After more than 30 years together, The Rasmus is still going strong, and their newest release might have one of the most fitting titles possible: “Forever Young.”
Originally released by the band Alphaville in 1984, “Forever Young” is one of those songs that has managed to stick around for generations. Its slow pace, dreamy synthesizers, and instantly recognizable melody give the original a feeling of nostalgia before you even think about what the lyrics are saying. More than four decades later, The Rasmus takes that familiar sound and gives it a completely different kind of life.
They don’t waste much time doing it either.
The familiar melody is still right there, but electric guitar immediately gives the track more movement. The song feels faster, brighter, and more alive while still holding onto enough of Alphaville’s original to make it recognizable. Rather than turning “Forever Young” into something completely different from the opening seconds, The Rasmus lets the old and new versions exist together for a while.
Lauri Ylönen’s signature vocals fit the song almost strangely well. Lauri doesn’t try to imitate Alphaville vocalist Marian Gold. It sounds like Lauri, and because of that, it already starts sounding like The Rasmus.
The vocals almost become the constant throughout the track while everything underneath them keeps changing.
As the song moves forward, the guitar becomes more noticeable, and the drums continue pushing the pace. The dreamy feeling tied to the original starts disappearing pretty quickly. It is still melodic and still nostalgic, but there is more urgency behind it now, leaning towards more fun instead of dreamy.
The original “Forever Young” sounds like it is looking back.
The Rasmus version sounds like it wants to keep moving.
That difference gives the lyrics a slightly different feeling too. A song about youth, time, and wanting something to last forever sounds one way coming from a young band. It hits a little differently coming from musicians who have already spent decades together, and Emilia, who’s been with them 4 years, and keep moving forward!
But before the song gets too comfortable in that idea, The Rasmus completely changes it.
And then the break hits.
This is where “Forever Young” really becomes a Rasmus song in its own new sound.
After spending the first portion of the track respecting the familiar melody, the guitars suddenly get much heavier, and the rhythm becomes far more aggressive. The song drops into a breakdown and mosh-ready section that is probably the last thing anyone familiar with Alphaville’s version would expect to hear.
You don’t expect to headbang listening to the original, but I was like, damn, where the heck is this coming from? As I bobbed my head.
Part of the reason is that The Rasmus doesn’t start there. The band gives you time with the melody first. You get the recognizable song, Lauri’s vocals, and the increasingly energetic guitars before everything finally breaks open. By the time the heavier section arrives, the cover has already been slowly pulling away from the original.
It is also the moment that keeps this from becoming just another rock cover of “Forever Young.” Plenty of bands can replace synthesizers with guitars and call it a new version. The Rasmus pushes the idea further, letting the song get unexpectedly heavy before opening it back up again.
That is probably what I like most about this version. The Rasmus changes enough to give the cover a reason to exist without trying so hard to reinvent “Forever Young” that the original disappears completely.
The verses remain familiar. Lauri’s voice gives them a darker edge. The guitar and drums give the song new energy. Then that breakdown comes in and throws the whole thing sideways before the band finds its way back to the melody.
You still know exactly what song you are listening to, and whose version it is.
There is also something nice about The Rasmus choosing “Forever Young” at this point in their career.
The band formed in Helsinki in the mid-1990s, and their debut album, Peep, arrived in 1996. Now, three decades after that first album, they are still releasing music, touring, and changing their sound. Lauri has even described Alphaville’s “Forever Young” as part of the soundtrack of the band’s own youth, and instead of treating it like a museum piece, they tear into it.
The Rasmus doesn’t replace Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” and they don’t need to. They take a song that has already survived more than 40 years and show what it can sound like after another generation gets its hands on it.
More than 30 years into their own career, The Rasmus is still going strong, still changing and, in their own way, still forever young.
The Rasmus is currently on their First Headline USA tour
Other Rasmus songs I’d recommend:
•First Day of My Life
•Living in a World Without You
•Lucifer’s Angel
•No Fear
•In the Shadows
•Love is a B*tch
