2002 Will Young: Light My Fire

It's more than slightly depressing to see such a freshly minted 'pop idol' falling back on a trusty cover version so early in a career of professional popular idolatry. And what's more, a cover version once removed at that; though originally recorded by The Doors (of course), Young's 'Light My Fire' has more in common with Jose Feliciano's 1968 lighter, Latin version than its actual source. What they have in common though is dwarfed by the gulf that separates them - Feliciano was Latin, and the sultry groove he adopted came as a natural par for the course. Young's crack at the same, however, is cardboard stiff and cardboard bland and his attempt to follow Feliciano's vocal guide is a strangled yelp that warbles with all the grace of a housebrick being forced through a sieve. Unimaginative, uninspired and more than a bit pointless, 'Light My Fire' is all these things and less (and the small print on the sleeve reads more as a threat than a promise). I'd like to believe that at the very least it meant a new generation would have been made aware that a group called The Doors did once exist, but to be honest, I don't think they'd have been interested - who needs Jim when you can have Will eh?