Perhaps someone who puts his pants on one leg at a time… and then produces gold records?
And whatever that missing element was, it was important that its player really explore the studio space.
Are you guys speaking of Bruce Dickinson? I met him once, but he had a fever, and I couldn’t understand what he said about needing more something.
The only covers of Metallica that I’ve heard are utter garbage, with the exception of Primus’ “Master of Puppets” intro.
I saw a punk band that did some AC/DC covers. More garbage there.
Regarding Don’t Fear The Reaper
I believe what really made that song such a mostrous hit was the use of a percussion instrument. Was it a triangle?
I don’t think it was triangle. In fact, I think it was some kind of object that’s also used in connection with livestock or something.
Do you mean the Arrows original or the Joan Jett/Blackhearts cover?
Shepherd pipes?
Don’t Fear the Reaper was covered by The Muttonbirds in 1996 for “The Frighteners”. They did a good job.
Is there room for songs that should never be covered because they sucked so massively that they should never have been recorded in the first place?
Or should that be another thread entirely?
If there is, I nominate stuff done by the Spice Girls.
I thought Wierd Al’s version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” was pretty good. 
I had a semi-decent Billy Corgan impression a few years ago. Haven’t tried it recently. . . The trick is to think of Cartman doing a Wolfman Jack voice (or maybe vice versa).
I direct you immediatly to Voivod’s excellent cover of Astronomy Domine off of Nothingface (1989).
Actually, Tomoyasu Hotei (the guy who did the “Kill Bill” theme) covered The Immigrant Song pretty well, IMO. He used guitars and synthesizer for the Plantscreech.
Some of you seem to believe that a cover must sound something like the original to be any good. Is this a product of our mass production music industry? For many of us a single recording of a particular song becomes so familiar that we have a hard time accepting a different version. I seriously doubt there is any decent song out there that can’t be covered by someone else. If you’re expecting it to be exactly the same then you’ll always be disappointed.
Marc
I guess you guys will struggle to accomodate this then?
“Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. This is one of the few examples where I prefer the studio version, with the voice overlays, to the live version. It is perfectly done and should not be touched.
“Stayin’ Alive” by the BeeGees. Great tune, but falsettos should not be attempted by 99.9% of the population.
“Little Red Corvette” by Prince. Funky, awesome tune. Leave it alone, wannabes.
What the…hamsters ate my friggin’ post!! Anyway…
Regarding “Sound of Silence”, all my life I’ve wanted to hear a heavy metal version, and so far I’ve heard two – by Heir Apparent and Nevermore. The first one stays close to the original, whereas the latter sounds completely unrecognizable. Both are good, though.
Black Sabbath has had a few good tributes (“Nativity in Black” and “Holy Dio”) and tons of awful ones. But the truly uncoverable Sabbath song, IMHO, is “Heaven and Hell”.
Nobody, and mean NOBODY, should attempt a cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. Anyone who tries should be shot. (Points gun at Warrant…)
Mephisto, that cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck”, was it by Jag Panzer? They never released that song on an album, but I’ve got an mp3 of it. It’s ok.
Every attempt to cover Depeche Mode has failed miserably, with the exceptions of In Flames “Everything Counts” and Rammstein “Stripped”.
Rush is indeed a tough band to cover successfully, but it’s been done. Actually, the one band that’s most uncoverable is Yes…their songs are so damn complex, most musicians are too unskilled to attempt them!
Bad Company’s Feel Like Making Love. Hear that, Kid Rock? You shouldn’t have done that…
KGS: The cover I heard of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” was done by a no-name band I used to party with; they barely made it out of the garage and died a death worthy of an after-school special (drugs, man, don’t do drugs; also, beware the jealous girlfriend). That Jag Panzer cover sounds interesting, though. Regarding the Nativity In Black cover album . . . yeah, that was okay. I like about half the songs on there; that is, I like half the covers–I like all the original versions. The second tribute album, Nativity In Black II, is an utter abortion. IMHO, of course. Finally, I too enjoyed Nevermore’s cover of “Sounds of Silence,” though I must confess, at first I didn’t know what I was listening to. I wonder what Simon and Garfunkle think about Nevermore’s rewriting of their song? Of course, the Nevermore version sounds so different, I wonder if it should even be considered a cover at all? Well, in any case, I like it.
I actually played in a jazz trio called Orjazzem (me on sax, guitar, and bass, with no drums), and we did a funky, almost acid-jazzy version of the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.” An instrumental, of course. The song has a pretty good bassline for improvising over, I must admit.
I kinda think that the BeeGees shouldn’t have tried it either. But that’s just my chipmunk avoidance attitude talking. The only time I find that song appealing is when I see a drunk bridesmade doing a dirty dance to that tune.
My advice for leave it (shoulda left it) alone is warning for any chuckleheads (Limp Bizkit) to avoid embarrassing themselves by performing the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”.
Bubba