What an interesting discussion. I have no firm view on this. I am instinctively a little resistant to remakes of movies because if something has already been done well I would rather watch something else, but then I like the Coen brothers' "The Ladykillers", a brilliant remake of a brilliant film. I suspect that there are lots of reasons why a long-established artist might do a cover album, from wanting to record music they have loved themselves to wanting to put an album out when they have run out of ideas for writing their own material. I suspect that it's often just for the money. In the theatre it's a bit different - "remakes" are a constant and plays are always being reinterpreted. It keeps things fresh. I don't like gimmicks, but then one person's gimmick is another person's creativity. It's good to have your boundaries challenged and to try new things.
What an interesting discussion. I have no firm view on this. I am instinctively a little resistant to remakes of movies because if something has already been done well I would rather watch something else, but then I like the Coen brothers' "The Ladykillers", a brilliant remake of a brilliant film. I suspect that there are lots of reasons why a long-established artist might do a cover album, from wanting to record music they have loved themselves to wanting to put an album out when they have run out of ideas for writing their own material. I suspect that it's often just for the money. In the theatre it's a bit different - "remakes" are a constant and plays are always being reinterpreted. It keeps things fresh. I don't like gimmicks, but then one person's gimmick is another person's creativity. It's good to have your boundaries challenged and to try new things.