were true, we'd have a lot more successful musicians than we already do.
NSN is very popular, so for him to get this far, I'd say that he has some talent. He played in Guam for ****s sake. Not many artists/bands do that. He did.
Get over yourself.
- Posted By Chuck
03.07.10 6:48 PM
Wow. Nevershoutnever isn't even a band, its some teenager who did what every 4 in 5 teenagers are doing these days. Which is follow some trend, call it scene, call it emo, i call it moronic. And its everywhere. Some little dickhead grabs an acoustic guitar or a keyboard on a computer, throws together some crappy music with wanna-be clever lyrics about how he's socially unaccepted and love lorn. Its all so drab and idiot and yes IT IS BAD MUSIC that takes no talent. How? because so many kids are doing it. Now all you little scenies/emo's or whatever will comeback with something you think is witty but actually isn't. Fact is, just stop bitching.
- Posted By Michael Skruck
03.07.10 7:42 AM
Look around you...
- Posted By jmac
03.06.10 4:36 PM
I think this cover is great. Aaron gillespie is probably better at drums,vocals,and guitar then you could ever dream of . So go on with your tendencies of trying to bully around some kid on a website else wehere . Words DONT speak louder than actions ESPECIALLY over a keyboard. You're opinion really doesnt matter so, Get a life. @jbo
- Posted By asteinmetz
03.04.10 10:39 PM
I remember this was one of my favorite songs as a kid. They did a fantastic job on the cover and after hearing this and seeing the other bands on the line up I'm really excited to get this album
- Posted By godaniel
03.04.10 8:39 PM
@jbo
Obviously you're the one who knows nothing about playing an instrument, singing, or the caliber of talent needed to perform these actions. I personally love the "Scene" style of music, and i've been playing guitar and singing since i was little. In high school, i was classically trained as a vocalist and still to this day half of the bands on this compilation album can do things with their voices that i couldnt dream of doing. The instrumentation done by these artists is also nothing to look down upon. I play everything from John Mayer to Mayday Parade on guitar, and i will tell you that most of your popular "real music" has a rhythem so simple that a 3 year old could figure it out. Everyone has a different taste in music, but it's all made to the taste of the artist and their own expression of their emotions. I don't like metal, but I'll tolerate it if need be to satisfy someone elses tastes.
That's my rant.
I love this cover though and can't wait for more!
- Posted By Jbo
03.04.10 5:25 PM
At Courtney: Yes, all of these bands are scene. Everyone of them. A Skylit Drive? Forever the Sickest Kids? Pierce the Veil? Who has their shirts plastered on the wall of Hot Top? All of the above. Who's listened to by 14 year-olds because their music is easily accessible and said 14 year-olds think they're onto something new? All of the above. Who plays music after giving a 30 minute **** about what they look like? All of the above. 'Scene' music, while it can vary across a few different base genres, has been whittled down into something with no talent. Everyone, shut the **** up and listen to real music, please.
- Posted By anonymous666
03.04.10 4:17 AM
BLEEESSSSTHEFAAALLL!!!!!!!!
- Posted By gonegator.com
03.03.10 11:17 PM
Rock on y'all!
- Posted By boobies
03.03.10 8:59 PM
ok seriously if you dont care for the bands or the fearless cd's then stop saying **** comments. ok yea so maybe its not right to cover legends, or they might ruin a few songs, but who cares. every band has a cover or two in their history, so deal with it. personally so far with the maine covering pour some sugar on me, and the almost covering this, im excited for the rest, because so far so good, i still enjoy the bands and the bands the covered.
- Posted By Anonymous
03.03.10 8:56 PM
Ok, nevershoutnever is amazing, A Skylit Drive is amazing, and you need to keep your opinion to yourself. I think this song is great. You just have no taste in music what-so-ever. At least give these artists a chance before you go and judge them. All of these bands are great bands. And if there is no song you want, don't be a bitch and not buy the record, give the music a chance. Don't go judging the band for doing a cover of a song.
- Posted By chelciee.
03.03.10 8:50 PM
Song is good. But I don't like it. I'm sorry, but they really needed to leave Classic Rock alone. Never Shout Never is going to ruin Bohemian Rhapsody. A Skylit Drive going to murder Separate Ways. Pierce the Veil singing Don't Fear The Reaper? Yeah, that's going to be horrible too. As is FTSK doing Crazy Train. Seriously. Punk Goes Classic Rock was a step way too far.
- Posted By ashleynavs
03.03.10 8:23 PM
soo when i heard about punk goes classic rock, i had my doubts, you cant cover songs from rock legends. but i saw that the almost was cover free fallin' and i still had my doubts even though i love this band, i also love tom petty.I actually am really suprised how it turned out, I love it, and im excited to hear more(:
- Posted By Mike skruck
03.03.10 7:16 PM
I think these bands should just continue to trash there own music instead of taking amazing songs and destroying them.
Scene kids, please stop this.
- Posted By contentloser
03.03.10 6:22 PM
I'm sorry but FTSK covering Crazy Train is anything but "win".
07.13.10 4:16 PM
I LOVE THE ALMOST! Saw them in concert, and wow! I didn't even know that they made Christians that pretty! Aaron's voice is soooo pretty! i have all of there albums!