The word “remastered” instantly brings to mind digital enhancements: taking an old film or sound recording and touching it up, so that it meets our current listening and viewing capabilities. Like adding color enhancements to an old black and white film, remastering something out of the past allows us to see the original work with new eyes, to experience it as a separate entity altogether. The new work is truly a reinterpretation of the original form.
No industry touches upon the remastered Macrotrend more than the film industry. Recycled content, sequels, remakes, re-releases… they’re all under the umbrella of remastering. Even the shift to Blu-Ray can be seen as part of the trend, as old titles are given new clarity and more special features with the capabilities of Blu-Ray technology.
While some remastered or re-enacted films lose the truth and beauty of the original through enhancements and new interpretations, many achieve both critical and box office success, as seen in 2011’s True Grit (a remake of the 1969 film based on the 1968 novel of the same name) which was hailed as better than the original due to its up-to-date direction and improved acting.
Remakes continue to populate the film industry with no end in sight, effectively illustrating the concept of the Remastered Macrotrend.
Naturally, the same trends have been developing in the music industry over the past several years. Run DMC’s 1986 remastering of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” proves the success of the Remastered Macrotrend. Run DMC’s recording went down in history as the first hip hop song to ever make it onto a Billboard chart when it hit the Top 5.
Girl Talk, a D.J. famous for digital sampling, includes mashups in all of his live sets and recordings. Sampling from such modern artists as 50 Cent, Flo Rida and Jay-Z, and layering their tracks over the works of classic artists like Billy Idol, Modern English, and Herbie Hancock, Girl Talk is truly a master of the mashup, successfully combining old and new tracks for a completely original sound that speaks directly to today’s audience.
Likewise, the band Scissor Sisters’ cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” keeps the lyrics and melody of the original track, but adds funk/synth sounds and disco beats, thereby turning the insightful yet “numbing” 1970’s classic into a glamrock club song.
A great example of adding contemporary meaning to a classic song is found in Radiohead’s cover of the 1977 Carly Simon hit, “Nobody Does it Better.” Radiohead’s version reveals the haunting, sorrowful intention of the song in a way that Simon’s original recording doesn’t, while keeping the melody’s optimism intact. Simon’s lyrics and melodies haven’t changed, but when reinterpreted through Radiohead’s signature melancholy sound, the track offers deeper insight into both the era it was first recorded, and the emotional landscape of today’s listeners.
While cover songs have been cropping up for decades, paying attention to the way older classics are remastered through the voice and sound of a contemporary performer reveals that modern listeners are asking for a reinterpretation of their roots–only this time with an updated, re-envisioned take on them. This type of remastering sweeps together memories, nostalgia and personal history and repackages them in a contemporary context that reaches familiar and new-to-the-scene listeners alike.
