We Are The World 25

[tropicsgoddess]

Okay, so now there's a remake of "We Are The World" for the Haiti earthquake. Here's the link: http://www.myspace.com/world25.. Then there's the original (done in 1985 for the Ethiopian famine) :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnOi3QjDYfo. The remake is for lack of better words (IMO)....meh. I still prefer the original. Your thoughts?

[AdminAssistant]

I still prefer the original. Miley Cyrus, T-Pain, Akon, Kanye...blech. I'd rather have Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Bob Dylan, The Boss, etc.....

That Myspace link is borked. Here's the youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4...ature=featured

PS: Could someone tell Jamie Foxx he isn't actually Ray Charles? Or a musician?

[Rapscallion]

It dates me horribly to say that I can remember the original one coming out. However, my memory is that the original was part of a groundswell of support for a beleagured area, but this comes well after the majority of support and attention has been garnered.

Just seems a bit late, though it may be time dulling memories.

Rapscallion

[draggar]

Let's see...

The intentions - great.
Using Michael Jackson's voice - poor (What, was he the only one worth using from the original?)
Half the voices are digitzied - poor
The "added" part - poor

I'm with Raps, I remember the original coming out (as well as "Don't They KNow It's Christmas") and this one is nothing compared to the original, I'd hate to say but I might even classify the "new" version as a sell-out.

If you want to do something like this, do something original. The only reason I'd buy the album / single would be to help support the cause but I know how little will go from it so I'd be better off donating to the cause directly.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Oh yeah, the celebrity way of helping out. Get together and record a song, or put on a concert, and let the little people donate. And at least half the money goes to the celebs anyway.

I'm always very suspicious of things like this.

As much as I loathe Sean Penn and his politics, I do have to give him credit. He's at least down in Haiti giving his time surveying the damage and passing out water filters.

[Lachrymose]

Good except for one person: Wyclef Jean...WTF...

[AdminAssistant]

I actually liked Wyclef Jean in this one, and I didn't even mind the rap portion. The original combined all types of popular music, and now rap is an extremely popular musical genre. Snoop, LL Cool J, will.i.am, and so on have all had major influences on American pop music, whether you like rap or not. I have more of an issue with the random Disney Channel toss in...I don't even know who that first kid is. However, Barbara Steisand, Tony Bennet, and other music icons were massively underused to make room for TPain and Autotune.

[Lachrymose]

First kid was Justin Bieber.

I also liked the rap portion. Autotune portion was meh.

I thought Miley was actually decent too.

[BookstoreEscapee]

It dates me horribly to say that I can remember the original one coming out.

I used to be able to play it on the piano.

Using Michael Jackson's voice - poor (What, was he the only one worth using from the original?)

If he wasn't so recently deceased, would they have used it at all?

[Mike Taylor]

Got this error message on the myspace link.

Sorry, the page you wish to access cannot be found. The user may not have an account.

[Nurian]

Honestly, I think Carlos Santana should have played over the auto-tone portions.

[tropicsgoddess]

Got this error message on the myspace link.

That Myspace link is borked. Here's the youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4...ature=featured

Oops...sorry about that y'all. Guess they must've taken it down or someting.
I'm not all that crazy about the remake, particularly when Akon,Tpain and Lil' Wayne were autotuning the song. The rap was pretty cheesy, to be honest. Miley Cyrus...bleh. Jennifer Hudson, P!nk one of the few on there that sang good, besides the old school singers on there (Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennet). I must admit the Creole verses Wyclef threw in there was a nice touch. But I still prefer the original (even though I was a wee one back when it came out).

[Jetfire]

I admit I didn't look at it, and have no intention of looking or listening to it if I can at all avoid it. (Thank goodness my local radio station won't touch it with a 20ft pole)

As far as I'm concerned, it's already been used for a form of disaster relief; to use it again for a different disaster, in my opinion, cheapens both the original cause and the new one. I felt similar for Elton John redoing Candle in the Wind.

If you want a song with those goals, then hire some writers (I think there's one or two actual song writers left, isn't there?) and MAKE a song. Don't try to hang onto the coat tails of another famous relief song.