Check Out: Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, The Killers cover U2

By Alex Young on October 25th, 2011 in Check Out, Cover Version, News

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As previously reported, UK’s Q Magazine has assembled a massive U2 tribute album to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the band’s landmark album Achtung Baby. The compilation, titled AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered, features covers of Achtung Baby tracks by a number of music heavyweights, including Jack White, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, The Killers, and more.

So far, we’ve already heard of covers of “Love Is Blindness” by White, “One” by Damien Rice, and “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” by Garbage. Now, with the compilation officially hitting shelves today, a number of other tracks have surfaced, including Nine Inch Nails’ take of “Zoo Station”, Depeche Mode’s renedition of “So Cruel”, and The Killers’ cover of “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”. Check out streams of all three tracks below.

Update: The entire compilation is streaming at Q Magazine’s website.

Nine Inch Nails – “Zoo Station” (via Fuck Yeah Atticus Ross):

Depeche Mode – “So Cruel”:

The Killers – “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”:

AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered is packaged for free within the October 25th issue of Q Magazine. You can order a copy of the magazine here.

AHK-toong BAY-bi Covered Tracklist:
01. Nine Inch Nails – Zoo Station
02. U2 (Jacques Lu Cont Mix) – Even Better Than The Real Thing
03. Damien Rice – One
04. Patti Smith – Until The End Of The World
05. Garbage – Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
06. Depeche Mode – So Cruel
07. Snow Patrol – Mysterious Ways
08. The Fray – Trying To Throw Your Arms Around The World
09. Gavin Friday – The Fly
10. The Killers – Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
11. Glasvegas – Acrobat
12. Jack White – Love Is Blindness

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  • Pet11

    17years and still lovin my nin!!!<3

  • Stella1000001

    Trent reznor abandoned us

  • http://twitter.com/sylvill Sylvia Villalba

    NIN love the cover! Good album!

  • Wrnmp1991

    thank you trent!!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/brettwb Brett Bailey

    I’ve always loved U2… I always felt they continued where The Clash left off.  NIN is a great group… love the cover.

  • Derfturgeon
  • Machinegun20

    I love everything Nine Inch Nails…this is no exception!  Something about this cover takes you away.  Very calming and relaxing (different) and I enjoyed the shit out of it!  Can’t wait to get my copy of the disc!

  • Zeb Lansing

    Great track from NIN. I always enjoy the subtle pan effects that are built into the track come the end of the song. I agree with you Lacrezia that was incredibly soothing vocals from Trent. If you close your eyes and listen you can hear the NIN attributes, but they don’t over power and take away from the U2 sounds.

  • Marilynfae

    DM So Cruel OMG WOW !!

  • mariposa

    I am a very new TR fan.  I often see comments about how his new creations are not NIN.  PeopIe grow and mature and metamorphose.  TR is absolutely incredibly talented.  And he is now a mature man and his true fans should apreciate his artistic growth. 

  • Ashiq R31

    i think everyone expected trent’s cover to sound like very NINish. it wasnt exactly there, but it was a middle ground between NIN and U2, out of experimentation, to Trent i suppose. i liked his vocals on it. soothinggg.

  • M_zet

    Great TR!!!!!!!!!!!

  • ydhosein

    The killers did a great job!!!!!!!!  

  • Joe

    Zoo Station reminds me of his cover of Newman’s ‘Metal’

  • Mike

    I’ve never been into U2 that much, but I have liked what I’ve heard in the past. However- I am a huge NIN fan and when I saw that NIN had a something new, I had to listen.  Honestly, if you take away Trents vocals in this song, it’s very NIN.  The music is great.  Intro sounds like there may bagpipes in there somewhere and I always dig electronic drum beats.  It’s hard for me to comment on the mid portion of the song because the vocals are so focal, but lets just say that I’m not a huge fan of the vocals here.  Then again, that is probably because I am expecting (or hoping) for a NIN song, but it’s a U2 song. The outro is probably my favorite- very stereotypical NIN- the music builds suspense with lots of layers before finally filtering down and dying out slowly.  I will give a big congratulations to U2- they’ve had a great career!  I radiate with envy.

  • Stefan

    Are most of you guys who are dissapointed with Trent’s Zoostation cover mainly fans of his recent stuff (last 10 years)? The cover is perhaps a little different than all his 2000′s stuff, but it is pretty on par with many songs that are on the rest of his output. It reminded me of the single “And All That Could Have Been”. Anybody remember that track? It was put out as a single with the live album following The Fragile (one of his best, hands down). Fucking awesome song! I thought he was gonna keep up this direction for The Fragiles follow up and was expecting perhaps the best album of his career. Instead he made “With Teeth”. Yuck. Glad to see Trent sober and happy. but the music has only had a few shining moments here and there in the last 10 years. Though, he still does put on one hell of a concert.

    • Kziemer

      post fragile nin is fucking amazing. and all that could have been wasnt even written by him. the mans a god everything he touches is fucking gold, even this mediocre cover

      • Stefan

        I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure it was written by Trent and Danny. If that’s not true, then who wrote it?

  • SiggeLund

    Trent seems determined not to. I can see why, he doesn’t want to become Mick Jagger. He doesn’t wan’t to perform March of the Pigs when he is 60. I think it’s a good thing that he ended the touring with dignity.

    • Chi2334mc

      He’s what, 45 years old, Maynard is creating music with all three of his projects and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. NIN has great songs that aren’t as demanding as March of the Pigs or Wish. Even though most people would like to see these songs, including me, I would not skip a show if he didn’t. I don’t want to see him 60, performing March of the Pigs either, at 48 sure. And I think we will see it.

      • noonelikesU2

        It has nothing to do with slowing down. Trent was getting sick of putting on the same show over and again. More music will come out in the future but a tour is unlikely unless he comes out with a new project other than NIN… it is also safe to say that nobody wants to see a HTDA tour.

        • Poomonkey405

          I would like to see a HTDA show.  Hell, I would go see him perform music from his soundtracks.  I have yet to be disappointed .

  • Dan Willis

    Dissapointing ?  onley if you ar expecting NIN to stay on one level of talent. I love the way trent ceeps evolving and his sound changes over the years. I think he realy Naild the U2 sound on this one. But i must admit, it wasent wat i expected … jet … Disapointed ? Näh

  • Rub

    Jack White with Love is Blindness!?! Awesome!!!

  • SiggeLund

    Will this be made available on Spoitfy?

  • http://twitter.com/nailzzz Yuchie

    ???????

    • Stefan

      Exactly.

  • Discophil

    Surprise! The Killers blew everyone else away,

    • SiggeLund

      Pffft, they have nothing against NIN. :)

  • Ivan Jekic

    Actually Gavin Friday sounds much more like NIN than Zoostation. Go to youtube and listen to it! I’m a bit disappointed how Trent covered Zoostation. Then again, zoostation is pretty lame song in itself.

  • http://twitter.com/Vineca Vineca

    Thank you so much for this recent post. Alchemy.

  • http://twitter.com/Vineca Vineca

    Thank you so much for this recent post. Alchemy.

  • Rodney_summers

    how do i get this in the us?

  • Rodney_summers

    how do i get this in the us?

  • Xen X

    KMFDM’s version of Mysterious Ways blows any of these tracks outta the water.

    • http://twitter.com/Vineca Vineca

      I will look for it – that is some endorsement!

    • http://twitter.com/Vineca Vineca

      I will look for it – that is some endorsement!

  • John

    U2 are shit so any cover will probably be an improvement

    • Stefan

      You are obviously a 12 year old who is ignorantly projecting the U2 of today on this masterpiece of an album. You sound stupid and must know little of music and its history (recent at that) for your ears to not be able to distinguish the brilliant and inventive sonics on this album. Never mind the boldness to flip musical direction at their commercial peak. This was the “Kid A” of its day dude. U2 may have lost the plot in the last 15 years, but this concerns an album that was released in 1991. I believe you need to play some serious catch up in your music knowledge and taste son.

      Start here, http://www.allmusic.com/album/achtung-baby-r1973542/review

      • Dave

        Naw U2 is pretty lame, regardless of when they made music.

        • Andy Morgan

          Come back once your nuts have dropped.  You’ll feel differently.

      • elliott0

        To you I reply: 

        YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH….. HELLO HELLO!

        such inspiring words 

      • Carl

        Oh come one. People who like to pretend they know everything about music are so obnoxious, right? If I were that obnoxious, I’d suggest that you’re speaking as if 1991 was U2′s prime, which, let’s face it, it just wasn’t. And a game changer, in 1991, that’s just not true. U2 was not a game changer in the 90′s. Reznor was. A lot of people were, Nirvana, the Pumpkins, Massive Attack, even goddamn Pearl Jam (though they changed the game for the worst, giving way to even worse bands like Stone Temple Pilots). If you want to say U2 was a game changer, go ahead and suggest mid 80′s maybe, but not the 90′s. And then to call it the Kid A of its day is just too much. It may have been their Kid A in relation to their career, but it is in not the Kid A to other albums of the time. The early 90′s were, in a lot of ways, a very innovative time (much like the late 70′s early 80′s though not quite as innovative). We have the peaks of bands that really were pushing genres (Sonic Youth, Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, even the early days of electronica lords Massive Attack and Portishead). What I’m saying is, U2 did not reinvent music in 1991. They may have helped in the mid 80′s, alongside more important acts like REM, begin what some call Alternative, but Kid A? But, thankfully I’m not so obnoxious, nor do I think so highly of my own opinion to post something like that just to pretend I know more about U2 than someone else (who wants to know that much about U2 anyway? They’re not fucking Radiohead or anything). So I won’t say that. I will say this though: Don’t call people son. It makes you sound stupid.

        • Stefan

          Nothing you said was accurate and everything you said takes my post grossly out of context. I never said the album was a game changer (does this mean you think “Kid A” was s game changer?). U2 bringing in a whole different style to their songs and incorporating electronics on almost every track along with shifting lyrical focus is just a plain ol’ fact buddy. This is allvery different from their previous stuff, indisputable. Please quit talking about the 90′s too, I’m talking about 1991. Like Radiohead were the kings of alternative sophistication at the close of the decade so were U2 in regards to the rock trend of the 80′s, both bands didn’t invent a style but borrowed heavily from other great contemporary artists while putting their spin on something that was a new direction in relation to their previous hit albums. I know it is hard to believe now, but U2 once had major respect and credibility, this album was a critical hit. If some how you feel Massive Attack in ’91 was on par with U2′s popularity at the time (or comparable to Radiohead’s in 2000) then you are just wrong. How a band like Smashing Pumpkins doing updated psych-rock in ’91 counts as innovative or boundary pushing, I don’t know? I like all the bands you listed, but I think you are being pretty generous with crediting them for inventing styles or even putting major spins on things that had been going strong for a number of decades before hand. Reznor was a blip on the radar in ’91 and in many ways was the U2 version of industrial in 1994 (had the ability to bring a bunch of genres together from alternative and industrial and make them fit in a mainstream rock way). Sorry that you wanted history to be different son!

    • http://twitter.com/nailzzz Yuchie

      +100500

  • Agupta

    Zoo Station is such an electronic song in the first place… awesome job Trent!  I really like the NIN touch on the song!

  • Jwk20

    please dont tell me thats all there is for an u2 tribute album and who the hell is damien rice also where did you dig up garbage from lol i do love trent its a nice tribute but ints not very nin

    • zeusdrummer

      Who the hell is damien rice? Who the hell are you???

    • Peachcoke

      “who the hell is damien rice” Please, shut it. You’re embarrassing yourself.

  • Mike Pardue

    The Fray has no place on this compilation. Terrible band. 

  • Anonymous

    The NIN and and DM tracks were good but not spectacular.  I can’t help but wonder what they would have sounded like 15 years ago when both of these bands had the passion that these songs require.

    The real surprise here is the Killers.  Love them or hate them, you have to give them credit for tackling one of the more difficult songs from Achtung Baby and pulling it off.  Admittedly, it lacks the depth and desperation of the original, but what do you expect – this is the Killers we’re talking about.  Still, in their hands, it sounds like something from The Joshua Tree, and I think they actually nailed that sound perfectly.  Now that they’re out of their “Springsteen phase,” maybe U2 will be their new fixation.  Judging from the sound of this track, that might not be such a bad idea.

    • Abhishek

      Not sure about that one.  Killers made it sound like an ordinary rock song.  Ultraviolet is a tough song to cover no doubt because it just blends perfectly with so many different things going on in the back.  

      I truly believe that if you cannot give justice to a song, then you should leave it alone!  Plus Bono’s last verse is really tough to cover… he put a lot of passion in the final verse to make it sound like the way.  Killers did a decent job, but they should have probably picked a different song.

      More impressed with DM and NIN. 

  • Sam

    you can’t polish a turd

    • pcat

      you CAN polish a turd, but its still a piece of shit

  • James Reed

    Hey, I run the tumblr blog that you’ve hotlinked Zoo Station from. Would you mind at least putting it in as your source, if you’re going to use the link?

    Thanks.

    • http://consequenceofsound.net Alex Young

      James – What is the Tumblr? Feel free to plug it.

      • Anonymous

        This is my first time visiting your site, so forgive my asking, but… Do you guys ever link to other sites besides your own? 

        For example: James’ request for credit or… Any of the other sources you copped these streams from, the original Q Magazine articles or the full album stream.

  • Jake

    Good job Trent.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000338895906 Paul Sundeen

    Trent’s track isn’t quite as… crazy as I expected. But I dig it.