I think that there are certain songs that have been recorded at a state of perfection that is such that any attempt to cover them would just wouldn’t work. Others are done by artists with a certain… sound and the song would only work if done in that style. A few that come to mind are
“Paranoid”- Black Sabbath
“Perfect Strangers”, “Child in Time”, Deep Purple
“American Pie”- Don Maclean *
anything by Gordon Lightfoot *
“Ramble On”, “The Immigrant Song”, “Livin’ Lovin’ Maid”- Led Zeppelin
“Jumping Jack Flash”- The Rolling Stones
Rush is uncoverable. Their playing techniques are unique and no other band I know of could ever reproduce their sound. This holds true for most prog rock, in fact.
I would’ve thought “Paranoid”, but Megadeth turned in a respectable cover. It’s not as good as the original, but they came as close as anyone can, IMO.
There are two songs that definitely can’t be covered, though: “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and “I Love Rock n’ Roll”. Pay attention, Ms. Spears.
Imagine a reggae band with an Elvis impersonator as lead singer doing covers of Led Zeppelin songs. Yeah, me neither but believe it or not, it works! Their version of “The Immigrant Song” is a classic.
I had thought that Peter Gabriel couldn’t be covered either, until Coal Chamber and Ozzy Osbourne combined a made a very catchy “Shock The Monkey” cover song.
I’ve actually heard an excellent, excellent version of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”–alas, that version of “Wreck” only exists in my memory now, for the band who covered it never put it on tape.
At least half of Black Sabbath’s songs (especially from their first three lineups) should be left alone. Same with Pink Floyd. I have an album of Doors cover songs that pretty much sucks the big one. “Sympathy For The Devil” and “Paint It Black,” both by the Stones and both of which have been covered by other bands, were, to paraphrase the OP, recorded at a state of such perfection that they shouldn’t be redone by anybody; I point thee to the work of Guns-N-Roses and Glenn Tipton for proof. Kansas’s Point of Know Return and Led Zeppelin IV (or whatever you want to entitle this work) are entire albums that should be left alone by every musician everywhere. Also Jimi Hendrix should be left the heck alone.
Actually, Darkhold, before they decided to only do movie soundtrack garbage, Goo Goo Dolls did a nice job covering Don’t Fear The Reaper (as well as Sunshine of Your Love, Gimme Shelter, Down on the Corner, Never Take the Place of Your Man, and A Million Miles Away). Yes, they’re mostly very raw, punkish covers, but I likes 'em.
And of course, most anybody from Jersey knows that with the sole exception of Sweet Child 'O Mine, The Nerds can do no wrong.
The one song for me that should never have been touched was American Pie (except by the aforementioned Nerds). Madonna earned herself a special place in hell for that bit 'o sacrilege.
Train did an acoustic cover of Ramble On that wasn’t a disaster. It wasn’t the original, but it wasn’t a disaster. My college a cappella group did a version of Ramble On that ended up getting me interested in Led Zeppelin, and our version definitely didn’t suck. We covered some things we shouldn’t have, but Zep wasn’t one of them.
MaxTheVool, I think (Don’t Fear) The Reaper needs more, um… more… Jeez, I was just listening to it yesterday, and I was thinking it needed something. It was like I had a fever, and the only cure was more… something. Hm. Strangest damn thing. They really needed a coked-up producer to help them out with the arrangement. He would have known what to add in.
I’d like to nominate Love Shack, and point out that Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have made a career out of resurrecting songs like these and covering them very very well.
No they’re not. The Catherine Wheel did a decent cover of Spirit of the Radio, though the lead singer doesn’t have the right kind of voice for it, the band sounds good.