Product Details
 | With Or Without You |
| Price: | $0.00 |
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Average customer review:
Product Details
- Released on: 2010-08-31
- Running time: 273 seconds
Customer Reviews
Competent cover of the U2 hit
Sarah Darling sounds like a deeper-voiced, less-theatrical Jewel. Her cover of U2's hit "With or Without You," is competent if not especially remarkable. The arrangement is lush, but not overdone, and the Country elements are subtle. In fact, the twang in the electric guitars softly moaning in the background sounds so natural I had to go back to the original to assure myself it wasn't present in U2's version. (It wasn't.) The track's biggest fault is that Darling doesn't approach the level of intensity and conviction that Bono brought to the song. In Darling's defense, it *is* Bono's song, and in any event the lyrics are better suited to a man addressing a woman than a woman addressing ... whoever. Nonetheless, I'm pleased to have downloaded this track.
Arrangement, Slower Tempo Reduce Temptation To Compare This With Original
Usually, when an artist covers a classic song such as this one from the band U2, they'll be at least a small amount of backlash from fans of the original artist. And it's very hard to best the original simply because that's the one that's been stuck in your head through all the years.
Sarah Darling's version is different enough that I don't feel the need to trash it, even though she stays fairly true to the original melody. The arrangement has a lot to do with this, with understated country instrumentation and a much slower tempo. Add to that the female, pop-country vocal and you have an entirely different vibe going on.
U2's version has a heavy emphasis on bass, here the bass is muted and subdued. A distant steel guitar pads the background. The producers build up the intensity by adding a drum set in at about the one and a half minute mark, with harmony vocals coming in a little later to further add some increase in dynamics. Sarah's lead vocal is smooth but not overly dynamic. With U2, it's all about the vocal, with Bono providing all of the energy.
So I'm able to enjoy both versions...I also think you don't necessarily have to like country music to like this one...it's a keeper!
Marks for Trying
It's incredibly brave for anyone to cover a song that can cause a listener to vividly recall the original and any residual emotion towards the original. This version by Sara Darling will not inspire you to forget the original, in fact Darling follows the original vocals almost note for note. What is lacking is the emotion that Bono conveyed. If only Ms. Darling took a cue from the haunting steel guitar that runs through the song.
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