Covers that are better than the originals... or just covers

There are few covers which are "better" than the original, but there are some which definitely are worth listening too, when the band actually play their own intrepretation of the original rather than a verbatim run thru.

Sex Pistols - No Fun, this take of the Stooges song is amazing. Rather than Iggy's despondency Rotten isn't having any of it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzcJ_9Hq ... re=related

Motorhead - Cat Scratch Fever, big improvement of Nugent's rather weak original... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-QVHqupvc8

Slayer - Dissident Aggressor, brutal power... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTtV0QYv ... re=related

The Damned - Looking At You, Blows MC5 away a million miles... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtvLwUq2taE

Nuclear Assult - Good Times Bad Times, a life enfused version of Led Zep's classic... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_9x5Cu1VB8

The Leather Nun - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, captures the original angst and boredom which leads to a casual sexual encouter. The original fuck the pain away song, Abba were quite subversive! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQPxcv96 ... re=related

Yngwie Malmsteen - Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, doesn't quite encapsulate the sexual tension of the Leather Nun's cover, but kicks ass instead... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbo5omhfY0A

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower, never liked Dylan's fake hillbilly nasal whine, this is way superior in all ways... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng3agUOYiI

Jimi Hendrix - Day Tripper, always hated the Beatles, but this is raw... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgHA9Fuor60

The Residents - Satisfaction, after this version Mick Jagger demanded sitting in on Devo's recording of the same song just in case it was better than the Residents. Poor Mick felt suidical aftyer hearing the Residents. Mind blowing, Snakefinger's guitar is beyond masterful, totally sublime... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co5y9sS_s6w a huge hit with the Chinese community too.



Some of the worst covers I've ever heard are by Oasis, really dreadful. Mind you Megadeth's attempts at covering the Sex Pistols just don't gel for me, Dave's voice is great for his own material, but not covers. Same when Motorhead covered The Trooper, it just sounded tired and a bit flat. Surprisingly Metallica did a few good Maiden covers.

Anyway got to go, there are tons of great covers out there, but these are all I can think of just now.
 
Motörhead didn't cover The Trooper, it was recorded for an all-star tribute album that featured different lineup on each track. The Trooper had this lineup:

Vocals - Lemmy Kilmister (MOTÖRHEAD)
Guitar - Phil Campbell (MOTÖRHEAD)
Guitar - Rocky George (FISHBONE, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES)
Bass - Chuck Wright (ALICE COOPER, QUIET RIOT)
Drums - Chris Slade (AC/DC)
 
Night Prowler said:
it was recorded for an all-star tribute album that featured different lineup on each track.


Like 99 out of 100 tribute albums.  ::)

Another one:

Iron Maiden - That Girl  :shred:
 
A cover that I prefer to the original (not saying it is better, but prefered), is Limp Bizkit's cover of Faith.

Yeah, okay, make fun of me, but that was the first "heavy" song I really loved as a kid. And right now, I'm feeling in that melancholy mood that makes me lust after the angry nu-metal of my adolescence.
 
Whitney Houston's cover of I Will Always Love is flat out better than the original. Nothing against Dolly Partton, love her, love her version, but Houston just did an amazing job.
 
Agreed that Whitney's version is better than Dolly's, but not by much. Back in the early 90's I was working in a steel shop because as an artsy fartsy psychology major, I was having trouble finding work that was relevant to my education. There was a 6'4" 250 lb dude that worked there who, when Whitney's cover would come on the radio (and it was in heavy rotation those days), would stand on the stool of his punch press and belt out the tune at the top of his lungs, complete with the warbling and other vocal histronics of that song. The rest of us would stop working, observe in amazement, and applaud like hell when the performance was over. Utterly fucking hilarious, every time. Had to share that...
 
Whisky in the Jar -- covered twice, by Thin Lizzy and Metallica, both of which are better than the original, though I prefer Lizzy's version to Metallica's.

It ain't metal, but I've always thought this cover of NWA's Boyz n the Hood was funny.

Also, (again, not metal) the Cowboy Junkies' version of Sweet Jane is better than Lou Reed's original.  

edclear said:
Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower, never liked Dylan's fake hillbilly nasal whine, this is way superior in all ways... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng3agUOYiI

True.  But I don't think Dylan's nasal whine is fake, he sort of talks that way too.  

And Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" is amazing.
 
Dityn DJ James said:
I'm debating whether Metallica's Astronomy is better than the original or not.....

Blasphemy!!!

Come on DJ, I think you're the only other big BOC fan on the site.
You can't abandon me now.
 
mckindog said:
Blasphemy!!!

Come on DJ, I think you're the only other big BOC fan on the site.
You can't abandon me now.

You're right the Blue Oyster Cult version is better. I hadn't heard the original in awhile just rediscovered it.
 
Perun said:
[...] just for the sake of trying to create something new... why don't they just write a new song in the first place?

A fun illustration of this is Aphex Twin's remix of "Heroes", where he takes Philip Glass's orchestrated version and dubs Bowie's vocals on top, as if to ask, what do these two pieces of music have to do with each other?

A lot of strange choices in this thread, by the way. Does anyone seriously prefer Van Halen's bland rendition of "You Really Got Me" to the energetic original? Or Doro's take on "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which strips the song of all its subtlety and mystery and turns it into a generic power ballad?

As for the proverbial example of a cover better than the original, "All Along the Watchtower", which came up a few posts ago, I'm undecided; Hendrix's version is musically superior, but Dylan delivers the lyrics better. And the lyrics are very good.
 
The music on Hendrix's version is beyond this world, so strong. Love those instrumental intermezzo's. And I love his vocals as well.

Yep: best cover ever.
 
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