Sons of Anarchy is not only a badass show, it also tends to have some pretty badass covers. According to Billboard, season seven won't be much different.
For one of the most ambitious covers yet, music supervisor Bob Thiele Jr. had to rework Queen's 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody." Not exactly the easiest of tasks. However, as per usual for the show, Thiele turned to The Forest Rangers, the band responsible for turning "Gimme Shelter" and "John the Revelator" into perfect matches for the biker drama.
"When I turned Sly's 'Everyday People' into a 5-and-a-half minute Forest Rangers/SoA anthem, I couldn't imagine anything more challenging," Thiele told Billboard. "But [SoA creator] Kurt Sutter is one to push the envelope just about as far as anyone conceivably can. And here we have 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' truly as epic and grand a rock opera as ever condensed into 5 minutes. Forest Ranger-izing has turned out to be my ultimate challenge (and accomplishment if I do say so myself). It is very important that our covers are authentically unique and different from the originals. Further, the tone and color of these recordings must share the same palette that our actors do."
Thiele went on to say that had the crew tried using the Queen cover in a previous season, it wouldn't have worked. "It's kind of the sum total of all our musical adventures. It's rock, it's blues, it's a bit traditional country, and we even have some kids singing on it," he said. "No point in trying to match Freddie's incredible opening salvo!"
The Forest Rangers are joined on the track by The White Buffalo, and Billy Valentine & Frankie Perez. Head over to Billboard to hear "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a cover of The Association's "Never My Love."
Sons of Anarchy premieres tomorrow on FX.
