Yesterday, when I blogged about Rihanna’s new song “Sledgehammer” I originally had planned to write about something completely different. Coincidentally, also a song recorded for a movie. It’s a very interesting cover of the “Ghostbusters” theme song by Fall Out Boy featuring Missy Elliot.
Fall Out Boy is not one of those bands to often get a spot on my playlist, even though I absolutely love the powerful “My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)”. Their rework of “Ghostbusters” deserves a mention though.
The original song was recorded in the 80s by Ray Parker Jr. With its heavy synth-pop sound with horns and some electric guitars, it sounds outdated compared to today's music. Fall Out Boy fixed that. The song still starts with an eerie feeling that something scary could be happening, but instead of bursting out into that synth sound, a full blown rock track begins that never loses its energy. But whether it's good is another thing. It is with good reason why Fall Out Boy have renamed the track to "Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid)" to clearly distinct itself from the original. It really is revamped. Mid way through the song Missy Elliot is also dropping in to drop a verse and the combination of the rock sound and the rap works out really well. In fact, I think she should do that more. With all the changes to the song, it just takes me some getting used to. It's good to have some recognizable bits and pieces from the original, but sometimes it sounds like the idea hasn't really come together, especially in the beginning when the song starts. I've actually noticed a lot of Fall Out Boy fans agree with me on this. The song was released simultaneously with the trailer of the new "Ghostbusters" movie. For me, the original movie must have been one of the first films I got to see and for this, I still love it, but I can imagine it was time to renew this concept. I haven't seen the trailer yet, but the fact that it features some of the biggest female comedy actors of this time, is a sign of something...uhm, funny. In combination with the Fall Out Boy theme song, expectations must have been raised for a high paced action comedy (with an estimate to gross between $40 and $50 in the opening weekend in July).
