Does the Future work as a duet?

[Mr. Happy]

Forum seems to be stagnating a little lately. So let's have a discussion :D

Just to start with, this thread is not intended to either bash or adore the arrangement of The Future Ain't What It Used To Be that's on Bat 3. No particular version of the song is meant to be a specific part of this discussion, it's the idea of the song being a duet in general that I'm talking about.

The Future Ain't What It Used To Be has always been one of my favourite songs. It's absolutely brilliantly lyrically (even if it is depressing), and musically it isn't half bad too. The first version I heard was Meat's take on the song when I came home with Bat out of Hell 3, and I was a little bit unsure as to how I felt about it. It wasn't a bad song, but it never really clicked with me. Then, later on, I heard the Pandora's Box version, and I just got it. Although (personally), I've never liked the voice of whoever sang it, it just seemed to make more sense as a solo performance. It's a song about having lost everything and of fearing what comes next, and the protagonist is just...devastated. To the point that the present reality has become surreal and they're just begging for a brighter future.

I felt that making it into a duet sort of watered down this message. It was an unnecessary addition to the song, and even changed the message. Why is the female singing? What is she adding to the piece other than another voice? I feel that as a duet, it can even be interpreted as a breakup song, and (although it's entirely subjective) that's not what the original was about, and it dilutes what the song is meant to be about. I almost feel that Jennifer Hudson's part was added just because she was Jennifer Hudson (lot of good that did). It just doesn't seem to...gel properly.

So my question is, do you think that the Future works as a duet? Did it add something to the song that's an improvement over a solo effort? Or am I talking shit and both are equally effective? :D

EDIT: So apparently I'm an idiot and I forgot to add the "Both work" option to the poll. Could an awesome mod fix that for me please? :oops:

[RSG]

Imo The Future... is meant as it was in 1989. Hudson has a strong voice but I do think the 2006 recording was a talented effort on everybody's part but its just wrong as a duet. I think its meant to be sung solo. That said Patti did a moving solo recording which was superior to the duet.

[JennaG]

At the risk of looking totally stupid, I didn't even realise there was another version other that the one that was on Bat 3. :oops:

[Mr. Happy]

At the risk of looking totally stupid, I didn't even realise there was another version other that the one that was on Bat 3. :oops:

I think that's something we should definitely change :P

The original by Pandora's Box:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Y8AKEDV0I

and, just because I love this version:

Live for World's Aid Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TZR-cFlelE

There's been a couple of other versions, but Pandora's Box and Meat's are the main two. Patti did a solo version which was brilliant, but I can't seem to find it on YouTube right now >.<

[CarylB]

I never see a duet as having to be sung by one person to another .. simply that two people are singing and I can enjoy two voices working together, just as it could be performed by a chorus. Sometimes it enhances a song (as for me the making IACBTMN did on Bat3), but it would never detract as long as I like both the voices. I don't particularly like the extended introduction to the Pandora's Box version, and prefer the production of Meat's version over all.

So my vote will be Both Can Work if that goes up as an option.

A song I'd love Meat and Patti to cover would be "I Know Him So Well" from Chess. That is clearly written as a duet for two women, but could easily be performed by a man and a woman singing about their feelings about each other with some minor changes in my view. Another way a song can be performed differently ;)

Caryl

[Sarge]

No, it doesn't. I fail to see any kind of connection between Jennifer Hudson and Meat Loaf on the Bat III version. I don't know if it has something to do with the song itself or with the production of the album because I don't understand Meat Loaf's version of It's All Coming Back To Me Now either. The solo versions are stronger, in my opinion.

[JennaG]

I think that's something we should definitely change :P

The original by Pandora's Box:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Y8AKEDV0I

and, just because I love this version:

Live for World's Aid Day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TZR-cFlelE

There's been a couple of other versions, but Pandora's Box and Meat's are the main two. Patti did a solo version which was brilliant, but I can't seem to find it on YouTube right now >.<

Thank you for those. :D

I think the song works well and I think it works both as a duet as well as a solo. It just depends on the singer. I'm not a huge fan of the singer that was on the Pandora's Box version but I imagine that Patti's version was fantastic.

I never see a duet as having to be sung by one person to another .. simply that two people are singing and I can enjoy two voices working together, just as it could be performed by a chorus.

I never felt that it was a duet that was meant to represent two character speaking to each other and like you, saw it just as two people singing on a song. I felt Meat's and Jennifer's voices worked well together and it's a song I enjoy listening to although it's not one that I listen to all that frequentely.

A song I'd love Meat and Patti to cover would be "I Know Him So Well" from Chess. That is clearly written as a duet for two women, but could easily be performed by a man and a woman singing about their feelings about each other with some minor changes in my view.

Agreed. :D

[glamourgirl]

Based on the recorded versions, I prefer the song as a solo, but I bet Meat & Patti could do a brilliant live duet of the song.

[MarkS]

I think it works just fine as a duet, in fact it wasn't until just a few days ago that I realized that there was a solo version out there. I think that Meat and Hudson complimented each other well, to powerhouse voices giving it all they had. I will say, somewhat of a weird combination, but they pulled it off beautifully.

[Meat Loaf_fan]

"The Future Ain't What It Used To Be" better function as a duet. Meat's (older) voice is superb (on "Bat Out Of Hell 3") and Jennifer Hudson also did a very good job in this song.