Today saw the release of Revamp, a tribute album with a diverse and occasionally questionable list of artist covering the immortal songs of Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin. Among those contributors are the Killers and Queens of the Stone Age, two quite different bands that nonetheless each offer a stomping, theatrical, unabashedly poppy take on rock music (or rocking take on pop music) that owes a debt to John’s classic ’70s work. They take on “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” respectively.
The Killers adventurously interpret “Mona Lisas,” swapping its slowly building piano and mandolin for a comparatively flatter but more 2018-sounding electronic arragnement; QOTSA is more faithful to the original. Both are innoffensive and listenable, but neither come close to the grandeur of John’s versions. Hear them below, and listen to the rest of Revamp—including a new take on “Bennie and the Jets” featuring Pink and Logic—at your own risk.