“Disturbed” released a cover of “The Sound of Silence” a few years ago. The Cylon & Garfunkel original never really appealed to me that much, but, dayum, here’s that rare instance where the reboot is superior to the original.
The official music video, which has a distinctly apocalyptic look to it:
And a live recording on the Conan O’Brien Show:
For clarity, Disturbed is the same group who produced “Down With The Sickness” nearly 20 years ago:
Something I think should be noted: regardless of what you think of the various forms of “metal” music, the fact is that, generally, metal singers CAN SING and usually without the benefit of autotune or other artificial means of tinkering. Remember this from 2016, when a sixty-plus-year-old Dee Snider pounded out a remarkable rendition of “We’re Not Gonna Take It:”
In contrast, listen to most modern rappers. They sound like they are, at best, mumbling their way through the song, combining illiterate lyrics with ham-fisted mush-mouth. So it’s no real surprise that Disturbed’s “Sound of Silence” has more than 400 million views on YouTube. Sometimes people do appreciate quality over pop. And on that subject… Rag’n’Bone Man has racked up more than 600 million views for “Human,” and for good reason… he can belt out a tune. Feller’s British, which I would not have guessed by either looking at him or listening to him. I would’ve guessed he’s from somewhere in the south. Shrug.