Although Bowie’s original version of “Sound and Vision” and Beck’s interpreted version of “Sound and Vision” had similar elements such as lyrics, melodies, and guitar riffs, it is not hard to perceive these two songs as two completely different songs. Bowie’s original version is extremely simple: Standard rock beat that runs throughout the song, bass line that is easy to follow, and one simple guitar riff to complete it all. On the other hand, Beck’s version was extremely hard to follow and overwhelming.
What Beck did with 160 other musicians was a great performance. But it was not “music” for me. If Beck’s intention was to deliver music, I think he got his priority mixed up. A performance or show-case should be used as a tool to deliver music. But I felt as if Beck used music as a mere tool to produce his grandiose performance. I reached this conclusion because I thought the harmony was missing in his performance. It sounded to me as if each session, or each group of his ensembles was yelling: “Listen to how good I am!” instead of “This is the music that WE present to you.”
I do not think Beck’s rendition owes much to jazz. I believe that key element in jazz is freedom, a liberation from all constraints and rules through the mediator called improvisation. But Beck’ interpretation sounded too constraint and it is not hard to imagine the reason behind it. It is almost impossible to match the sound of 160 musicians with different background of music without setting up detailed and meticulous guidelines. And with detailed and meticulous guidelines, there are not that much room left for jazz.
