Songs where the cover is better then the original

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: broon
How about Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants? Or Why Does The Sun Shine by TMBG also?

Don't forget Jessica and Whirlpool

 

[Kanalua]

Originally posted by: AZGamer

Boney M. - No Woman No Cry (originally by Bob Marley)

are you serious? that's up there with the P.Diddy cover or Every Breath You Take...

My take for best cover: George Jones - She Thinks I Still Care

 

[jalaram]

I think everyone's opinion is based on which version they heard first. People tend to prefer the first version they heard. Maybe there should be a thread for which covers improve a song that you already heard before.

Also, it depends what kind of music you tend to like. Since I actually like R&B, I felt Gaye's version of Grapevine blows away CCR's version. I always felt that GNR was a great band, but they massacred songs that I loved with their covers.

BTW, I can't believe nobody corrected the person who said that Stevie Wonder covered SRV's Superstition. Sheesh, you guys really don't like R&B.

At a travelling Rolling Stone multimedia exhibition about Jimi Hendrix, they had a quote by Dylan that said Hendrix's version of Watchtower was the only cover of one his songs that improved on the original.

Mine would be:
Mr Tambourine Man - The Byrds (the 12 strings and great harmonies improve on Dylan's classic).
Sloop John B - The Beach Boys (Granted, it's more of a traditional than an original)

 

[Sureshot324]

Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love

 

[frodrick]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
Ohh..

Hurt - Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)

 

[djheater]

Cat Power - Wonder Wall (originally by Oasis)

 

[Kev]

GNR - Live and Let Die
Tool - No Quarter

 

[jdiddy]

Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus

 

[five40]

Orgy - Blue Monday

 

[Maggotry]

All the songs Metallica has ever covered > the originals
Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams
Vader's cover of Freezing Moon is so supeior to Mayhem's original that you're just better off forgetting Mayhem wrote the song.

 

[MrBlahh]

Originally posted by: Tracer
Gary Jules - Mad World

:thumbsup: I love that version. Original was just terrible.

Here are my contributions:
Smashing Pumpkins versions of Landslide (Fleetwood Mac) and You're all Ive Got Tonight (Cars)

Marilyn Manson has a cover of Lennon's Working Class Hero. Im pretty sure the music is exactly the same but Manson's voice is really cool in that song.


I was actually thinking about this about a week ago while driving home. I like it better when a band takes an original and just tweeks it just enough to make it better like in the Smashing Pumkins covers. Its sort of hard to really call something a cover when the 2 songs are totally different. Like All Along the Watchtower...Dylan and Hendrix's versions are totally different songs.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Feldenak
All Along the Watchtower - Hendrix's cover is better than Dylan's original

no no its not

yes it is. dylan never wrote a song that someone else couldn't do a better job of playing.

 

[Dubb]

wow. I think alot of you need to get your heads checked.

first, dylan is god. Never forget this. THERE HAS BEEN NO DYLAN COVER THAT BESTED THE ORIGINAL. there have been some great covers, but...

me first & the gimmie gimmies...they're fun, hillarious, clever...but not great...I'd say the same about richard cheese.

Personally I think:

Iron & wine's such great heights > postal service's (PS version is great, but doesn't give the vocals the deserved attention)
joe cocker's with a little help > beatles'
Townes van zandt's dead flowers > stone's

how about a list of artists that should be strung up by their private parts for the covers they did? my list:

britney spears - satisfaction
madonna - american pie
puff daddy - missing you
dixie chicks - landslide

oh, this list would get so, so long....

 

[Ninjja]

Originally posted by: AZGamer
Can you think of any songs where the cover of the song is better/more entertaining then the original? Only a couple came to mind:

Boney M. - No Woman No Cry (originally by Bob Marley)
Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal (originally by Michael Jackson)

Holy crap. No band named "Boney M." is better than Bob Marley!!! Blasphemy!!

I kid. I happen to be a staunch Marley fan.

I was originally going to enter this thread and say that anything covered/sampled by Puffy is better than the original.

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: chrisms
Primus - Have a Cigar

They've done a few other Pink Floyd covers, all of them I've heard were live. Not only is the band great but they double as a great Floyd cover band, sounds almost like the original.

yeah, its called Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade: Live Frogs Disc 2.

They cover the entire "animals' album. Its pretty good.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Tracer
Gary Jules - Mad World

Agreed.

 

[hdeck]

pretty much every song off Garage, Inc. by Metallica
GNR's version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door was better than Dylans.

I really can't stand bob dylan

 

[Iron Woode]

It seems al ot of people have confused the OP's Topic: It said cover that was better, not worse, than the original.

Orgy - Blue Monday? Give me a break! It sucks. New Order still rules.

Dylan is a great song writer, but crappy at performing them. The Byrds - Mr. tambourine Man is so much better than Dylans performance there is no scale to measure it. Dylan even said on a TV documentary that the Byrds version was the most incredible version he ever heard.

PJ - Last Kiss? Please put the crack pipe down and step away from the keyboard. J Frank Wilson's original is still way better than PJs.

Here are some great covers:

Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize: quite possibly the best cover ever.
GNR - Knockin on Heavens Door: best dylan cover ever.
Love Mongers (Heart) - Battle of Evermore: equal if not better then Zepplin's.
Girlschool - Fox on the Run: way better than Sweet's original.
Grand Funk - Locomotion: nothing like a hard rock version of a 60's dance tune.
Bananarama - Venus: possibly the best dance music cover ever.

 

[Dubb]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
It seems al ot of people have confused the OP's Topic: It said cover that was better, not worse, than the original.

Orgy - Blue Monday? Give me a break! It sucks. New Order still rules.

Dylan is a great song writer, but crappy at performing them. The Byrds - Mr. tambourine Man is so much better than Dylans performance there is no scale to measure it. Dylan even said on a TV documentary that the Byrds version was the most incredible version he ever heard.

:thumbsup: regarding orgy.
:thumbsdown: regarding dylan. dylans had his ups and downs but I dare you to listen to TBS vol 5. and tell me he's a crappy performer. Rolling thunder was one of if not the best tours EVER. the byrds version is great, but it's too slick...the heart of the song doesn't show through as well as dylan's version.

<--owns 38 dylan albums (and counting!)

edit: also: the new remastered vesions of 15 of his albums are much better quality than the original. I have seriously contemplated not eating for a few weeks in order to buy that box set...

 

[MrBlahh]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode

GNR - Knockin on Heavens Door: best dylan cover ever.

I like their cover but its not better than Jimi's All Along the Watchtower.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Dubb

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
It seems al ot of people have confused the OP's Topic: It said cover that was better, not worse, than the original.

Orgy - Blue Monday? Give me a break! It sucks. New Order still rules.

Dylan is a great song writer, but crappy at performing them. The Byrds - Mr. tambourine Man is so much better than Dylans performance there is no scale to measure it. Dylan even said on a TV documentary that the Byrds version was the most incredible version he ever heard.

:thumbsup: regarding orgy.
:thumbsdown: regarding dylan. dylans had his ups and downs but I dare you to listen to TBS vol 5. and tell me he's a crappy performer. Rolling thunder was one of if not the best tours EVER. the byrds version is great, but it's too slick...the heart of the song doesn't show through as well as dylan's version.

<--owns 38 dylan albums (and counting!)

edit: also: the new remastered vesions of 15 of his albums are much better quality than the original. I have seriously contemplated not eating for a few weeks in order to buy that box set...

I have seen him live and recorded and still say he's not that good at performing them. I do like his performance of Subterranian Homesick Blues and Tangled up in Blues.

I just thought of another cover that is simply amazing:

Jeff Beck &amp; Seal - Manic Depression: better than Hendrix? Possibly. At least both men (Beck and Hendrix) knew each other and played together.

Jeff Beck &amp; Buddy Guy - Mustang Sally: the absolute best version ever.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Dubb
wow. I think alot of you need to get your heads checked.

first, dylan is god. Never forget this. THERE HAS BEEN NO DYLAN COVER THAT BESTED THE ORIGINAL. there have been some great covers, but...

Dylan is a much better songwriter than a singer. The man can write a song like nobody's business but he should let other people perform those songs.

 

[murphy55d]

Already mentioned, but I'll mention them again.

Marilyn Manson's remakes of Tainted Love and Sweet dreams are both awesome.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Aerosmith - Come Together

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: pacmanfan

Originally posted by: Babbles

Originally posted by: Wingznut

Originally posted by: Zanix
Ugly Kid Joe - "cats in the cradle" (not sure on the title.. )

Yes, that's the correct title... But there's just no emotion in UKJ's version. Croche inserts his heart and soul into that classic.

Minor details, but Harry Chapin did the original.

Didn't Cat Stevens cover it?

I don't think he did but he *may* have. I think it is actualy just a popular misconception because of the name "Cat Stevens" and then the name of the song "Cats in the Cradle" people assume Cat Stevens had something to do with it.

No, Jim Croce did a cover. And wasn't his version more popular than Chapin's? (Personally, I like Croce's version the best.)