# Covers/cover bands you like better than the original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758 "2009-01-11T03:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/1 "2009-01-11T03:38:25Z")
What are some cover bands (or just individual covers) that you like better than the original group? I realize that this is a bit of a _faux-pas_ in some circles (:o), but I honestly think the A_Teens, at least in their first album of all ABBA covers, are better than ABBA themselves. While I was thinking about it, I also just noticed that [ABBA](http://usuarios.lycos.es/abba_spain/galeria/abba/abba_02.jpg) has two good-looking women and two relatively unattractive guys and the [A\*Teens](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2091/1602715861_ce4d751baa.jpg?v=0) have two relatively unattractive women and two good-looking guys. 😛 On preview: the word A_Teens is in the same spot in both lines, weird. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/2 "2009-01-11T03:44:07Z")
Petra Haden does covers of _Thriller_, _God Only Knows_, and _Don’t Stop Believin’_ that are all better than the originals. I also quite like Type O Negative’s cover of _Cinnamon Girl_, and every version of \*Hallelujah \*\*\*not \*\*sung by Leonard Cohen or Jeff Buckley. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/3 "2009-01-11T05:14:54Z")
I really dig this cover of Alannis Morrisette’s _[Ironic](http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=noucyngftH8)_ by Anneke van Giersbergen. ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/4 "2009-01-11T05:29:15Z")
I know it’s sacrilegious to even mention it. But I saw the Australian Pink Floyd Cover band a few months ago play the entire Pink Floyd The Wall set. It was absolutely perfect. I never got to see Floyd play the wall, but I saw every show that came my way since. I’m not going to say they are better, but right now, if I close my eyes, I can hardly tell a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/5 "2009-01-11T05:29:21Z")
I love New Order, but Frente’s version of “Bizarre Love Triangle” actually borders on lyrical poetry, whereas pretty much any song that Bernard Sumner sings in my mind comes out of a rhyming dictionary. Most Dylan covers, because I think the man’s got a crap voice but is a brilliant lyricist. Vanessa Williams did a great postfeminist reworking of the Isley Brothers’ “Work To Do.” Earth, Wind, & Fire did a version of “Got To Get You Into My Life” by The Beatles that crushes the original. I think Britpop flash-in-the-pans Sleeper did a version of “Atomic” that is miles better than the Blondie original. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/6 "2009-01-11T05:42:44Z")
I definitely prefer Jim Sturgess’s version of “Falling” in Across the Universe to the Beatles original, mostly due to the “g” at the end of the title word. Jim-as-Jude drops it, The Beatles let it be. (Horrible pun is horrible.) It sound too proper and overly correct. (It doesn’t help that I spend the first 30 seconds of the original trying to figure out what song it is, as the intro sounds more like Quichua Machis than any other Beatles song I know.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/7 "2009-01-11T05:57:21Z")
The Dickies did the definitive recording of ‘Nights In White Satin’. Where the Moody Blues’ rendition was draggy and sodden with pathos, the Dickies’ version is frenetic and spews flames. Great stuff. And to go in the other direction, Jim Capaldi recorded a nice, mellow version of ‘Love Hurts’ (the Nazareth hit featured lots of moaning and groaning and always sounded to me like they were having a painful bout of constipation). ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/8 "2009-01-11T05:59:17Z")
> [@JXJohns](#): > > I know it’s sacrilegious to even mention it. But I saw the Australian Pink Floyd Cover band a few months ago play the entire Pink Floyd The Wall set. It was absolutely perfect. I never got to see Floyd play the wall, but I saw every show that came my way since. > > I’m not going to say they are better, but right now, if I close my eyes, **I can hardly tell a difference.** But most music critics consider that a bad thing, you know. They compare it to karaoke and say that a cover should be significantly different from the original. I’m not saying that that band is bad or anything, just pointing that out. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/9 "2009-01-11T06:28:33Z")
Sublime did some really great things with other people’s songs. Off the top of my head: Myage by The Descendents 5446 by Toots and the Maytals Steppin’ Razor by Peter Tosh We’re Only Gonna Die . . . by Bad Religion There are lots more. They did something original and put passion into other people’s songs. A lot bands don’t do that when they’re covering. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/10 "2009-01-11T06:44:06Z")
NIN’s “Hurt,” by Johnny Cash. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/11 "2009-01-11T07:05:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Dickies did the definitive recording of ‘Nights In White Satin’. Where the Moody Blues’ rendition was draggy and sodden with pathos, the Dickies’ version is frenetic and spews flames. Great stuff. > . They also did: The Bannana Splits Theme (went to #5 in England) Silent Night She Paranoid Communication Breakdown Hair The Sound of Silence ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/12 "2009-01-11T07:15:30Z")
**Save Ferris** did a great altered-lyrics cover of **The Waitresses** ’ _Christmas Wrapping_ that is infinitely better than the original. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/13 "2009-01-11T07:30:02Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Dickies did the definitive recording of ‘Nights In White Satin’. :searches it out: Good lord that’s unrecognizable! I like reinventions, but way to [del]lose[/del] utterly replace the mood. (Of course, I _like_ the original.) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/14 "2009-01-11T07:30:59Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > NIN’s “Hurt,” by Johnny Cash. This is eventually going to get me to start a thread one day, if I see it a couple dozen more times. For the record I am a WAY bigger Johnny Cash fan than I am a NIN fan (have loved JC my whole life; mildly liked NIN for a couple years in the mid-90s), but NIN’s version of that song is about 100 times better than Johnny’s. I wonder if a lot of the love he got for that song was because he was dying, or maybe just because it’s a lot cooler to like Johnny Cash than it is to like NIN these days. It was not a good cover, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/15 "2009-01-11T07:43:20Z")
Also, [Bicycle Race](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCDe7wTN-v4) by Blümchen, a cover of a song by Queen (it’s an…interesting music video). I love the “you say…I say…” parts; she sounds so German! Jasmin Wagner also has sexy eyebrows and looks good in a crown. 😛 Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/16 "2009-01-11T11:44:29Z")
Utter euro-techno trash. The Worst Cover Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/17 "2009-01-11T13:26:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I wonder if a lot of the love he got for that song was because he was dying, or maybe just because it’s a lot cooler to like Johnny Cash than it is to like NIN these days. No, it’s because people really do think it’s a much better treatment of the song. In contrast, for example, I really don’t care for Cash’s version of “The Mercy Seat”. Speaking of Nick Cave, He does a great version of “Mack the Knife” that I prefer to the original. And Motorhead’s cover of “Motorhead” is better than the original version 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/18 "2009-01-11T14:54:36Z")
STP did a cover of Led Zep’s ‘Dancing Days’. I think it’s much, much better. They changed the tempo and the whole feel of the song. It’s one of my favorite songs, STP, Zep or anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/19 "2009-01-11T15:05:31Z")
Pretty much every song Eva Cassidy did (and most of them were covers) are better than the original versions. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758/20 "2009-01-11T15:07:17Z")
> [@Hunter\_Hawk](#): > > Speaking of Nick Cave, He does a great version of “Mack the Knife” that I prefer to the original. You mean the Lotte Lenya version? I strongly disagree. Unless you’re speaking of the Bobby Darin cover version. Joe Cocker’s cover versions of songs are nearly always better than the originals. Examples include “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “Feelin’ Alright?,” “The Letter,” “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window,” and “Cry Me a River.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/covers-cover-bands-you-like-better-than-the-original/480758.md?page=2)