I have heard it said, and I agree, that the original was a warning to what was happening at that time, whereas this version is angry because the warning was not headed.
I think this version was incredible, he perfected their masterpiece. He was also very unhappy about the auto tune on his voice as he takes pride in only doing what his voice allows. If you want a more original vibe from his version, check out his live performance in Houston with myles Kennedy. It's amazing
I cannot listen to the crescendo without finding myself holding onto my breath...every time there's a "whoosh" of air from me when those last lovely notes fade off. Whew!
i read a comment that said they were in the audience and the video doesnt adequately convey the audience. 1st that you could hear a pin drop when he was singing and the applause at the end was deafening and went on for a full 5 minutes. true or not? idk, but i can certainly see it and incredible to experience. this version of SOS is far better than S&G.
Simon Cowel once said after an audition, that you know you have nailed a performance when the audience is dead silent... like afraid to interrupt what they are witnessing.
To keep it in context, when David kicks the fry into overdrive and starts belting with it, the timpani right beside him is being PUMMELED and not cutting into him at all.
Your reaction is priceless!!! It hit you the same way it hit me - it really kicks you in the head that ANYONE could have that much control. I read this in the comments I other reactions "God asked David if he wanted the voice of an angel or a demon and David answered 'Yes please!'" That sums up his voice as well as anything I've heard.
This rendition of Silence is absolutely incredible. Listening to your and other vocal instructors' comments on his performance. I can now appreciate his utilization of his unique talents in creating the emotional landscape to accompany the lyrics (and video when shown). For me, he creates one of the most profound "wow" factors in Rock history. As a fine art artist, I equate it to using the visual tools of color, shapes, size, composition, and tonal value in creating a visual "wow" painting that people's mind is drawn to but don't really know why. You stand over a blank canvas hoping to give people a reason to keep coming back to it.
David Draiman....what an amazing voice. The man can sing anything. Can go from clear as a crystalline bell to vocal fry and back on a dime......sooo impressive! Also love his tonal properties!
Both versions are great, but the Disturbed version just grabs you and takes you on an epic journey, I love their cover of Sting's If I ever lose my faith in you, so good. Take a listen if you haven't heard it. Enjoyed your video.
i like both versions. both are "children" of their time. For me, the version by Simon @ Garfunkel and Disturbed complement each other. From today's perspective, the first version could be seen as a warning. Desturb's version has a lot more feelings, like despair and anger, in it. and is also louder. you could see it as a loud wake-up call.
Both Versions were great for the times when they were performed & will memorialize those periods of times for generations. Do believe the Disturbed’s version made me really focus on the meaning of the lyrics which are apropo to the current “Disturbing Times.”
Love the Disturbed version better for sure. A song that currently makes me stop everything is Black by Pearl Jam…specifically the MTV live unplugged version!
I really like the artistry of this performance. Both the music and the artistry of the set was so well done here. Its basically 5 parts, first part was just him and the piano, second they subtely add the acoustic guitar (and the lights sharted showing the guitar player, third they added the whole orchestra and they lit them up, fourth they added the timpani drums (and lit them up) and the singer gets even more powerful, finally in the last part the crescendo. Beautiful.
NO AUTO TUNE WAS USED IN THIS. David made sure nothing like that would take place. Even though he was sick at the time. In fact, the producers thought it would be best to try auto tune due to him being sick, but David told them strongly NO!!
My mom loved this version and when she knew she was going to die she put a song list to play at her wake. This was on it and when it was close to her dying about 3 weeks out she had me play it for her I gotta say It was so hard to sit through her singing it because I knew the inevitable but, she just like me, loved to sing and dance. I love both versions but this has a huge place in my heart because of my mom. If you are ever by me in the car and I have the windows down you will hear me sing it.
My tears always start pouring at that build up moment when he sings with grit and power. You are right, so tastefully and skilfully performed. All emotions are there. Perfect cover! David Draiman is a master. I love the song actually, but Disturbed's version is so much more dramatic. And maybe because I like them as a band too 😊
I love Love LOVE this completion of Simon & Garfunkel song of hope. David's voice and the righteous anger that no one listened to the warning in Paul Simon's vision are absolutely necessary to bring this 50 year old song back into relevance. Just my humble opinion.
He did such justice of another Artists message from the 60’s I grew up w/Simon &Garfunkel… David puts light and then some such class conveying Today… tech world so impersonal…thank you for giving credit where it is due!
With regard to the autotune, I've seen it said that the show producers decided to use it against his wishes because he was ill that evening and they were hedging their bets. True? I don't know. You can find internet evidence that he was ill, but I haven't found anything creditable about the autotune part of it. I do know he's against doing anything in the studio he can't recreate live and he has a stunning voice and technique. He doesn't need autotune, for sure. He pulls me in, autotune or not, though. The man has power! And we can thank S&G for the lyrics, but Disturbed has brought it to life for a whole new audience that does not enjoy folk music. I've known of the song my entire life (sort of), but that style and S&G's light vocals are just not my jam. At all. So for me, hands down, Disturbed wins since I actually know the lyrics now. They made LISTEN. It was the most unlikely partnership, decades apart, that was just meant to be.
I love how you are able to take your passion and naturally turn that into food for thought for your listeners. You made me want to practice my craft, and I'm NOT EVEN A SINGER! You are a born teacher if I've ever seen one. Outstanding reaction and analysis. Subbed
David Draiman had the flu when he went on Conan, the sound team wanted auto tune, David was NOT thrilled at all. His voice is strong, unique and even being sick, he dies an awesome job! Anyone that gas a connection to the Lord, ask him if he designed David's voice to be Just. That. Great???? I absolutely love his vocal greatness!!! ❤❤❤
What a voice, even with the autotune. What I really like is the way he uses the distortion in his voice to create big moments. The little things like using the h sound in the m words like might. " Hear my words that I mi-hight teach you... Take my arms that I mi-hight reach you". Adding that breath of air adds to the distortion. The distorting the sound of "you" by manipulating the tension of the tongue and much more. This has talent and he knows it, it shows in his confidence. I can't get enough of David, more please.
Appreciate the appreciation of the song. I know David and he did not indeed use autotune but was slightly sick and nasal was a little sketchy . His transitions are very unique and coupled with sick made a few sound extra unique.
I agree with your take on this version. This is my favorite version of my favorite song of all time. I'm glad I found your channel. I'm going to share it with my daughter. She's been musical since she was a baby and is really starting to develop her voice (and instrument skill) now that she's a teen. Thanks!
Nightwish. Any of their songs live cuts from Wacken Open Air 2013, live at Wembley 2015, live at Tampere 2015, or live at Bueno Aires 2018. All of their music is amazing.
This version is amazing, and I’m sure everyone knows he was sick that day and didn’t want to perform anyway. I haven’t watched this while you tube video, however she starts off talking about the band etc…the music video without the band in the background is almost equally as good maybe more so because the clarity, I personally like the raspiness of his voice on Conan when he was sick. I’m a disturbed fan before this cover, he shows great vocal talent in down with the sickness and many more songs.
The one piece of technique that ALWAYS just blows me away is the way he switches his fry off in the middle of the phrase, where "silent raindrops" have fry, but "fell" doesn't. The level of control to turn that off mid-phrase is just off the charts.
Great reaction/analysis, the original by S&G was written & performed as they embarked on their career, in their early twenties the genre was young, politically landscape was unsettled, youthful anticipation where as Disturbed has the wisdom as a mentor. So many layers so good on everyone's renditions, the vide that accompanies the studio version has layers and is remarkable as well.
Everyone thinks there is some type of auto tune with the microphone but there is not ! They have been out since 1994 and according to my research, he constantly takes vocal lessons AND Opera lessons to perfect his voice ! They are absolutely amazing in concert, both rock and ballads.
Honestly I'm stubborn and opinionated on music,you impressed me with knowledge and understanding of portrayed emotions....well done m'lady. Subscribed.🙏
Don't forget the complimentary colors of the stage lights. Blue and orange are complimentary colors. But the voice and the band itself are just beautiful. It can turn you into a metal head.🧡💣
I like both versions for different reasons, but I lean towards Disturbed's version more because this stirs something in my soul EVERY TIME I listen to it. It's just incredible. As to songs that make me really stop and listen, no question its NightWish's "While Your Lips Are Still Red", their cover of "Phantom of the Opera", and "Sleeping Sun" from their End of an Era concert. To name a few. I hope you take a listen to them - you won't regret it. :)
As I understand it, he never uses "autotune" but the shows producers did it without his knowledge or permission but it could not be undone in post production.
I love S and G but this song rocked me when I first heard it and I prefer it. When I hear Simon and Garfunkel's versions I wish they had slowed it down. Their version has a bit of melancholy to it but Disturbed shows a much larger range of emotions.
Simon and Garfunkel's song was played as a folk song, that we never knew the meaning of back in the 60's - this version is the hard rock reality version, explaining what those incomprehensible words mean, and even more so in today's reality. Paul Simon is a fantastic song writer, and was so far ahead of his time that 55-60 years later, it's just becoming clear, and God help us all in the future!
I love your sharing of your experience of this song. It mirrors a lot of the reasons it resonates in my soul. I also love that you would like to hear what (other) song makes me want to focus on a song that is playing and how it's making me feel. Mine is "Sailing" by Christopher Cross. Oh yeah, I like both versions, but I love one for a certain feeling and reason. I love the other for the feeling of anger for losing what we had that made us feel the happiness we once had while listening to the original song.
Love love love love love your reaction and appreciation of this EPIC cover. Your insights as a singer and joy in another's performance are inspiring. Thank you for your genuine, honest, and unbiased evaluation of a very talented singer. (You're adorable, btw)❤️🙏
Amazingly done. Thank you. Another cover that does the same for me is Heart’s cover of Stairway to Heaven done at the Kennedy Center honors event, featuring the son of deceased drummer John Bonham,with the remaining members of Led Zeppelin present in the audience,. One of the best covers I’ve ever heard along with disturbed sound of silence
Well thank you for the introduction to the Disturbed. As you say their cover is a fitting tribute to the original. I'm a strange one in that I don't think I ever bought a record in my life. Used to have cassette tapes in the car though and that one song for me was Queen's Love of my Life from their A Night at the Opera.
I prefer the disturbed version, it just has so much emotion behind it. Another cover that gives me the same feeling is the Pentatonix version of Hallelujah
I like them both equally. If you watch the music video for disturbed I feel that Simon and Garfunkels version was a warning, about losing touch with everthing that makes us human, and then I feel David's version is especially with the video that it has come to pass and its taking place after the warning was given and unheeded
I am a firm believer the cover can never be better then the original Without the original there is no cover. That being said, the cover that I adore is simple man covered by shinedown
The Disturbed Official Video version is my favorite. But it is not fair to make the comparison. I will always love and respect the original. Paul Simon's incredible music and lyrics are at the foundation of the piece and are lovingly interpreted and presented by Disturbed. David Draiman and Disturbed deserve massive respect for a magnificent piece of audio visual art. David Draiman has pioneered vocal techniques and skills that build on 50 years of Rock History. In fairness to S&G, it required 50 years of evolution in musical styles, audio reproduction equipment, recording equipment and techniques and vocal techniques before the Disturbed version was even possible. Don't forget that S&G were only in their early 20's (they were both born in 1941) when they created the song in September of 1963. Wiki reports that they performed the earliest version in New York at "Gerde's Folk City, a Greenwich Village club that hosted Monday night performances" for up and coming performers. This and two other songs got them an audition and they were signed by Columbia Records.
"... the words of the prophets are written on subway walls and tenament halls ..." Simon & Garfunkel's rendition was a melancholy lament, full of resignation over the social disillusionment. I hear Disturbed's rendition as a powerfull call to arms, the anthem for the coming revolution!
Wow. Really well done. There are a LOT of reactions to this performance but you found a really interesting way to analyze it. Earned another sub. Can you imagine being one of the people who just went to see Conan for the day then seeing this in front of you? I wonder if people in that audience realize how big that ended up being.
If I had been an audience member for this song, at that time, I may have forgotten how to breathe. His performance is incredible. Even more amazing is that he was so sick, the seat was necessary for him to not collapse onto the floor. I have trouble even talking when sick. I've been to plenty of concerts. The only time I've witnessed even close to this was by David Bowie...years ago, on his tour for the "Let's Dance" album.
I consider them 2 different songs. Each with its own message. I would love to hear your take of 9 inch nails Hurt covered by Johnny Cash. Another where we end up with 2 different songs.
as the legends unfold about great performances... he was sick back then, with the flu, so the producers of the show decided to autotune him... without him knowing that... he was pissed after that, couldn't happen to a nicer guy
3:27 He was sick and had a fever. He talked about it in an interview. He doesn't use Autotune normally. I think he did on this performance. But, normally no he doesn't!
Very nice job on your reaction, thank you. I watched it twice to make sure I didn't miss anything. Another metal artist you should consider is Tommy Johansson. He has a very interesting cover of the Phantom of the Opera where he sings both parts (Christine and the Phantom). And you know what Christine has to do at the end of the song (Sing!!!).
Great cover reaction. To me Simon and Garfunkel the original writers and performers were telling us back in the 60’s when I first heard the song to get our shit together or the future won’t be pretty and this version of David’s version is basically saying oh well the shit has now hit the fan!!!!! Just saying. So says Austin Tx!!!! 😍😍😍🍸😎
Pleased react to Disturbed's concert version of "Hold Onto Memories". Amazing. I greatly prefer Disturbed's version of this song and I was a big S&G fan. They more truly convey the passion, emotion and heavy message of the lyrics.
