What cover song just takes you to Universe B compared to the original?
What cover song just takes you to Universe B compared to the original?
And I'm not saying that the original is bad. You have to have a good song to have a good cover in my opinion. But sometimes the cover artist just understands the mission and takes what the original song did and expands on that a hundred times over.
What're some of your guys's favorites?
Nirvana did a bunch of great ones during their brief time together.
The Man Who Sold The World has already been mentioned, but their versions of Turnaround by Devo, Plateau and Lake of Fire by Meat Puppets, and Where Did you Sleep Last Night and They Hung Him On A Cross by Leadbelly are all beautiful renditions in their own ways.
Of those, I'd say that Where Did You Sleep Last Night and both of the Meat Puppets covers are just as distinctly re-stanked by that Nirvana magic as their Bowie cover was. I like their version of They Hung Him On A Cross more than the original too, but tbh it always made me feel a bit weird hearing a white man singing that one. I get that it came from a place of reverence and compassion, but....idk man. I am both mixed race and have mixed feelings on that one lol. At the same time though, if any white man was to cover that one, I'm glad it was him since the hurt inherent to Kurt's voice was a perfect match for the vibe and tone.
The Disturbed cover of Land of Confusion
My personal favorites that I like better than the originals and I LOVE the originals:
Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica
Take On Me - Reel Big Fish
99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger
Land of Confusion - Disturbed
La Isla Bonita - Twilight Guardians
Spaceballs - Majestica
Black Betty - Spiderbait
Thriller - Scandroid
Electric Avenue - Skindred
A weird one:
"Sludgefest", an old Alvin and the chipmunks pop record slowed back down to the speed the vocals were recorded.
The result is unironically good – a grimy, moody sound, with deep growling guitar.
A Perfect Circle's version of Imagine by John Lennon is my favorite cover song. They add so much groove, atmosphere and melancholy to the song. It's beautiful.
Crooked Fingers - Long Black Veil
Johnny Cash - Hurt
This is the opposite of what you're asking for, sorry, but I find that more people are familiar with the A Perfect Circle version of The Nurse Who Loved Me than they are with the original version by Failure.
Both very good versions song, but the original still blows me away.
Apologies for doing the opposite of what you asked, but this was just the first thing that came to mind.
faith no more’s easy
Judas Priest's "Painkiller" covered by Death is incredible.
If anyone wants to take a chance on a cover I recorded (all instruments and vocals) of Enslaved's "Havenless", check it out at this link (https://youtu.be/b1ByxMMnSfw)
Cardigans, Burning Down the House with Tom Jones. Of course the original is incredible, but this version slaps.
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
Shawn Colvin - I'll Be Back
Sonic Youth - Superstar (btw not originally by The Carpenters)
Against All Odds by The Postal Service
my mind was blown when I learned that was Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie on vocals
this live version is especially fantastic, from an album of covers by them, I think the Baby One More Time cover is more popular but I prefer the recontextualization of this one
ridiculously emotional, can really feel his pain in it. I would never have thought this was a Black Sabbath cover had it not been mentioned at the top of the video
no notes. perfect cover.
never would have thought this would work as a duet but it's perfect, 10/10
Someday I Suppose by Drug Church
Boston.
I love a good cover, the best covers recontextualize the meaning of the song imo
Tori Amos has an amazing cover album but her rendition of the Eminem song ’97 Bonnie & Clyde is honestly horrifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4-bXS5LJGM
Also her cover of the Boom town rats I don’t like mondays is my favorite version of that song.
Save Ferris' cover of Come On Eileen, by Dexy's Midnight Runners.
Heartbeats.
Same words, same melody, completely different universes.
Aretha Franklin - Bridge Over Troubled Water (originally by Simon and Garfunkel)
Sly & The Family Stone - Que Sera, Sera (originally Doris Day)
The Isley Brothers - Love The One You're With (originally Steven Stills)
“(I can’t get no) Satisfaction” as covered by Cat Power. It completely omits the guitar riff and chorus, and lays bare the song for the empty life that it portrays. You wouldn’t even recognize it for The Rolling Stones.
Her style is a super stripped-down one with almost all instrumentation just being her voice through a vocoder. This cover includes a bit more traditional instrumentation than usual for her work, but it's still quite stark next to the original. It comes across as very pensive, which I think works nicely with the lyrics
Obediah Parker – Hey Ya (Originally Outkast)
Ninja Sex Party's cover of "The Last Unicorn." I think the original is lovely, but their version just clicks with me.
Shrek 2's version of "I need a hero."Gonna go retro with this one: Madness' cover of Labi Siffre's It Must Be Love
If I remember rightly, Siffre appears in Madness' music video for the song, so it had his seal of approval too. (I mean, yeah, they wouldn't have done a cover if he hadn't agreed to it, but appearing in the video is a force multiplier on that.)
A Perfect Circle - When the levee breaks.
Extremely far away from Led Zeppelin. But it's just so nice and soothing.
Also, "Peace love and understanding" from the same album, for the same reasons.While I love the original version, Seethers cover of Careless Whisper is one of my favourite songs ever.
By no means do I think she did it better than Joplin. But Pink's AOL Sessions performance of Me and Bobby McGee has stuck in my head for decades now. (And for what it's worth, both are better than the original from Kristofferson)
Second choice, and another one that I legitimately think is better than the original, *Tweeter and the Monkey Man" by The Headstones.
Edited: Honourable Mention, because no one ever actually tops The Clash. But Captain Tractor did a version of London Calling that is one of my favourites.
Edited: Okay...one last one. Specifically for the Saskies. Captain Tractor's version of the Arrogant Worm's "Last Saskatchewan Pirate".
For a bit of context, back in the 90s, my then girlfriend and I were decent friends with the band. Enough so that whenever they would come to Saskatoon they'd crash at our place and we'd go hang out backstage at their shows. Weird because the reason we knew them in the first place was because the drummer was my girlfriends ex....but hey...it was the 90s.
Just an all around bar-band all about drinking songs. Something young people don't do anymore. Was talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how every bar we used to go to in the 90s has been demolished.
I love Avantasia's "Lay All Your Love on Me" (Originally by ABBA). Metal covers can sometimes feel lazy, but this is an excellent rendition. It feels like the perfect coming together of two distinct parts of me: the me that daubs myself in rainbows to dance to ABBA at the gay club; and the metal/punk energy of the majority of my style and music taste. It always goes down well at parties.
Edit: I am having more songs coming to mind, but a weird one I can't help mentioning is Edmund Welles cover of "Hallowed Be Thy Name".. It's a clarinet quartet (+vocals) cover that I didn't know I needed until I heard it. So delightfully weird, and it has no right to go as hard as it does
The Lovemongers version of Battle of Evermore catches me the right way sometimes. I prefer the original, but their version is excellent as well
The Z-Trip remix of I Want You Back, which is more of a demix than a remix or cover. It strips away a lot of the production and emphasizes the subtle guitar riff really nicely
Tool's cover of No Quarter by Led Zeppelin. Page was channeling future Adam Jones with those riffs. It's s a shame that the only official release of that song is on Tool's coveted "Salival" album which is notoriously hard to get ahold of for anything even resembling a decent price if you can even find a good copy. Damn, I wish they would re-release that album.
John Mayer's cover of Free Fallin by Tom Petty. The vocal, the sweet guitar. I love it.
How about a whole album? Billie Joe Armstrong: No Fun Mondays He recorded these and released them on several Mondays back in early lockdown. I love the hell out of this album.
U2's With or Without You cover by April Meservy and Aaron Edson. It infuses the original with raw emotion - you can feel the pain and exhaustion.
Edited to add: And Marilyn Manson's version of Tainted Love. It sounds sickening and toxic, making the song about much more than a breakup.
Baby I’m yours
Original by Barbara Lewis
Cover by Arctic MonkeysI really enjoy this cover of Dead Man's Party
Megan McDuffee's dark synthwave cover of Blink 182's song Dammit
Portishead - SOS (by ABBA)
Completely different song while still true to the lyricsI'm not sure Last Kiss by Pearl Jam is actually better than the original but it definitely deserves honorable mention.
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Louie Louie - Toots & The Maytals (originally recorded by Richard Berry, popularized by The Kingsmen) https://youtu.be/BlFGvTtGMBI
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Walk on By - The Stranglers (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick) https://youtu.be/WYkqLm9cM3Y
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Maybe I'm Amazed - Faces (originally recorded by Paul McCartney) https://youtu.be/SLhoLkTyNkM
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Black Steel - Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird (originally recorded by Public Enemy) https://youtu.be/9ZJTM03UByU
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Everything is Everything - Booker T. Jones (originally recorded by Lauren Hill) https://youtu.be/A61c4FgxZz8
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Ohio/Machine Gun - The Isley Brothers (originally recorded by Crosby, Still, Nash & Young) https://youtu.be/XC6qOvfgDJI
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Bruce Springsteen - Staying Alive
Nobody's said Me and Bobby McGee yet?
Dave Stewart covering Zombie by The Cranberries https://youtu.be/1iDTYnxCNXM
Love roller coaster covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, originally by the Ohio players I think, unsure because there’s been a few covers, but RHCPs is the best. The problem is they did it for the movie Bevis and Butthead do America, and I’m now there are weird license rights so you can’t stream it, but can be found on you tube.
Jefferson Airplane- Wooden Ships
Ghost- If You Have Ghosts
Pilotredsun "Warsaw" Jazz fusion Cover by poruu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW9Mk7DXPcI
The original is great, it takes simple Chiptunes and manages to convey a stunning range of emotion and movement.
This cover is fantastic because it takes what's at the core of the original and explores it even more, with varying loudness, instruments, ect.
It feels like the last warm august evening before going back to school.
It sounds like moving to a far away place in the search of opportunities.
It conveys the nostalgia of remembering your childhood friends with happiness, but also realizing that there's a great and unknown road ahead of you.
It gives you the comfort of knowing that every moment will pass, so you should enjoy it while it lasts and be hopeful for the future.
It's change, it's movement, it's nostalgia, it's hope, it's happiness, it's a bitter sweet end and a fresh beginning.
This cover gave me a lot of comfort and peace during difficult moments in my life and I can say with confidence that it far surpassed the original.
Another New World by Punch Brothers
I genuinely prefer Ronan Keating's version of Words
I have the Bee Gees original on vinyl, yet I always go back to Keating.
Karmastition by Alicia Keys.
Stevie Wonder's original was awesome, but the mash up is just chefs kiss.
Covering Leonard Cohen. This song is one of two (the other being Grace) that got me obsessed with Jeff Buckley back in my early to mid 20's.
It's just beautiful.
For as long as I've known it I've preferred the version of Ghost's Cerice done by Saint Raven, a much less known band out of Utah.
Small town boy by Paradise Lost. https://open.spotify.com/track/0jfNgP8sP2tnOloYDw0HoM?context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1lvVqodR4aT3R8WemeIgDN
The original is iconic, and there are almost too many covers of it to take it in. But Paradise Lost takes it in a different direction.
Same as Wicked Game by HIM. https://open.spotify.com/track/5XenUjG7cRnTkUe8AVuuMX
Joshua Ray Walker "Cuz I love you", his whole cover album really. The way he makes that Cher song into a country 2 step dance song is amazing.
Bob Schneider's cover of Running on Empty is haunting.
It's not so different but God I love the 9 minute November Rain by Connor Christian and the Southern Gothic.
The Protomen's cover of Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) is a slower burn than the original, but I feel like the emotions intented by the song are so much clearer.
It's off their album The Cover Up, which is an entire album of well done covers. It also tells a strong story through the tracks and the transistions between them. I love this band, and the last third of this album from Hunted (a transistion piece) onward is fucking amazing.
Now if only they could count to three better than Valve. Been at least a decade waiting for the ending of the story/universe they created. Act III when?
Zebrahead did a cover of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne.
It's an amazing music clip too.
"Am I Evil" by Diamond head, covered by Metallica, and done so much cleaner and better that I got into a full-on argument with somebody (pre-google) about it it not being an original Metallica song.
Also, I have nothing but respect for Roberta Flack and think "Killing Me Softly" was a fantastic song when she performed it, the Fugees absolutely crushed that song. Listening to the original shortly after makes it fall a little flat.
In the reverse of this, when I mention "Wagon Wheel" and somebody mentions Darius Rucker I get upset. Oh, you took a solid song with great harmonies and instrumentation, and you swapped it out to be a generic country song? Way to make it "your own" bud.
Do mashups count? Chris Cornell's One (Metallica and U2) https://youtu.be/uTJxAdrnkP4
Bare Naked Ladies - Lovers in a Dangerous Time (original by Bruce Cockburn)
Metallica - Turn the Page (original Bob Seger)