Welcome back, ladies and gentlementlemen! Remember how I said there were a few hanging about that really needed to go? This is one of them.
Oh, look! It's another one for the Crap Covers Parade!
72. Can't Help Falling in Love - UB40
Average: 5.483
Highest score: 3 x 10 (
@berserkboi ,
@Filippa ,
@ohnoitisnathan )
Lowest score: 3 x 0 (
@soratami ,
@iheartpoptarts ,
@Jeffo )
Weeks at #1: 7 consecutive Hot 100, 4 consecutive airplay
Year-End Hot 100: #3 (1993)
I don't know how popular an opinion this is, but here goes: UB40 sucks, and with the exception of some of their pre-
Labour of Love work, has pretty much always sucked. It is to their credit, I suppose, that they introduced reggae to a much wider audience in the 80's, bringing some much-needed additional exposure to the likes of Jimmy Cliff and Lord Creator, and I don't doubt that Ali Campbell and friends had a genuine passion for the music; nevertheless, their watered-down pop take on the genre withers and dies whenever it is held up next to the real thing, and in their many covers, the vitality and life-or-death stakes of the best roots reggae recordings end up totally drained. Having said that, early (self-penned) singles like “King” and “One in Ten” could compensate for the band's middling musicianship with a decent amount of passion and surprisingly sharp political lyrics, but by 1993, those qualities were long gone; in its place was dull adult contemporary pop with mild reggae trimmings, and an endless conga line of soggy cover versions. And they don't get much soggier than this one.
We've encountered plenty of covers in this rate, but this arguably has the most classic source material: “Can't Help Falling in Love”, Elvis Presley's signature ballad, which he had already taken to number one in 1961. And as we always do when we encounter a cover, let's talk about the original a minute. While it is a great song, of course, the primary worth of “Can't Help Falling in Love” is as a record. The descending baroque chord sequences are beautiful enough on their own, but the crisp lightness of touch in the production gives them an additional airiness and lift, as the refined warmth of Elvis' vocal performance and the smooth harmonies of the Jordanaires make this, a relatively simple ballad at its core, sound transcendent. Unlike the more dramatic Elvis ballads, “Are You Lonesome Tonight” for example, there is no hint of melodrama or schmaltz: rather, there is only simple purity and grace.
So what do UB40 do with this? Translate it into their standard stiff and tinny cod-reggae style, of course! Honestly, I sort of like the addition of the trumpets here, but they're produced so badly that they might as well be synth horns; the rest of the song is dominated by thunky electronic drums and an overly loud bass synth that sounds several years out of date. There's no looseness or groove like a good reggae song should have; rather, it sounds sluggish and tired. Little connects this song to reggae besides the main piano figure, and while I suppose a reggae cover of “Can't Help Falling in Love” could work in theory, speeding up the song's careful tempo does it no favours whatsoever. Ali Campbell doesn't help matters any, of course; you have to have some balls to try and compete with the King vocally, but when your voice is a painfully toneless snotty whine and you have all the vocal charisma of cold unseasoned mashed potato, it takes an unbelievable amount of arrogance. The “like a river flows” bridge that was so warmly caressed by Elvis gets it worst, transformed into nothing but another petulant death-moan, but the entirety of the lyric is sung through without a hint of desire or passion. Even when he tries a little harder on the organ-driven intro, he's painfully exposed and out of his depth. The hopelessly in love performance ends up sounding more like a studied, knowing run-through, by a band that must surely now be aware that they can cover a classic song and sell huge numbers and who cares if it sounds like ass?
Now, I'd give this one maybe a 3.5 under its own merits. But like Michael Bolton, it gets the “wrecking a classic” points knocked off. No, it's not nearly as bad as “When a Man Loves a Woman”, very little gets close to that... but it still blows. Not to the commentariat though, apparently.
Filippa (10) - I don’t really like it when Elvis sings it. I love it from UB40. And I truly adore Ali Campbell’s voice.
(...I guess I should have looked at the commentary before I wrote all that, huh. Oh well.)
berserkboi (10) - A classic, enhanced so well in the reggae-ton fashion by UB40.
(...Not sure this is reggaeton, me old son.)
mung_bean (7) - I’ve always quite liked this; it’s enjoyable and inoffensive if nothing else.
japanbonustrack (8) - Super cute.
ohnoitsnathan (10) - Always liked this one, though it did get a bit overplayed at the time.
(And that describes most Billboard #1s, really!)
WowWowWowWow (8) - On paper I should hate this but somehow it works...
Rooneyboy (9) - Great version, and I also loved the film Sliver which featured it heavily.
(Yeah, you and the people who choose Razzies! It was nominated for seven, but won none, taking the usual Razzie "erotic thriller" slot that was open for them all through the 90's.)
Sprockrooster (9) - No idea this was a #1. So many classics to their name. And this is definitely one of them.
GimmeWork (8) - Sure the original is a 10, but this is still a pretty decent cover.
(Until you try to compare it to the original and it goes *pfft*. That describes most UB40 covers, though.)
Mina (2) - I never thought I'd say this, but....poor Elvis?
(Enjoy this moment of us aligning while it lasts...)
londonrain (3) - This is the first version of the song I ever heard and at the time I moderately liked it, although it was never a favourite of mine. Listening to this for the first time in years... I’ve discovered that I have no nostalgia for it whatsoever. Oh well.
(The cure was a total success!)
DJHazey (1) - I can't give my parent's wedding song a 0
(D'awwwww!), but this guy's voice is an atrocity.
soratami (0) - Too bad we can't give -1s here.
(Believe me, I considered it when I saw "When a Man Loves a Woman" on the list...)
Empty Shoebox (3) - Another cover. At least this one tries something a little different. A*Teens did it better though.
(A rare sentence, there.)
iheartpoptarts (0) - Horrible idea. Now post the A*Teens version with puppies.
(OK then, but I can't say I think much of that one either, and that's me being polite...)
At least it's not "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)". Somehow, UB40 found a way to make Al Green sound unsoulful. ...How do you even do that?!
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