WATCH: System of a Down & Avenged Sevenfold stars cover Radiohead's 'Street Spirit'
This is rather good
Last updated 24th Jan 2020
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has unveiled his cover of Radiohead’s haunting song ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’, featuring Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows on vocals and a guitar solo from Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello.
John Dolmayan's hard-hitting cover of Radiohead’s ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ – which, incidentally, was originally released exactly 24 years ago this week - is the first musical morsel from his new project These Grey Men that also features guitarist James Hazley, bassist Tom Copossela and keyboardist Danny Shamoun.
It’s lifted from These Grey Men’s self-titled debut album, which is released on Friday 28th February 2020 and also features unique versions of songs by Madonna, AFI, Eminem, Del Shannon, and Two Door Cinema Club.
Additionally, Dolmayan’s System of a Down band mate Serj Tankan lends his idiosyncratic vocals to the These Grey Men covers of David Bowie’s ‘Starman’ and Talking Heads’ ‘Road To Nowhere’.
Watch the Vicente Cordero directed ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ video here:
John Dolmayan said of the ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ cover to Rolling Stone: "This song in particular is a really touching and moving song.
"I love the morose, in-your-room-and-it's-raining-outside, it's cold and your girlfriend dumped you feeling that this song always gave me… But when I listened to it, I'd be, like, 'I kinda wish the drums came in earlier,' or, 'How would (John) Bonham approach this song if this was a Zeppelin song?' Because I'm such a fan of the song, I wanted to do a version of it in homage."
Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows explains he’s now a newly converted Radiohead fan: "When John told me he wanted to reimagine some of his favourite songs for an album, I was very intrigued. I've always respected Radiohead but wasn't familiar with their full catalogue.
“When John sent 'Street Spirit', I instantly was blown away by the sounds. Since then, I have been on a huge Radiohead kick. Adding Tom Morello to our version was the icing on the cake. I feel this recording stays true to the original while adding John's overall vision."
Here’s Radiohead’s original version of ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’:
The These Grey Men album track-listing is as follows:
- Hung Up (Madonna cover)
- Street Spirit (Radiohead cover)
- Beautiful Thieves (AFI cover)
- Road To Nowhere (Talking Heads cover)
- Rock Bottom (Eminem cover)
- Runaway (Del Shannon cover)
- Starman (David Bowie cover)
- What You Know (Two Door Cinema Club cover)
Don’t forget, System of a Down headline Download Festival on Sunday 14th June 2020.
They appear on a weekend bill that boasts Iron Maiden, KISS, Deftones, Gojira, The Offspring, Korn, Volbeat, Black Veil Brides, Killswitch Engage, Babymetal, The Pretty Reckless and many more.
Tickets are on sale from Kerrang! Radio Tickets now.