AWOLNATION's cover of the Scorpions hit "Wind of Change" is true to the era of the original -- in more ways than one.
From its period-appropriate drum tone and backing vocals, to its ripping, lighters-in-the-sky guitar solo, Aaron Bruno and company's version of the 1991 hit is certainly a faithful rendition. As Bruno tells ABC Audio, that was by design.
"I thought that it would be a fun thing to do, and quite hilarious to even attempt," Bruno says.
Bruno has long had a soft spot for "Wind of Change," dating back to when its video was "pumped on MTV all day long" when he was a kid.
"I always loved the song," he says. "Then as time went on, throughout life, every time it came on, it would take me to that nostalgic feeling of the impressionable age of whatever my teens were at the time."
In addition to recreating the power ballad sound of a pre-Nevermind 1991, AWOLNATION's "Wind of Change" inadvertently honored the classic sitcom mishaps of the era. Originally, Bruno asked Portugal. the Man to guest on the recording, but when their schedule didn't work out, he asked Incubus' Brandon Boyd. But after Boyd recorded his vocals, the "Feel It Still" outfit's schedule opened up.
"I'm, like, 'Oh my god, I have Brandon on it. What the f*** do I do?'" Bruno recalls, channeling real-life asked-two-girls-to-the-same-dance energy. Unlike a sitcom character, though, he quickly came clean.
"I just told both artists separately, like, 'Hey, we're just all on this now, what do you think?'" Bruno says. "Everybody was...down, and it made it even more ridiculous."
"Wind of Change" appears on AWOLNATION's upcoming covers album My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers and Me, arriving May 6.