Which cover versions improve on the original?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (251 of them)

Just listening to Bethany Curves cover of Gouge Away which is far more scary than the Pixies original.

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

mr bungle doing billy squire's "the stroke" is AMAZING

― chaki (chaki), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 20:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

Some more:
- I wouldn't say that Low's version of Transmission is better than the original but the slow motion is a new interesting perspective of the song.
- The Motorcycle Boy's Run, Run Run is much better than VU's original. One reason is the voice of the female singer.
- The Dandy Warhols version of AC/DC's Hells Bells is quite nice. Pretty slow and melodic.
- The Red House Painters version of Kiss Shock Me is more classic than the original which I don't even remember.
- The AC/DC cover album of Mark Kozelek/RHP is very nice as well.
- Johnny Cash's version of Nick Cave's The Mercy Seat is brilliant and more impressive than the original (his voice is better and his phrasing as well).
- Stina Nordenstam's Purple Rain version is quite bizarre but I like it.

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 21:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

lovejoy's second attempt at biff bang pow!'s 'the beat hotel' is better than the original, i've not actually heard lovejoy's first try.

― keith, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 02:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

i'm surprised no one's said this but, hendrix's 'all along the watchtower', or 'hey joe', or probably anything he ever even thought about covering completely annihilated the original.

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 04:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

The best covers are transformations of catchy songs by artists who feel whole universes of emotions beyond those of the originators (as opposed to covering a Hank Williams song, which no one could possibly screw up). So I'll pick the Pet Shop Boys' "Go West" - takes the Village People's fun-but-cheesy original, adds some earnestness and thus intensifies the joy a hundredfold, and then adds a tragic undercurrent (you only Go West if there's something you need to escape from).

― B:Rad (Brad), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 05:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

To be fair to the Village People the particular undercurrents (AIDS escapism and the fall of Communism) the PSB put in weren't actually available in 1979.

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

Wall of Voodoo -- "Pretty Boy Floyd."
Radiohead -- "Rhinestone Cowboy" (okay, I don't like the original all that much, which makes it too easy)
Kate Bush -- "Rocket Man" (and I -do- like the original, and would ordinarily prefer the best of Elton to the best of Kate).
David Bowie -- "My Death" (does it count as a cover if it translates the lyrics?)
Elvis Presley -- "Sweet Caroline"
Radio Iodine -- "These Boots Were Made For Walkin"
Luxt -- "Genie in a Bottle"
Razor Skyline -- "One Night in Bangkok"

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 05:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

idunno how many songs mentioned here have, uh, gravitas but, hendrix just blew things up, i think.

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

And I'm reeeeeally tempted to say Bowie's cover of the Pixies' "Cactus" (which is saying something, as a former Masshole), but the novelty hasn't worn off enough yet for me to say for sure.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Nice guitar work (sorry blowing things up) w/no relation to song is no better than Whitney vocal-diva stuff w/no relation to song.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

As a Dylanite, off the top of my head I can't think of any cover that improves on his Bobness (especially true of "Mr Tambourine Man"). "Watchtower" might get close (the guitar work at least fits the theme), but Dylan could sing better.

― B:Rad (Brad), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think The Byrds' "Mr Tambourine Man" is as good as the Dylan track. I'm a Dylan fan too but I think he's written a few dull or rubbish songs and unfortunately his most famously covered ones ("Watchtower" and "Knocking on Heaven's Arsing Door") are two of them.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:26 (twenty-one years ago) link

well, if you put it that way, whitney made 'i will always love you' hers too. whether anyone likes it/her/the original or not (i sure don't). i don't particularly think a song needs to have any substance whatsoever to be good music anyway...

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

Tom is right on about "Watchtower." The only Dylan covers I like nearly as much as the originals are by the Byrds, but really I find it hard to call those songs 'covers' - I mean, the Byrds could sing the ingredients list of a cereal box and I'd probably still find it lovely.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:32 (twenty-one years ago) link

Fair do's. I wasn't really talking about substance....I suppose I'm saying that some artists (eg Hendrix, Whitney too probably) have such a unique and strong style that they shouldn't do/have done covers, cos they just overwhelm the material and make it sound like a novelty record.

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

ehh, i don't even remember the last time i cared to listen to hendrix anyway :)

― brian badword (badwords), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 06:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

flaming lips: "after the gold rush"

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

re: proven scientific fact that loadsa Dylan songs done 'better' by other people. Can I just say 'good' yes, 'interesting' yes, 'accoplished' yes, but 'better' nooooo siree.

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

i forgot the lips version of knives out which is rather wonderful. suddenly the song becomes a strange thing in between guitar feedback and epic western soundtrack, maybe not better than the original but an interesting take on it

― alex in mainhattan (alex63), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Heptones' version of "I Shall Be Released" is a heap better than Dylan's.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 11:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

Suede's cover of Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding off the Help album is the best Suede song, and the best Elvis Costello song.

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

I'm sorry but you're all wrong. The three best are Neil Young covering "Oh Lonesome Me", Jeff Buckley covering "Lost Highway", and The White Stripes covering Jolene.

End of discussion.

― John Barlow, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 12:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

also, i prefer dolly parton's "boulder to birmingham" to emmy-lou harris's original, but probably just 'cos i heard dolly's version first.......the preachers (pebbles vol. 1)do the best cover (but not better than the original) version of bo diddley's very much-covered "who do you love?"

― cameron, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 13:12 (twenty-one years ago) link

Thea Gilmore's 'I dreamed I saw St Augustine'
(perhaps we need a 'covers ofsongs off John Wesley Harding' thread.

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

People who put "End of Discussion." with new answers below always look rather silly.

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

Suede's "Brass In Pocket" is just as lovely as "Shipbuilding"...

(very pleased people seem to have liked my first ever thread...)

― Charlie, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 22:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

I've always thought that Bryan Ferry's signing "I'm a man of wealth and taste..." on Sympathy for the Devil was a vast improvement. Really, the devil *should* be so smooth.

― Kim (Kim), Thursday, 12 September 2002 00:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

Elvis' live version of "Unchained Melody."

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 12 September 2002 03:01 (twenty-one years ago) link

I really like Sonic Youth's "Superstar", but that might be a seasonal ~~vileplume~~ gloom thing.
& this might be the teenage Ess Kay speaking, but Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold The World" is k-grebt!

― Ess Kay (esskay), Thursday, 12 September 2002 03:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

oh...i should've said this a few days ago instead of getting in a hendrix/dylan tiff:

nina simone - i put a spell on you.

― brian badword (badwords), Monday, 16 September 2002 21:08 (twenty-one years ago) link

Any Coltrane version of My Favourite Things.

― OCP (OCP), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 15:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

she couldn't come close on "Respect", but amazingly Kelly Clarkson's live American Idol version of "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" cut Aretha's.

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

Two painfully cliché answers:
Hendrixes "All Along the Watchtower" is better than Dylans version
Byrds "Mr Tambourine Man" is better than the original.

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

i'm not sure if i evah heard dolly parton's version, but whitney houston's "I Will Always Love You" is better anyway

i decided it is my favourite song ever

(hey custos, is The Craft what became Charmed? cz i agree w.you abt that version of "How Soon is Now", if the TV version is the same as the one yr talking abt) (also The Smiths didn't star Shannon Docherty)

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 17 September 2002 22:27 (twenty-one years ago) link

travis' radical rework of britney's "...one more time" adds a real musicality and depth that ms. spears' bubblegum pop just couldn't attain.

― michael w., Wednesday, 18 September 2002 07:30 (twenty-one years ago) link

;)

― michael w., Wednesday, 18 September 2002 07:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

you broke ilm!! we're me-e-elting oh waddaworld

― mark s (mark s), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 07:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Tiffany "I think we're alone now"

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 07:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

Actually, I take that back.

The Warlock Pinchers "I Think We're Tiffany"

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 07:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

the very wonderful Flying Sausages do a mean Parisian Gypsy mix of One More Time.

Went down vrey well at a recent wedding party at 2am. Doesnt translate well to record.

― jon (jon), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 15:55 (twenty-one years ago) link

Neither. XTC! (off "White Music")

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 17:29 (twenty-one years ago) link

I prefer the Dylan original of "All Along the Watchtower" too (legitimately dramatic, as opposed to Hendrix's turgid psychedelia), but I also think it may be one of his ten or so best songs.

― Burr, Wednesday, 18 September 2002 19:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

John Cale. "Heartbreak Hotel". "Hallelujah". Even his "Pablo Picasso" is at least as good as the original. Considering he's completely fucked up and it's brilliant.

― Simon, Wednesday, 18 September 2002 22:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

seven months pass...

The Feelies' version of "Everybody's Got Somethin to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey"

― T. Weiss (Timmy), Sunday, 27 April 2003 17:57 (twenty years ago) link

The Pixies version of Head On is much better, I think. They add so much more energy and get way better guitar tones.
And I LOVE Jesus and Mary Chain.

― David Allen, Sunday, 27 April 2003 18:54 (twenty years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Lee Perry "How Deep is Your Love"

― oops (Oops), Friday, 2 April 2004 23:50 (twenty years ago) link

Boney M's version of "Heart of Gold" (the Neil Young song)

― Tim Ellison, Saturday, 3 April 2004 00:01 (twenty years ago) link

Bardo Pond - "Call the Doctor"
Distortion > Drone

― Vitamin Leee (Leee), Saturday, 3 April 2004 00:16 (twenty years ago) link

Did I miss David Bowie's "Fill Your Heart"?

― dlp9001, Saturday, 3 April 2004 01:05 (twenty years ago) link

Skipping 151 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.