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We mentioned War Child’s Heroes and offered a listen to the contributions from Lily Allen and Hot Chip. Remember the concept behind the compilation: 15 “ultimate icons” chose a song from their own back catalogs and chose a new act to cover it. David Bowie chose TV On The Radio to take on the collection’s namesake. If you recall, he sang backing vocals on Cookie Mountain‘s “Province,” so look at it as returning the favor. Or as trust. It doesn’t approach the 1977 original, but then, how do you top this?

Heroes is out in the UK via Parlophone on 2/16 and in the US via EMI on 2/24. Canada sees it released on 3/3.

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Comments (18)
  1. I had been waiting for this, and while nothing can ever beat Bowie’s Heroes, TVOTR did a very respectable job

  2. Jean Genie  |   Posted on Jan 26th, 2009

    I agree with the statement above but I do think TVOR are worthy candidates to cover Bowie. I can dig it!

  3. hey! bowie ripped this off from that band with bob dylan’s son!

  4. Best cover thus far. (Though I miss the soaring pace Bowie had, over the techno-refashioning & constructed layering of this version). I do like the variety with this approach though, Bowie’s version is somewhat uniform with “samey” sounding verses and familiar chorus returns that doesn’t arc until the ending.

    Hey, remember when the Wallflowers did a cover of Heroes for the Godzilla soundtrack? What was that about?

  5. matt  |   Posted on Jan 26th, 2009

    this is pretty bad you guys.

  6. Oasis also did a great cover of ‘Heroes’ as a B-side to their single of ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’.

  7. mighty undies  |   Posted on Jan 26th, 2009

    I also think this blows. I love TVOTR, by the way.

  8. Bryan  |   Posted on Jan 27th, 2009

    Yeah I love TV on the Radio (and Bowie), but this is awful. I couldn’t even it make it all the way through.

  9. I still think the Aphex Twin mix with Phillip Glass orchestration is better than the original.

  10. pretty boring stuff. I only turn to Desperate Youth anymore for TVOTR. MIss those days.

  11. kate  |   Posted on Jan 27th, 2009

    I like it!

  12. Woodpecker  |   Posted on Jan 28th, 2009

    I don’t think this is horrid at all, but the best cover of this song is without a doubt by the Magnetic Fields. That was awesome

  13. wassoreal  |   Posted on Feb 2nd, 2009

    most over-rated band in years does a mediocre cover of a classic song. big surprise here…

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