Have you ever followed a band from either an EP, sampler, or "rough cut" first album to a more polished studio album and listened to a newer version of a great song, only to find that it's worse than the original because it's too clean?

The Higher's Rock My Body (off of Histrionics) is an awesome and mega raw track that boasts one of my favorite power pop rock guitar solo/band jams at 2:19; but, it's a total shit show (perhaps a slight exaggeration) on their more proper studio release, On Fire. Rock My Body v2.0 is audibly more upbeat (almost too upbeat), has random echo reverb "yelling" parts during what used to be one of my favorite parts of the song (the verse right before the guitar solo), and is mixed for the volume to be way higher on the vocals and completely lessened on the hard-hitting electric guitar and bass drum that made the song so good from its original release. For some reason I can't stand listening to the new version because it just sounds like it was produced to promote a poppier-mainstream-friendly-sounding the Higher, and that kills me just because the original version just sounds so much more real. I know the market for power pop is becoming bigger by the second, but if bands keep putting out the same washed-out-synth-heavy tracks, audiences are just going to be bored and tired.

On a similar note, Anberlin recently released it's "new" single for New Surrender. When I looked at the website asking fans to call in to local radio stations to promote the single, I was so excited for them; what new track had they recorded that would help jumpstart their career in the mainstream? I read the title of the song, Feel Good Drag, and a giant cartoon bubble housing a question mark hovered over my head. "The Feel Good Drag? Wasn't that on Never Take Friendship Personal?" I streamed the new single from the website, and to little surprise, it was the exact same song from NTFP but "fine-tuned". I love Anberlin, and their music has played an integral role in my life since Freshman year of high school, but this might have to be the first decision that they've made that has really upset me. It almost seems like a cop out to re-introduce a song that was so stellar on a previous and legitimate full-length, just because it got to have a little more attention in a higher-grade studio and will be the first single tied to your major-label debut. Sure, the lyrics are the same, and the song sends the same message, but the track just sounds weak; it doesn't make my adrenaline race like it does with the original. As many Anberlin fans who have spent a night or two singing those lyrics at the top of their lungs in a sweaty pit will probably attest to, it's simply watered down.

Don't take any of this the wrong way though. I don't mean to use two examples to come off sounding like I've generalized that all reproductions are disasters or lackluster in comparison to their originals. There are tons of songs that have been positively refined -- the Cure's Pictures of You (Disintigration versus Galore), Acceptance's Permanent (Black Lines to Battlefields versus Phantoms), Paramore's Hallelujah (Demo/Acoustic version versus RIOT!), the list goes on and on. It just upsets me that there are these amazing original productions of songs floating around that never make the true and final cut to be shared with mass audiences. Maybe that's why the radio and Top 40 hits have always bothered me -- something about a lot of those songs just sounds so formulaic, tried, and diluted.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this entry, so I'll end it here. Feel free to post your own thoughts, experiences, and/or criticisms. I can't possibly be the only one who thinks this topic warrants some discussion!