Best and Worst Cover Songs
 

Every artist releases covers... whether as a tribute to the original artist, or as a blatant attempt to cash in on someone else's brilliance. (Yes, I mean you, Mr. Bolton.)

In my mind, a good cover takes a song in a totally new direction -- like The Bangles with "Hazy Shade of Winter". Meciocre covers are just a rehash of the original composition like the Dixie Chicks "Landslide".

Bad covers take a song in a totally new direction -- down a dark and winding path that leads straight to the heart of EVIL. Bad covers warp your memory of the original so that you will never, ever be the same again.

Three words -- "Madonna" -- and "American Pie."

But in my mind these are not the best and worst covers. No, there is a place in heaven and a place in hell for two cover songs in particular:

BEST COVER: Art of Noise with Tom Jones, "Kiss" (orig. by Prince)
Just a brilliant revisting of this song. The original was funky and quirky, but Tom Jones totally reinvented the meaning of the word "funk" for this one.

WORST COVER:Don Henley, "Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat" (orig. from Guys and Dolls)
Oh. My. God. This was a great little swing-type number in the musical, just a fun song with a great beat. Don Henley's reggae-flavored version made me want to rip my own ears off. No, it actually made me want to schedule a lunch date with Mike Tyson and pour chocolate pudding over my ears on the off-chance that he might be a tad famished.

It is that bad. But what do you think?

My cover takes
 

I don't object to a cover; I object to a cut rate one. That being said....

The Good: Postcards from Paradise (Flesh for Lulu)-Paul Westerberg, Video Killed the Radio Star (The Buggles?)-Presidents of the USA


The Bad:If I Was Your Girlfriend (Prince)-TLC, How Come You Don't Call Me Anymore?(Prince)-Alicia Keyes, Smooth Criminal (Michael Jackson)-Alien Ant Farm, Don't Dream Its Over (Crowded House)-Sixpence None the Richer, True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)-Phil Collins, Basketball (Kurtis Blow)-Lil Bow Wow

The Ugly: Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)-Marilyn Manson,

Best: SIX FEET UNDER doing the Venom classic IN LEAGUE WITH SATAN !
Chris Barnes does some of his sickest vocals ever on that track.

Best:

Arch Enemy- Aces High (Iron Maiden cover)
Metallica- Die Die Die My Darling (Misfits Cover)
Cradle Of Filth- Hallowed Be Thy Name (Iron Maiden Cover)
Iced Earth- Highway To Hell (AC/DC Cover)

Best: Tool - No Quarter (Led Zeppelin)

Worst: Hole - Gold Dust Woman (Fleetwood Mac) & Avril Lavigne - Chop Suey (System of a Down)

Good:
Cat's In The Cradle - Ugly Kid Joe

Bad:
Any rap artist/pop artist ripping off a classic tune to make a quick $million$.

To me there is a big difference between a cover song amongst 12 other tracks on an ablum, and a cover released as the main single for that album. And further, taking a song(ala rap artists) and either ripping out the beat or refrain and discarding the rest of the original song like it was crap. A good recent example: eminem and his Aerosmith - Dream On track. :down:

I think Devo's version of the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" stands as the definitive GREAT cover.

Talking Heads version of "Take Me to the River" is pretty great as well.

Although I've never heard the Burning London Clash tribute album, the idea of 311 doing "White Man in Hammersmith Palais", my all time favorite song, is enough to give me a headache. I will never listen to it. The very idea is blasphemy.

American Pie by Madonna...:yack:

Cake - I Will Survive :up:

Worst - Tie between Sixpence None The Richer butchering The La's There She Goes/Crowded House Don't Dream It's Over.

Make your own damn songs :mad:

You obviously haven't heard the Brady Bunch cover of it! :)

I just got the DVD of the 2001 John Lennon tribute concert in NY ("Come Together"). Lou Reed does an awesome rendition of Jealous Guy on it.

BB

Good: Tool - No Quarter, Smashing Pumpkins - Landslide, All of Metallicas Covers hehe.

Bad: Dixie Chicks - Landslide, lots of others.

Good call on Tom Jones and "Kiss". I like it better than Prince's original.

Marilyn Manson - "Sweet Dreams" :thumbsup:

Guns N Roses - "Live and Let Die" :thmbsdwn:

Pat Boone's heavy metal covers - :yack:

http://charliegoose.homestead.com/files/goose.jpg Honk!

Good:
Frente - "Bizarre Love Triangle" (New Order)

Bad:
Mariah Carey - "Open Arms" (Journey)

:thumbsdown: "tainted love" Manson
:thumbsup: "turn the page" metallica

godawful: guns n roses - sympathy for the devil (stones cover) ughhh.

great: tool - no quarter (zep), david bowie - white light/white heat (velvet underground), marilyn manson - working class hero (lennon)

mediocre: foo fighters - have a cigar (floyd), marilyn manson - five to one (doors)

Whoever does that new dance version of Don Henley's Boys of Summer http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/images/smilies/puke.gif

Best: Time has come today (Chamber Brothers) Ramones. Well, Just about any Ramones cover could be here. They made every song they played their own.

Worst: Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (HAIR) The Fifth Dimension. Somehow they managed to turn it into the cheesiest song ever.

You're forgettin one important factor. The Artists have gotten clearance to use these exerpts and have usually financially compensated the original artists. What you suggest is that Aerosmith cannot profit from their song. Sampling is used by everyone and it's good for the industry because young people will eventually learn who the originator was and seek them out.

Good Covers-
Ben Harper- Strawberry Fields(Beatles)
Cassandra Wilson-Hellhound on my trail (RJ)

Bad Covers-
American Pie- madonna

Great : Anthrax - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Slayer : Inda Gadda Divida

Bad: Krokus : School's Out
Type O Negative : Black Sabbath

I always thought Sonic Youth's cover of the Carpenter's "Superstar" was excellent.

Best:

Lenny Kravitz - "American Woman" (The Guess Who)
The Wallflowers - "We Could Be Heroes" (David Bowie)
Guns & Roses - "Live & Let Die" (Wings)


Worst:

Sheryl Crow - "Sweet Child o' Mine" (Guns & Roses)

Two of my favorites:

-Hendrix, “All Along The Watchtower”
-Pretenders, “Thin Line Between Love & Hate”

After reading this thread, I just had to download the Avril Lavigne cover of "Chop Suey". It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard.