Falling In Reverse released a “reimagined” cover of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” – but was it really necessary?

When he’s not criticizing Spiritbox’s entire fanbase or lashing out at the media for publicly reporting news about him that actually occurred, Falling In Reverse’s Ronnie Radke is indeed a successful musician. Currently on their biggest headlining tour to date, it’s hard to argue with their success over the years. However, it seems the divide between the band’s fanbase and those who criticize the band (and Radke’s online antics, in particular) continues to grow with seemingly every single release. And with their “reimagined” cover of Papa Roach’s “Last Resort” releasing a few days ago, the polarization will likely continue.

As noted elsewhere, the “reimagination” of the song involves very little in the way of the spirit or sound of the original – being a largely piano-based ballad. Replete with strings and dramatic vocals, the “reimagined” version neuters basically all impact that the original had. It almost (read: definitely) seems like it was made particularly for crossover airplay of some sort. There’s not even crunchy power chords or anything of the sort, resulting in a lost opportunity to do something, you know, interesting and engaging.

That’s not to say that “reimagined” versions of songs like this can’t work. But often, the most successful ones have some sort of respect for the original. This one has little of the passion or energy of the original, and one wonders what the actual purpose of the cover was for. Was it to fill in airtime with new music coming slower than expected? Was it something to keep the Falling In Reverse “brand” in the spotlight with continued forward momentum? Was it simply because they collectively thought it was a good idea? Any way you slice it, you have to wonder if it was truly necessary – or if it adds anything that one couldn’t glean from the original.