It’s a known fact that rock bands love to cover Michael Jackson songs, which is why we’re not surprised to learn the mascara-loving members of Fall Out Boy are covering Jackson’s classic, Beat It.

On this track, they’ve teamed up with celebrity boyfriend-for-hire/guitarist John Mayer (come on, you’ve never heard his music either, have you?) for quite a stormin’ rendition of an awesome song.

What struck us on watching the Beat It video was how much FOB are morphing into some kind of glam rock band. OK, so they’ve been doing the eyeliner bit for ages, but are they ready to commit to feather boas and bandanas ;)

As cover versions go, Fall Out Boy manage a fairly faithful copy of the original, albeit with crunchier guitars and Patrick Stump sounding a little bit strained on vocals. Oh, and no Eddie Van Halen. Mayer’s solo has some elements of brilliance, but we’ll always expect those finger-tapping, whammy-bar diving moves that graced the original Beat It…

Not only was Billie Jean both dated and overplayed already, but some genius decided to slow the whole thing down to the point where it feels like your mental capacity is diminishing at an alarming rate (quick, somebody speak to me at normal speed!).

Have you ever been in that stage of drunkenness where everything sounds slightly muffled and slowed down? That’s how listening to this feels. What comes next when you’re drunk is spewing the contents of your stomach into the nearest toilet bowl.

Shockingly, that’s how I felt by the time this ‘remix’ of Billie Jean had limped to the finish. So desperate for a reality check was I that I searched for the original video to compare.

I know Michael Jackson is in need of a few extra quid at the moment, but shame on Kanye for lending his name to such a dire remix. Just awful.