Remix Albums, Covers, And Bonus Tracks

 For this entry for Musical Monday, I decided to talk about a really fun concept. Which is cover albums, EPs, bonus tracks, remix albums and more. When the original creator makes an album covering songs that were cut or allowing other artists to perform songs we love in new styles. Sometimes it's not a cut song but rather a different rendition or a fun little bonus at the end of an album like an acoustic version. What's Not Inside is all cut songs from Waitress, where as The Hamilton Mixtape is cut songs and covers of the songs we love done by others. Then there is Whats Inside Songs From Waitress which has Sara Bareilles covering songs from the show with a cut song or two before the album of just cut songs were added, or the Hamildrops which were covers and new songs that ran for a year being dropped once a month would sometimes feature Lin Manuel Miranda or different artists. For example one month could be a cover of Helpless while another was an original song about Benjamin Franklin.

I love this so much, and would love to see this for more shows, different perspectives or story ideas that show how deep these stories can go, or a new song using pre existing characters show us how much we love the cast. Or using a cut song is such a cool way to show a song and a piece of behind the scenes info about the shows. Sometimes cut songs even make it back into the official production like Penny In My Pocket being added into the latest run of Hello Dolly as a fun little post intermission opener. Sometimes the remixes prove to be incredibly fun on their own like the Hamilton Polka by Weird Al that is a pure delight to listen to. 

Some albums add a fun a little bonus like an acoustic track or a bonus song like the Genie Medley in the Aladdin album that is the Genie and Aladdin's amazing actors singing more songs from Alan Menken while having some fun. 

I love the recent surge of remixes, covers or unreleased content being shown, it is more content for the shows we love. Many of these songs end up online and can be listened to over and over, or even get their own albums. These add more to shows we love in such different styles that you learn to love them in their own way, and have something different to listen to. Somedays when you don't feel like listening to all of act one of Hamilton, you could listen to a couple Hamildrops and The Hamilton Mixtape if you like. It's add more content in such a way that is so amazing, the shows we love aren't overstaying their welcome, new ways to love them appear in these ways. Whether it is a cover on YouTube by someone just starting who loves the song, or a whole remix album, this form of changing stuff we love should be encouraged. It encourages others to find new ways to take something we love and make new art alongside the originals, that are just as amazing. 

I will definitely revisit this topic in more detail in the future, looking at specific albums, covers or mixtapes but I wanted to discuss the initial idea first. And I have a small surprise as well.