I’m generally a fan of bands/artists covering songs in their own styles, because I like hearing one song done in many different ways. Of course, a lot of the time covers are awful, but sometimes you do get a reimagining of a song that’s actually very good.
So tell me what covers (done in a different style to the original or most famous version) you like (and what style they’re in).
I’ll start; Lostprophets - Cry Me a River. Very rockish/emo version, lots of guitar. Shame the singer’s not so good.
Different style - probably “Come on Eileen” by Save Ferris - a ska cover rather than New Wave/retropop. I like it as much as the original - no mean feat when I’ve heard an original song before the cover (plenty of covers I like as good or better when I hear them FIRST, but that’s another thread.)
Oh, I could do this all day! I was just comparing versions last night, of the Bacharach-David song “Anyone Who Had A Heart.” Dionne Warwick was first, and hers is really nice, but she hadn’t found her voice yet, and kinda squeaked it out. Dusty Springfield did a better, more impassioned version of it, with a bigger band. This served as the blueprint for the massive showstopper it became on Tim Curry’s album “Read My Lips.” It’d be nice to find an even better version than his, but I don’t think there is one.
I was actually just listening to Oranger’s cover of “Mr. Sandman,” which is one of my favorite covers ever. Also, LocalH does a great version of Britney Spears’s “Toxic” which must be heard to be believed.
Right song, wrong version: Joe Cocker’s version is the gold standard.
As are Cocker’s covers of “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “Feelin’ Alright” (over a lot of competition) and “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window.”
“Twist and Shout” by the Beatles. I love the Isley Brothers, but the Beatles made the original sound lame and made their version the standard. Pure energy.
Although Full Metal Jackoff is the standout tune, I always liked the cover of We Gotta Get Out Of This Place that Jello Biafra & D.O.A. did on Last Scream Of The Missing Neighbors.
And tho it’s reviled in the review, I think the cover of Heart’s Barracuda that Phantom Tollbooth did for their album Power Toy was awesome.
As the most-covered song in history, I have over 100 versions of Louie, Louie and more than a few are interesting/rockin’/strange/twisted. I’d say more than 3/4 of them are really cool tho.
Like fishbicycle, I could play this game all day long.
I have a comp of alt-country bands called Down To The Promised Land with a hillbilly cover of Public Enemy’s “Bring The Noise” that is a must-hear. I hate the original, but there’s a cover of The Cranberries “Zombie” by a German (I think) punk band called Stoned Age that’s really cool.
Another fave is Lazy Cowgirls’ version of Roky Erickson’s " “Your Gonna Miss Me”. Now that is an awesome song and It’s probably been covered ten thousand times, but the Cowgirls’ version just totaly blows any other version, even the original, away. That song was made for Pat Todd’s voice.
The best cover of all time is of course Devo’s version of “Satisfaction”.
Other cool covers:
Patti Smith: “Gloria” and “My Generation” (Van Morrison and The Who)
Siouxsie and The Banshees: “Wheels On Fire” (Dylan)
Supersuckers: “Dead Homiez” (Ice Cube)
Mudhoney: "Editions Of You: (Roxy Music)
Electric Frankenstein: “I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk” (The Tubes)
Prong: “Talk Talk” (Music Machine)
Teengenerate: “Shake A Tailfeather” (Ray Charles)
Dictators: “Slow Death” (Flamin Groovies)
Turbonegro: “Repo Man” (Iggy Pop)
DOA: “War” (Edwin Starr)
Epoxies: “Robot Man” (Scorpions)
Flipper: “The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly”
William Shatner: “Common People” (Pulp)
REM: “First We Take Manhattan” (Leonard Cohen)
Lydia Lunch (with 8 eyed Spy): “Run Through The Jungle” (CCR)
Yeah, but the version by Fear…it just doesn’t get any better than that.
Jello really knows how to pick a cover tune and make it his own, 'specially with “They’re Coming To Take Me Away”.
Oh, I forgot to mention another must have…James Chance and the Contortions remake of “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” from the Live Aux Bains Douches Lp. Normally I hate Michael Jackson songs, no matter who does them, but this is just amazing.
On a much smaller scale than the other bands mentioned, someone gave me a mix tape with the Kaiser Chiefs doing ‘i heard it through the grape vine’ a few months ago but I’m not sure if it was ever relesed.
Jo whiley really gets on my nerves, but she has a feature on her show where they get bands into ‘the live lounge’ to perform some of their own songs and a cover; I’ve heard some amazing ones on there. They do a listen again thing if your interested… http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/jowhiley/live_lounge/
The Me First and the Gimme Gimmes punk cover of Stand By Your Man is awesome. I also like New Found Glory’s version of That Thing You Do. Faith No More’s cover of **Easy Like Sunday Morning ** is good.
Oh, and does Weird Al Yankovic’s Bohemian Polka count?
Puffy Ami Yumi’s version of Jellyfish’s Joining a Fanclub.
Voltaire’s version of Bjork’s Bachelorette (It says a lot about Bjork and Voltaire that they can both sing ‘If you forget my name/You will go astray/Like a killer whale/Trapped in a bay’ without sounding utterly ridiculous.)
The Cruxshadows’ cover of the Eurythmics’ Here Comes the Rain Again.
Oingo Boingo’s take on the Beatles’ I Am the Walrus.
And two that I will admit to liking more than the original:
The Chieftains’ version of the Who’s Behind Blue Eyes (with Daltry on vocals). (I do really like the original, too, but I prefer the Chieftains’ version.)
The Barenaked Ladies’ version of Bruce Cockburn’s Lovers in a Dangerous Time. (I can stand Cockburn’s, but wouldn’t actively seek it out.)
