MaCover – Paint It Black (Single Review)

Today’s review features a cover of The Rolling Stones’ classic Paint It Black by the Austrian band MaCover.

MaCover is a two-generation band from the Waldviertel region of Austria. The band takes well-known rock/pop classics and creatively reimagines them – hence the band’s name. The band also performs original music.

MaCover is an exceptionally vibrant and dynamic live band that seamlessly blends a concert-like, psychedelic atmosphere with a dance party vibe. They are currently working on their first album.

So let’s have a listen …

Paint It Black was the Stones’ 1966 follow-up to their single Satisfaction. The song is in D melodic minor with Brian Jones famously playing a sitar and Keith Richards, capo’d at the 3rd fret, mimicking the sitar line on guitar. Bill Wyman adds to the Middle-Eastern feel of the song by playing a heavy bassline complemented by playing the pedals of a Hammond B3 organ with his feet, and of course, Charlie Watts impeccable drumming. Mick Jagger, on lead vocals, notes that the song is about the death of someone you love, which does come through in the funeral dirge sound.

The band MaCover’s spin on this classic tune is to forgo the sitar in favor of a Trans-Siberian Orchestra heavy metal guitar approach to the song. The song starts with 1/2 of the riff and then a drum fill, but skips the classic ending to the riff on The Rolling Stones’ version. The guitarist then plays the full riff a few times without the back half of the riff, then finally adds the back half of the riff. The full band joins in playing a heavy rhythm chord riff to support the vocalist, who has a nice voice, but is no Jagger. The band bastardizes the riff in the middle of the song, adding in lead lines and fills that are in the key but not part of the original song. Lots of repeating licks thrown in for good measure. Imagine an Ozzy-ish cover.

Eventually, the band comes back to the closing lyrics over a steady rhythm guitar riff. I’m not a fan of how the band chops up the original riff into shorter segments, as it does at the end of their version of the song. The Rolling Stones version has more of a funk rhythm guitar, while this cover version goes full metal jacket. Also, the bass line on this cover is quite simplistic and varies when compared to the original Bill Wyman version.

I like covers that present a variation of the original song. To get ahead in this business, you need to create your own sound, and MaCover definitely is trying to do that here. I’m not a big fan of the approach of the extended middle section of their cover, which plays a bunch of repeating guitar riffs, in the key, but not in the original song. But if you like metal, you might like this cover. The vocalist does an admirable job handling the songs’ vocals.

SCORE/Good: The band MaCover takes a full metal approach to the classic Stones’ song Paint It Black. It very much reminded me of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The performances are, for the most part, excellent, but is the world ready for a full metal version of this classic? I’m not sure, but maybe you’re game? Much love, Beth

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