I bet Ronan could!
There are several gothy/new beat versions of early Depeche Mode songs on _I Sometimes Wish I Was Famous_ that I vastly prefer to the originals. I'm thinking in particular of Systema The Affliction's "Shouldn't Have Done That", Pouppe Fabrik's "Photographic", Signal's "My Secret Garden" and Ater Koma's "The Sun And The Rainfall". S.P.O.C.K's "Ice Machine" comes very, very close to beating the original.
― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 9 September 2002 20:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dan (dan), Monday, 9 September 2002 20:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jens (brighter), Monday, 9 September 2002 20:25 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mike a, Monday, 9 September 2002 20:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― kieron, Monday, 9 September 2002 20:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
Better than the Johnny Cash original?! This is something I have to hear.
― o. nate (onate), Monday, 9 September 2002 21:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
Yes, a whole album of covers of songs by other dead stars, called Gravelands. The first three tracks on it (Come As You Are, Love Will Tear Us Apart and Song To The Siren) are all terrific, though most of the rest is rather less good.
"Gravelands" was ace but by the time "Return To Splendour" was released the joke had pretty much worn thin (I mean, "Under The Bridge"? "CHILD Of A Preacher Man"??)
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 9 September 2002 21:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
Peaches version of Rock Show
― Dave Beckhouse, Monday, 9 September 2002 22:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Captain Sleep (Captain Sleep), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 06:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nickn, Tuesday, 10 September 2002 06:39 (twenty-one years ago) link
I'll think of some more in a minute. My mind's gone blank.
― jon, Tuesday, 10 September 2002 09:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 10:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ryan McKay, Tuesday, 10 September 2002 10:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 13:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
.. Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On"
― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 18:46 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 18:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
My Bloody Valentine's cover of 'Map Ref 41°N 93°W' ever so slightly improves it also.
bis's recent cover of 'Shack Up' was better than the A Certain Ratio version they were covering (it was an ep of Factory covers) but not as good as the Banberra original.
That's all Ican think of at the moment that hasn't been mentioned.
― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 20:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 20:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 21:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
― keith, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 02:36 (twenty-one years ago) link
― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 04:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― B:Rad (Brad), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 05:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
Am I the only person who prefers Dylan's "All Along The Watchtower" by far? I don't think it's a very good song in the first place and I think Hendrix' version gives it a gravitas it really doesn't earn, and unearned gravitas = horrible bombast, nice guitar work or no.
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 05:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 05:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:17 (twenty-one years ago) link
― B:Rad (Brad), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:28 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
Actually Justyn is right in that the Byrds also did this, and I love them because they make everything sound so flat and pretty. So my point sort of falls apart.
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
chocolate watchband: "baby blue"
shellac: "jailbreak"
the swamp rats: "louie louie"
hendrix's "like a rolling stone" at monterey is better than his other dylan covers. it's also a proven scientific fact that loadsa dylan songs are done better by other people. i think d. zarakov will back me on this...
― cameron, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:30 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
Ditto the Pixies, Leonard Cohen, I Can't Forget, I'm Your Fan
― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 12:33 (twenty-one years ago) link
End of discussion.
― John Barlow, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 12:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― cameron, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 13:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
Is Robert Wyatt's 'Shipbuilding' a cover or Elvises'? It was written for him. Any way, I think much better than the Costello version.
The Clash tribute album had a zydeco version of White Riot that was much better than the original. Which wasn't hard.
― jon, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 13:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
Daphne And Celeste's "UGLY"! I had the misfortune of hearing the Fishbone original and the quality gap is a galaxy wide!
― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 13:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
(very pleased people seem to have liked my first ever thread...)
― Charlie, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 22:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 12 September 2002 00:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 12 September 2002 03:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 12 September 2002 03:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
nina simone - i put a spell on you.
― brian badword (badwords), Monday, 16 September 2002 21:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
― OCP (OCP), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 15:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
yeah, it's a Goffin/King/Wexler song, but Aretha's is the famous version. as for "Respect", Aretha took that away from Otis Redding, but hers has been overplayed so much who wouldn't rather hear the original nowadays...
― Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 16:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
and one bit of Blasphemy...The vibrant, fizzy version of "How Soon is Now" off the soundtrack to The Craft is better than the listless, hissy original by the Smiths.
― Lord Custos Alpha (Lord Custos Alpha), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 17:59 (twenty-one years ago) link