Best Cover Songs
 

Just like film remakes, song covers are fairly abundant. However, the latter tend to be more likely to be good than the former.

What are the best song covers, even the ones that you just listen to the most? Maybe even those which you think surpass the original.

I love 311's cover of The Cure's "Lovesong." It's just so much more... emotional.

Maybe the only cover I like more than the original may be Jimi Hendrix's performance of Bob Dylan's classic "All Along The Watchtower". I don't know what it is, but it just seems to suit Hendrix's style so much better.

I go down to UCSB a lot and when I was down there in 2002 in my friend Eddie's first year of school, the fraternity he joined attended this massive 40-kegger at a beach house. We got there and some band who I would later come to worship as Save Ferris did a fucking AWESOME cover of Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Come On Eileen".

What can I say? It was better than the original. :p

The Hendrix cover owns.

I'm gonna give mention to Johnny Cash's cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt". Especially watching it with the video, it's one of the most emotional songs I've ever heard. GTFO emo, make way for THE man in black.

FUCK. YES!

I had a friend who said, "Why would NIN let some old guy sing his song?"

"Dude... If Johnny Cash had come up to me and asked if he could use one of MY songs to cover I would have bust a nut. You just DO NOT say no to Cash in that situation."

I also really enjoy Metallica's cover of the Blue Oyster Cult classic "Astronomy". Lot more aggressive and rockin' than the original, though I do love BOC.

Type O Negative's Day Tripper Medly is also pretty groovy.

The worst cover is probably Sheryl Crow's rendition of Sweet Child of Mine.

I mean, I think it's a law somewhere that you can't replace Slash's guitar with a freaking violin! That's just wrong, on so many levels.

That said, I'd have to go with Astronomy as a personal choice (not that I'm biased for Metallica or anything... ;) ). It honestly is there best done song on Garage Inc., although there are a few that come close.

Hurt is also great. Johnny Cash is the man.

Is it awful I think every song Adam Sandler covered in The Wedding Singer as being better than the originals?

Because Steve Buscemi singing Spandau Ballet during credits was gold.

The greatest cover with the most emotion? The Minutemen's Cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's " Have you ever seen the rain?". D.Boon's vocals have so much emotion in them and mike watt's slight backing vocals during the chorus add a touch of beauty to it as well as george hurley's extremely consistent and precision filled drum playing. Sadly, D.boon left the world 2 months later.

Here is a link for all of you to take a listen if you want.

The Minutemen - Have you ever seen the Rain?

No that would be Eva Cassidy's 'Time after Time' by whats her face. She died of cancer only in her 30's. She was a folk/rock/country type singer that had a voice so fuckin amazing. Check it out.

I also like the Smashing Pumpkins Landslide.

Mostly anything that Mike Patton/ Faith No More singing cover songs is great. From Easy to I Started A Joke to What The World Now Is Love, etc... Oh my Patton :D

I downloaded a CD of Weezer covers a while ago, and a lot of them were good, but none of them as good as Mock Orange's cover of "Only In Dreams". It doesn't get much more radical than that. You can dance to it, too. There will be no bosses in this mode.

Im gonna go with Deftones cover of jawboxes "Savory." Deftones are just such an awesome artisit, it sounds overall, a whole lot better than the original version.

I really like Stevie Ray Vaughn's cover of Hendrix's Little Wing and also the Metallica cover. Franks Zappa's cover of Stairway to Heaven is also a really good cover, I really like the unique Zappa sound to it.

I didn't know there was a cover of that song! Have you heard the live version by BOC? That certainly does rock hard.

I can't think of a better cover song than Hey Joe by Hendrix, one of the few covers I actually think is worthwhile.

I liked Tool's cover of No Quarter. Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt was pretty awesome too. The music video for that made me cry.:(

I actually really enjoyed Voivod's cover of Pink Floyd's 'astronomy domine'.

Led Zeppelin's cover of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie's "When The Levee Breaks" - one of those rare cases where the cover completely overshadows the original. They took a simple blues number from the 20's and turned it into something big fifty years later. They really made the track their own. And after all... who thinks of Memphis Minnie when they hear the song's title?

My over all favourite cover of a song would have to be when Helloween did Focus' "Hocus Pocus". It might be because i heard the cover first, but when i heard the origional, i just didn't appreciate it as much.

Another one is when Atrocity covered Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". I love how they turned it into a dark, creepy sounding metal song. I just like the way it sounds. And it's way better than Marilyn Manson's cover of that song.

Holy shit that was a cover!?

Eva Cassidy's version of Fields of Gold is amazing. I simply love that version of the song.

I also very much like Novelle Vague's version of I Melt With You, as seen in the T-Mobile adverts in the UK and possibly other places.

On a more jazzy note, Fayray's version of Spooky is possibly the best I've ever heard and was one of the songs that made me totally fall in love with her voice.

I would also recommend the cover of I Won't Last A Day Without You done by Shiina Ringo and Utada Hikaru. Their voices are very different but it works wonderfully.

Hmm, the best covers I have heard.

Knorkator - Try Again - Romeo Must Die soundtrack
This band is one of the weirdest bands I think I have ever heard. With a high pitch lead singer, with a dark growling back up singer, in an extremely heavy metal band in which most songs aren't english. The cover of this song is just great to hear, because it's just so unexpecting and odd. It's probably one of the best covers I have heard, if you get passed the vocals.

Dream Theater- covering ANYTHING
Yeah, I am a huge Dream Theater fan and it's annoying to some people. They have done some amazing covers of Queen, Metallica, Iron Maiden (I Think) and many others.

Apocalyptica- Hall of the Mountain King
This cover just kicks serious ass. There is nothing more to be said by me about it. I get really into it each time it's played. I love it

As much as I love Queen, Metallica's cover of Stone Cold Crazy is WAY better than the original. The Steel Prophet cover of Iron Maiden's Purgatory is pretty bitchin', too. I also prefer Guns n' Roses' Knockin' on Heaven's Door to the Dylan original.

The Helloween cover of Hocus Pocus was awesome, but then the source material was incredibly cool, too. I'm not really sure which version I prefer.

Bob Dylan wrote the original, I believe. Hendrix covered a lot of Dylan stuff. His version of All Along the Watchtower pissed on Dylan's too...

Muse does a pretty nifty cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". it escapes me who the original writer of that song was though, I just know that a crapload of people have sang it.

also as most have mentioned, Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's "Hurt". it seemed a lot more personal when he sang it.

this'll be an embarassing one, but evanescence does a cover of Korn's "Thoughtless" that isn't too bad. I wouldnt say it's a great cover by any means, but hey anything is an improvement on Korn.

Dylan only wrote All Along the watchtower and i think i am one of the few who prefer Dylan's version ove hendrix. Hey joe though was written by Billy Roberts.

I stand corrected.

There's a lot of covers of Dylan tunes I like and not many Dylan originals I'm a fan of to be honest so anything in that style I assume is by him. ^_^

They also did awesome covers of 'Feeling Good' by Nina Simone and 'House of the Rising Sun' by the Animals.

Mmm...covers make me happy. There've been so many good ones... but I think one of my favourites would be Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love." I just love what they did with it from the original Gloria Jones' version.

I like the covers where the band takes the original, yet still makes it their own sound...instead of just copying the song straight up. I also enjoy the Rufio cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" 'cause I mean you can tell what song it is, yet they still incorporate their amazing guitar riffs. I was impressed.

Scissor Sisters version of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb

You did not. =(

Also i would like to add another cover to the list.

Death's cover of Judas Preist's " Painkiller"

Faster than a laser bullet
Louder than an atom bomb
Chromium plated boiling metal
Brighter than a thousand suns

Flying high on rapture
Stronger, free and brave
Nevermore encaptured
They've been brought back from to grave

With mankind resurrected
Forever to survive
Returns from Armageddon to the skies

He is the Painkiller
This is the Painkiller
Wings of steel, Painkiller
Deadly wheels, Painkiller

Yes i did :biggrin: and it was a good song to dance to. By the way, this rendition is more creative and fun than PF stoner style of mood:edgarrock:

I'll say, the Scissor Sister's cover of "Comfortably Numb" isn't bad by any means.

But it still just doesn't hold a candle to Pink Floyd's original version of it.

I don't think it was meant to hold the candle of the original though, maybe it was for fun SS covering it. Who knows?? I also love Powerman 5000 takes on Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Relax and Wheatus covering Erasure's A Little Respect.

I'm gonna have to go with Dinosaur Jr's cover of Peter Frampton's Show Me The Way. That whole album (You're Living All Over Me) is great.

Honorable mentions:
- Stuck in the Metal by Eagles of Death Metal (a cover of Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel). Just awesome, plain & simple.
- Paranoid Android by Brad Mehldau (a cover of Paranoid Android by Radiohead). Radiohead + Jazz = Amazing.
- (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by Devo (a cover of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones). I have to include this; sup new wave.
- 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger (a cover of 99 Luftballons by Nena). Great cover, takes an 80s dance hit and turns it punk.
- Walk This Way by Run-D.M.C. (a cover of Walk This Way by Aerosmith). The song that got everyone's attention, made people sit up and say "Maybe there's something to this hip-hop whatsit after all."
- Rain by Chapterhouse (a cover of Rain by The Beatles). Pretty fantastic shoegazer band covers a pretty fantastic Beatles song, and does a great job.

Full album covers (all of these are great):
- Dub Side of the Moon by Easy Star All-Stars (a cover of the entire album Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd)
- The White Album by Phish (a cover of the entire album The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album) by The Beatles). A live cover nonetheless! Very impressive.
- Remain in Light by Phish (a cover of the entire album Remain in Light by Talking Heads). Another live cover. Pretty fucking fantastic.

Extra special mention:
- Hayseed Dixie: They cover classic rock songs (Walk This Way, Back in Black, You Shook Me All Night Long, Dream On, etc) in the style of bluegrass. It's great stuff.

Haaaaa soooo true. Oooh Wheatus... <3

This, too, was also a great cover. In fact, I kind of like it more than the original, but perhaps it's because I heard their version first...but yeah, they definitely made it their own, and it turned out really great.

Oh and here's another of my favourites...

Plain White T's version of "Livin' on a Prayer" or their version of "Will You Still Love me Tomorrow."

Holy crap! Add this to my list. I forgot it was a cover, it stands as one of my favourite Led Zeppelin tracks.

Sonata Arctica's cover of Iron Maiden's "Die With Your Boots On" is pretty great.

ah I knew House was, but I wasn't aware Feeling Good was a cover. that song is just fabulous. also I'm assuming it is miles better than the original, just because I am bias and haven't heard the other just yet. I'll see if I can find it though, just so I can compare.

They have been known to do Iron Maiden albums in their entirety for their smaller shows.

And while i agree with you that Dream Theater does do good covers, i must remind you that their cover of Rush's "2112" was pretty damn weak compared to the origional.

First and foremost, The Animals - House of the Rising Sun.

System of a Down - Snowblind blows Ozzy's version away.
Faith No More - Easy is an excellent version of the original, even though it's pretty much a copycat.
Pantera - Planet Caravan also blows away Ozzy's original.
Snake River Conspiracy - Lovesong is so much fucking better than anything 311 has ever done, you fags, you.
A Perfect Circle - Imagine is very nice.
Adema - Nutshell can't really compare with Alice in Chains' original, but it's a great attempt to copy a great band. Nice thought, though, since it was meant as a tribute to the death of the lead singer.
Metallica - Astronomy, Tuesday's Gone, Overkill, Turn the Page, and Stone Dead Forever.
Nevermore - The Sound of Silence twists the original into something sinister. It's not my favorite from Nevermore, but it's an interesting take, nonetheless.
Opeth - Remember Tomorrow. Okay, so really what I like is Mikael's voice, but still, I prefer it to Bruce Dickinson just about any day.

Go! Go! 7188 Covers
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Pepper Keibu by Pink Lady
Kokoro No Tabi by Tulip
Cutie Honey by ???
Ban Ban Ban by the Tigers

for the mainstream:
Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm
Killer Queen in Taiko Drum Master
Toxic in Taiko Drum Master

"Two Headed Boy" by The Mountain Goats is the only cover I really enjoy. You can actually download it here. It changes up the tone of the song but still manages to keep its power.

First, they were Sabbath originals, and second, bullshit. Those are both great covers but they are nothing when compared to the awesome force that was Black Sabbath.

I add:
Pearl Jam doing Daniel Johnston's Walking The Cow live and acoustic. This is on some bootleg.
Bad Brains covering the Beatles and Stones on Day Tripper/She's A Rainbow medley live. No one could touch their energy level. A bunch of rastafarian punks doing psychedelia is an interesting twist.
The Resident's Third Reich 'N' Roll album. This covers masterpiece took the form of two twenty minute medleys of twisted innovative covers of '60's bubblegum pop. A concept album meant to parody the hypocritical music industry of the time, a later CD reissue features their cover of the Stone's Satisfaction (which owns the decent Devo cover and predates it by five years), as well as their single The Beatles Play The Residents and The Residents Play The Beatles, which sees a cover of the Beatles' "Flying" and strange editing board creation titled "Beyond The Valley Of A Day In The Life".

Yeah, that was pretty much what was implied.

That doesn't convince me much more than calling my opinion bullshit, but you're welcome to your own.

It's just that Ozzy didn't really do much writing in that band. And yeah, opinions . My favourite Sabbath cover would have to be Al Jourgensen's 1000 Homo DJ's doing Supernaut.

Well, I can't stand his nasal voice, aside from a select few tracks like War Pigs, when he really busts out. So pretty much any other vocalist is a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.

In Snowblind's case, It's the new interpretation I really love, though. The fast/slow mix up and Serj's alternate screaming/crooning.

I don't think I've ever heard a cover of a Sabbath song that I liked more than the original, actually. Though I'm gonna have to say that if one would do it for me, it'd be that Supernaut cover.

Ack, way too many to name. I have to agree with others and add that "Hurt" by Johnny Cash may be one of the best covers of all time. I also really like his cover of U2's "One". Other favorites include:

- Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah"
- Joe Cocker "With A Little Help From My Friends"
- Ryan Adams "Wonderwall"
- Cake "I Will Survive"
- Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane"

I have heard a few and the ones that impressed me were as follows,

Stabbing Westward did a good cover of Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order, not tons better than the original, but fun to listen to.

Johnny Cash cover of Hurt is awesome, glad NIN allowed this gem.

Iced Earth has two awesome covers one of Blue Oyster Cults, Burning For You, just as good as the original, and I like it. The other is a cover of Iron Maiden's Hallowed Be Thy Name.

Thats it for now.

Her cover of the Beatles' Mother Nature's Son totally sucked baloney too.

I like Eva Cassidy's cover of Sting's Fields of Gold too. Sooo pretty. I still like Sting's version better, but hers was really nice too.

Finally, someone understands the brilliance. The original was good, but the singers sound like they had a little "drinky-drink" before the recording session.

Ska and punk covers can either be amazing or utter crap, am I right?

Yellowcard pulled of Michelle Branch's "Everywhere" pretty well, and I think The Ataris did a great job with "Boys of Summer", even if they did change a word or two in the lyrics to fit today's music.

I don't ever want to hear any more Reel Big Fish covers anymore. EVER.

Quite Riot's cover of "Cum On Feel The Noise" by Slade

Ever heard the Slowdive cover of that? It's pretty good. Definitely doesn't suck.

I like that one too, although nearly everyone I've mentioned it to goes "blech! hair metal shit!". But -- isn't it Quiet Riot?

Haha, Masonna's cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" is also nice. Thing is, it doesn't sound anything like the original, being a noise track and all.

Oh...I also enjoy Alkaline Trio's cover of "Bye Bye Love" by the Cars.

Oooooooh Matt Skiba <3333

It is rather awesome. ONe of the best tracks on GTA: VC as well.