The big movie hype at the moment is the Baz Lurman biopic Elvis. This week we see Maneskin of Eurovision fame release their cover of the Elvis track ‘If I can Dream’. If I am honest, I don’t know the original well, it was featured on the 1968 ‘Comeback special’ but was never in the same league as some of Elvis’ classic tracks. The Italian Band Maneskin have gone from strength to strength since their Eurovision win in 2021 with Ziiti e bourni and I was intrigued to see how they would blend their style with this film score!

When the song started I was surprised, it was much more stripped back than possibly I had imagined, with a fairly low-key guitar supporting the vocal. I started to do what we should never do, which is compare the voice to the original and I couldn’t! That is why I love this song and this band. They are distinctive and make tracks their own. Whilst the song is clearly well produced and uses state of the art mastering, it’s raw enough to sound like it could have been released at any point in the last 50 years. If you hear the 68 special version, Elvis puts a lot of emotion into the phrasing, and you can hear that in this performance. My bold statement is I think this version is better, because the vocal of Damiano David is raw, it’s powerful and cuts through. 

This track sounds nothing like the original, which in itself is a triumph, yet all the key ingredients are there. The energy and passion, the musicianship and purpose are first class. I think the King himself would certainly approve!

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.