5. Messiah – I Feel Love
After four tracks which could reasonably be labelled as ‘pop’, Rave ’92 finally starts the transition into hardcore proper. With a very familiar song reworked in the style of the times, Messiah proved it was possible to make the sickest horse win the Grand National if you flogged it hard enough with an Atari 1040ST.
Placing this track straight after Bizarre Inc’s string-heavy warbling seems logical from a mixing point of view (the opening bars sound extremely similar). However as a youngster I resented Messiah for signifying that the previous track (my beloved ‘I’m Gonna Get You’) had finished. Precious Wilson’s thunderclap bellowing of “I FEE-HEEEL LUR-HUR-URRVE!” was just too much for me to handle, and I’m sad to say I usually fast-forwarded the tape straight to the next track. I didn’t even register the song as a cover version, I just knew it wasn’t my cup of tea. But as my tastes grew heavier over the new few years (possibly thanks to a teenaged jump onto the grunge bandwagon) I grew to appreciate that initial explosion of vocal energy: a fitting announcement of Messiah’s arrival on the stereo, taking no prisoners.
The recipe for a good bosh cover version is a simple formula really – keep the best bits of the original whilst leaving out the dull bits; add a variety of squelchy/buzzing noises, ridiculous vocal samples and a pounding bass drum. Messiah deliver on all counts, out-Morodering Moroder with a great oscillating acid bass and angelic harp plucks – a perfect soundtrack against which to mime raindrops by wiggling your fingers. The section just before the chorus is one of the best build-ups on the entire compilation: gothic orchestral whirlwinds uprooting your house and carrying it off to the land of Oz! Power, momentum and perfect timing – for me this is the definitive version of ‘I Feel Love’.
I couldn’t find the original 7″ mix on Youtube, only the inferior handbag version. So I created a ‘video’ to accompany the song and uploaded it myself.