I’ve posted this before, but what the hell:
You know Bob Dylan’s apocalyptic stream of consciousness “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”? Well, Bryan Ferry made it rock. I’m guessing cocaine was involved.
British Heavy Rockers Judas Priest do versions of Fleetwood Mac’s Green Manalishi (With The Two Pronged Crown) and Joan Baez’s Diamonds And Rust
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The Futureheads slightly unusual cover of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love
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I don’t know whether versions by fairly random people on the internet count but I thought Todd Barriage did an interesting emo version of Guns and Roses Sweet Child O Mine that works well without using Slash’s famous guitar riff
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Your link didn’t work for me, so here’s another just in case.
A good Springsteen song becomes in my opinion better in this high-energy cover by Dave Edmunds.
Not insurmountable going the other way. Not all that uncommon in bluegrass/oldtime. And, less drastic, going from 4/4 to cut time.
Harry Nilsson’s You Can’t Do That name checks 18 other Beatles songs.
Laibach have made several concept albums of covers, all of which completely reinvent the songs. There was their interpretation of The Sound of Music (which they played live in North Korea):
They covered the entirety of Let it Be except for the title track (because they say it’s the Beatles’ worst album):
Laibach also released an album, Volk, of various countries’ national anthems:
And of course there’s their legendary “Sympathy For The Devil” cover:
That is some video.
Here is my favorite (loose) cover of “Constantinople”. This should perhaps be cross-posted to the “What do you listen to while high?” thread.
This cover of NIrvana’s lithium is good.
I’m a big fan of Devo’s version of the Stones’ Satisfaction:
Maybe my favorite cover version of all time is Christine and the Queens’ cover of Beyoncé’s “Sorry.” I find the original kind of tuneless, but the cover is ridiculously danceable, and Rahim’s voice is just on fire for it.
Runner up fave might be Happy Mondays “Step On” which is a cover of John Kongos’ “He’s Gonna Step On You Again.” They both stomp, but the original is very much a 70s hard rock groove, while the Mondays basically set the template for Madchester with their beat.
Remember the new-wave classic “Something About You” by Level 42 ?
Ever feel like it might be improved by some neo-soul styling? Well you’re right, and here’s the proof, by Atlanta musician Anthony David.
Oooo! Great choice!
They knew how good it was as well.
It was originally intended as a contribution to the Rubáiyát: Elektra’s 40th Anniversary compilation for their US label Elektra, but they decided to keep it to release as a single, and instead covered Kongos’s “Tokoloshe Man” for the compilation.
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This was recorded as a joke, but it’s still impressive in its own way. “Straight Outta Compton”, by Nina Gordon:
I Wanna Be Your Man
I don’t know if one can cover one’s own song, but I want to play too so here goes:
Lennon and McCartney wrote the song, gave it to the Stones as a favor.
Stones recorded it, kind of a “slow rocker” version, released it November 1, 1963.
Beatles released their own much faster version three weeks later.
In my opinion the Fabs’ version is vastly superior. The Stones sound like they’re dragging the song along behind them, where the Fabs are pushing it at high speed.
Dynamite Hack also famously did a cover of “Boyz in the Hood.” Kinda cute back in 1999, but the joke of whiter-than-white bro-dudes casually dropping the N-bomb in a joke song has never quite sit well.
I eventually came around to the same take on Nina Gordon’s bit.
Lots of bands have covered “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak but my favorite was by Giant Drag
Ryan Adams covered Taylor Swift’s entire album “1989”