Today in unexpectedly great remixes, Canadian DJ/producer AVIRA has put an EDM spin on Live’s 1994 Throwing Copper classic “Lightning Crashes.” AVIRA apparently has quite a back catalog of remixes, including the Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius” (with Armin van Buuren) and a bunch of Y2K trance updates: Armin van Buuren’s “Communication” (1999), Delerium’s “Silence” featuring Sarah McLachlan (1997), Push’s “Strange World” (2001), and Chicane’s “Saltwater” (1997).

Live’s Ed Kowalczyk apparently re-recorded his vocal for this remix, and “nothing from the original recording in 1994 was used in any way,” he confirmed on Instagram. Here he is talking about working with AVIRA to update “Lightning Crashes”:

I had been getting inspired and actually talked about working or wanting to do some experimenting in the EDM/trance space when this email and scratch demo from AVIRA came in. I was excited to hear it because of the synchronicity of how it unfolded for me personally, and my excitement only grew after I popped it up on the speakers! My initial thought was how protective AVIRA’s version was of the original; I could tell he really cared about the song and wasn’t just throwing a beat to it. My second thought was for the minimalistic but super-powerful counter melodies he composed that felt like emotional and spiritual exclamation points on my lyrics. As good as the original version is for its raw energy and rock-and-roll vitality, AVIRA’s production and its sophisticated, modern and soulful depth immediately felt like the next chapter for the song to me.

“When I was growing up in Toronto, I always felt like dance music had a bad reputation,” AVIRA adds. “I knew that only small circles were into it, but almost everyone listened to rock, hip-hop, and Top 40. ‘Lightning Crashes’ is one of those records that is universally understood as a masterpiece, and I immediately saw the opportunity to bring that legendary rock radio sound to the dance space, hopefully opening the eyes of many to dance music!”

AVIRA continues: “Ed’s performance on this new recording sent chills down my spine. I wanted to make this feel like an epic homage to Live’s original and show a new generation of listeners what dance music can be all about. I’m forever grateful that Ed was involved in making my dreams come true.”

Listen to AVIRA’s take on “Lightning Crashes” below.