Systematically takes everything that is great about the original and buries it under 23 tons of toxic sludge.
IMO, The Beatles’ version works because of the tension between McCartney’s instincts and his rigid, self-conscious attempt in Helter Skelter to be tougher than Pete Townshend. You can hear the song struggling to get out from under him and break into the upbeat, 3-part harmony ditty about an amusement park ride that it was when he first wrote it. Yes, there’s abandon in the vocals (or some facsimile thereof), and the drums crash, and the guitar is distorted, but the song is still melodic, and damn, it has one of the greatest guitar hooks of all time.
While I was listening to the RZ/MM version I got to wondering what it would sound like unplugged, so I applied Google and found Marilyn Manson doing an acoustic version of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams. It’s entertaining, though Marilyn looks a lot less like the embodiment of evil now that he has the body of a middle aged suburban dad. That medical boot isn’t helping much either.
