Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

Laibach's cover of "The Final Countdown".

Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower".

Isaac Hayes's cover of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".

Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

Nope, AHA's Take on Me much better. IMO

Fear Factory's cover of Gary Numans "Cars"

Also, anything richard cheese does.

A Perfect Circle's cover of Imagine.

Johnny Cash - Hurt

Pantera's cover of planet caravan bettet imo

Primal Fear's cover of Die Young by Black Sabbath is killer.

Stevie Ray Vaughn's cover of Hendrix's Little Wing

:bassist:

Marvin Gaye - I heard it through the Grapevine

Ozzy's cover of Staying Alive! :D

i think all the covers Nirvana did of the Vaselines ( son of a gun, mollys lips, Jesus Don't Want me for a sunbeam, etc and D-7 which was a Wipers song all sounded better than the original...


and when they covered Bowies, The Man Who wold the world.. but hey thats just me lol

Jaco Pastorius-The Chicken (better than pee-wee ellis')

Every led zepplin song

Tool's cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter". Simply unreal.

Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

good topic, but the OP makes me sad...

Hendrix's cover of all along the watch tower

Primus's master of puppets

Funeral For a Friend by Dream Theater (though I like the original alot)

Johnny Cash - Hurt

+1

i disagree with teh johny cash version of hurt being better.

the nine inch nails version has so much more feelign put into it. the johny cash version was only good when paired with the music video showing hsi life, imo.

i find that i prefer most beatles songs when covered by other artists.

New Birth's "I can understand it" kills Bobby Womack's original version!:bassist:

"Gumboots" and "Whispering Bells" by Paul Simon. "Little Wing" by Jonas Hellborg.

Off the top of my head:

Butthole Surfers: "Hurdy Gurdy Man"
Red House Painters: "Long Distance Runaround"
Run D.M.C.: "Walk This Way"
Laibach: "Sympathy for the Devil" (they did a whole album of that song)
Scissor Sisters: "Comfortably Numb"
Anthrax: "Got the Time"

I wouldn't say this version is better than the original, but i really enjoy King Curtis's version of 'Let It Be' by the Beatles.

Avril Lavigne - Chop Suey.

The Who's cover of Summertime Blues (although Blue Cheer had their moments)

The Beach Boys' cover of California Dreamin

The Beatles' cover of Act Naturally

Blue Swede's cover of Hooked On A Feelin'

Three Dog Night's cover of Shambala (RIP B.W. Stevenson)

and except for the bass playing: Vanilla Fudge's cover of You Keep Me Hangin' On.


Let the arguing among the old folks begin!

i disagree with teh johny cash version of hurt being better.

the nine inch nails version has so much more feelign put into it. the johny cash version was only good when paired with the music video showing hsi life, imo.

there's something so wrong with you. trent just whines and poses. Johnny's lived it and you can hear it in every word.


Rufus Wainwright' cover of both Across the Universe, and Hallelujah. don't get me wrong, i love Jeff Buckley, but Rufus just kills with that song.

A Perfect Circle's cover of Imagine.

most def way better
also their cover of When the Levee Breaks; its not better but its pretty good :)

Any song on Ozzys Under Cover album:
Rocky Mountain Way
Sunshine of Your Love
For What its Worth
Mississippi Queen
In My Life
Working Class Hero
All The Young Dudes
etc.....

Rufus Wainwright' cover of both Across the Universe, and Hallelujah. don't get me wrong, i love Jeff Buckley, but Rufus just kills with that song.

Bah, Rufus and Jeff can't hold a candle to John Cale, their covers are based on his version anyway rather than Cohen's.

jeff buckley's version of 'hallelujah.'

Summertime Blues by The Who and Van Halen's rendition of You Really Got Me are great, but my award for best cover has to go to Jimi's All Along the Watchtower. Judas Priest's renditions of Green Manalishi and Diamonds and Rust have got to be in the all time top 5 as well.

The Lemonheads cover of "Luka"

I don't care what anyone says, Knockin' on Heaven's Door was written to be played by Guns n Roses.

I also really like Pat Boon's Version of Stairway. Really anything off of "In a Metal Mood" is great.

anything off of me first and the gimme gimme's "what a drag" cd.

Other people caught two of my 3 favorites:

Reel Big Fish's version of Take on Me
Jonas Hellborg's version of Little Wing (actually, I like SRV's version better than Hendrix's as well).

Los Super 7's version of "I Heard it on the X" by ZZ Top.

I like DMB's cover of All Along the Watch Tower...
Diane Reeves version of Peter Gabriel's 'In Your eyes is smoking...

And whilst I LOVE Joni Mitchell as a song writer, I love alot of other people's versions of her songs... Diane Reeves cover of River, Jane Monheit's cover of A Case of You...

This is probably heresy, but I like Guns 'n Roses' "Sympathy for the Devil" better than the Stones'.

Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" seems somehow, I dunno...just all around cooler than Hendrix's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GSpbuFSr2o

Muse's cover of Feelin' Good
Terry Reid's cover of Bang, Bang (my baby shot me down)
edit:
Gary Jules version of Mad world(tears for fears)
the whole Dub side of the moon cd, from the easy star all stars.

Also, anything richard cheese does.
Yep.

Any cover by Type O Negative.

Viola Lee Blues by the Dead

I prefer these covers over the originals:

Save Ferris- Come On Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
RHCP- Rollercoaster (Ohio Players)
Disturbed- Shout 2000 (Original: Shout by Tears for Fears)
Lemonheads- Mrs. Robinson (Beatles)
Green Day- My Generation (The Who)

Nothing special regarding the bands who covered the originals, I just prefer the sounds given to the songs by the covering artists.

Flying Lizards- Money
Celtic Frost- Mexican Radio
Soundgarden- Girl U Want
Chili Peppers- Subterranean Homesick Blues
Towa Tei/Bebel Gilberto- Private Eyes
Moog Cookbook- Hotel California

cake "i will survive"

that's right... cake... how could I forget that one... good cover.

Against Me! - Wagon Wheel
The Aquabats! - Don't Stop Believing (not really better but still very amusing)
Atom and his package - Waiting Room (again)
Death From above 1979 - Luno
Descendents - Wendy
Dinosaur Jr. - Just like heaven (but they're both pretty even)
Lou & Abby Barlow - Run to you
Rock Plaza Central - Sexyback
Melvins - Going Blind
Melvins - Youth of america
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Havana Affair
Refused - Let's go crazy
Pretty well anything Paul Anka has covered
Treepeople - Wild world
William Shatner - Common People

Pick any Bob Dylan song and you will find someone else doing a better version.

Bryan Ferry, Jeff Beck & Johnny Winter have the knack of making other people's songs better

Phish - Getting Jiggy With It.

Johnny Cash - Hurt
+1, but only just better.

Personal Jesus is way better than the original though

i disagree with teh johny cash version of hurt being better.

the nine inch nails version has so much more feelign put into it. the johny cash version was only good when paired with the music video showing hsi life, imo.

i find that i prefer most beatles songs when covered by other artists.

The original comes across to me as a song from a younger guy who feels all he's done to date is worthless. JC's version is astonishing since it comes across as utterly hopeless - a man at the end of his life surveying his past and feeling as if it has all been worthless. IMHO naturally, the second projects even more despair and sorrow. Cant help but feel it deeply myself.:bawl:

I prefer these covers over the originals:

Save Ferris- Come On Eileen (Dexy's Midnight Runners)
RHCP- Rollercoaster (Ohio Players)
Disturbed- Shout 2000 (Original: Shout by Tears for Fears)
Lemonheads- Mrs. Robinson (Beatles)Green Day- My Generation (The Who)

Nothing special regarding the bands who covered the originals, I just prefer the sounds given to the songs by the covering artists.

That's Simon and Garfunkel

I don't care what anyone says, Knockin' on Heaven's Door was written to be played by Guns n Roses.

Although I do agree that they do it very well, I think it looses it's touch when they have that cut in of that guy on the radio talking about whatever he's talking about that leads into the breakdown. Then it feels over produced. I liked Clapton's version more.

"Blinded by the Light" - Manfred Mann turned Springsteen's funereal dirge into a nice tune.

"Blinded by the Light" - Manfred Mann turned Springsteen's funereal dirge into a nice tune.

I was actually going to say something about that, but I dig the original just as much.

"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" - Revolting Cocks (originally Rod Stewart)
"Symptom of the Universe" - Sepultura (originally Black Sabbath)
"Iron Man" - The Cardigans (originally Black Sabbath)
"Police & Thieves" - The Clash (originally Lee "Scratch" Perry)
"The Badge" - Pantera (originally Poison Idea)
"I Started A Joke" - Faith No More (originally The BeeGees)
"You Oughtta Know" - 1000 Mona Lisa's (originally Alanis Morissette)

tom petty's "american girl" covered by dance hall crashers. totally blows the original out of the water

Avail covering "Santeria" is better.


I'm gonna have to STRONGLY disagree with you there...i dunno it might just be the UBER sublime fan in me but I cant even compare the 2 it isnt even possible.

OK, everyone, I have a couple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YVil3Ajjs

Eva Cassidy's version of Sting's "Fields of Gold". Breathtaking.

Also her version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" (yes, from the Wizard of Oz). Don't knock it till you've heard it, it's simply one of the greatest vocal performances ever by anyone (and nice guitar work, too). See

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUwTdqPkluY&feature=related

and be transformed. No one today sings like this.

Richie Havens does some nice Dylan and Beatles covers, a whole CD of them, actually.

Rock On by Def Leppard.


Here it is- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjH3pUW8BTw

Haste The Day's cover of Long Way Down by the Goo Goo Dolls, and Infectious Grooves' cover of the Immigrant Song.

Prince is great, but Micheal Hedges doing Love Bizarre is amazing.
RD

Back in Black covered by Living Colour,
Viva Las Vegas covered by the Dead Kennedies

I agree with Viva Los Vegas, DK's nailed it.
Another vote here for Cake doing I will survive
Monster Magnet - Into the void
Pennywise - Down under

Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

Sorry dude, I definately like Avail, no doubt about that, but we're on a bass forum here and I give mad respect to Eric Wilson (God of Thunder) from sublme. I also respect the reggae style. But . . . . that's just my take on it, different strokes for different fokes. R.I.P. to Brad

Phish's rendition of Avinu Malcanu is awesome

Devo - Satisafaction



:eek:



OK, so maybe it's not better, but it's frickin' awesome.

'Its my Life' and 'Oi To The World' by No Doubt are pretty cool covers

Sleep's cover of Snowblind is fantastic, I don't know if Better is the right word, though.

Devo - Satisafaction



:eek:



OK, so maybe it's not better, but it's frickin' awesome.

I'd say it is

RHCP - Higher Ground
And although im not the biggest fan of the band, HIM's cover of Rebel Yell is pretty damn good too

Devo - Satisafaction



:eek:



OK, so maybe it's not better, but it's frickin' awesome.

I'd say it is

Big +1 Kicked my a** when I saw them playin it on SNL!

While I'm at it: Dred Zepplin :cool:

RHCP - Higher Ground (originally by Stevie Wonder)
Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus (originally by Depeche Mode, but the original's good too)

Rihanna ruined the original versions of "SOS" and "Shut Up and Drive" (AKA "Tainted Love" and "Blue Monday").

Santana: Black Magic Woman
Donny and Marie Osmond: Deep Purple
Jorgen Ingmann: Apache

Come together, orginally by the beatles and covered by the Brothers Johnson, The Brothers Johnson's version is alot more cooler, sounds like it could be on the suprono's soundtrack or something

Cap'n Jazz - Take On Me
Bomb the Music Industry - Ghost of Corporate Future
Arrogant Sons of Bitches - every single Radiohead cover they've ever done
They Might Be Giants - The Joker
R.E.M. - Paint it Black
Choking Victim - Sweet Dreams
Jesse Lacey - Accident Prone (well, he sort of tied with Jawbreaker on this on)

Nick Cave - Black Betty...maybe not better but certainly different.

Billy Bragg - Walk Away Renee....not really a cover, it consists of Billy Bragg telling a story about a failed romance while playing "Walk Away Renee" on acoustic guitar.

The Damned's version of "Alone Again Or".

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (not Constantinople)
Rush - Summertime Blues
Blind Melon - Three is a Magic Number (from Schoolhouse Rocks: ROCKS!)
Liz Phair With Material Issue - The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) (from Banana Splits TV show...

Joe Jackson's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well"...it's AWESOME!

Some off the top of my head:

(1) Sting's version of Elton John's "Come Down in Time" gives me chills its so good.

(2) Blues Brothers do a very good "Soul Man" and "I Can't Turn You Loose"

(3) GNR's "Live and Let Die" totally rocked the early 90s

(4) Radiohead's "Nobody Does it Better"

(5) "Wild Thing" by comedian Sam Kinison

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah


Cohen is a HORRIBLE singer imo which is a shame because he is nevertheless an amazing songwriter/lyricist

One for all the Aussies in TB land...

The Living End - Tainted Love, better than Soft Cell's cover of it..
and also their version of the Prisoner (A TV show here in the 80s) theme song.

Love Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah.

And some mentioned Eva Cassidy...anything she does is amazing.

Also, Jaco's version of Blackbird is great (but can't really comment whether better than The Beatles, but very different and very cool)

I don't care what anyone says, Knockin' on Heaven's Door was written to be played by Guns n Roses.


I can definitely go along with that statement...
Worst song ever, sung by the worst singer ever!
A match made in... uh, well a good match.
:hiding:

I think that Gov't Mule's cover of David Grey's "My Oh My" pretty much defines the song.

I agree that the best covers ever were Jimi's All Along The Watchtower and SRV's Little Wing. I also like Johnny Winter's Highway 61 much more than Dylan's original.

Throwdown's cover of baby Got back

Zebraheads cover of the Spice Girls Wannabe

a vote here for Fear Factory's version of Cars, too

Shirelles: Will You Love Me Tomorrow (not really shure which version was first ...)
Deep Purple: (Excerpt from) Swedish Rhapsody #1

Alabama3 - "Speed of the Sound of Lonliness" (John Prine)
Metallica - Astronomy (Blue Oyster Cult)
Billy Sherwood & Friends - "Comfortably Numb" (Pink Floyd)
Yes - "America" - Simon & Garfunkle

Les Claypool's Frog Brigade covered the entire Pink Floyd Animals album. Sooo much better than the original! :bassist:

Aretha Franklin's version of "Respect".

Robert Randolph's "Jesus Is Just Alright"

Kirsty MacColl's covers of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," Cole Porter's (?) "Miss Otis Regrets," Billy Bragg's "A New England," and her cover of Tracy Ullman's cover of the song that was originally Kirsty MacColl's, "They Don't Know About Us."

Listen to www.vanbeukenstein.nl

Great covers!

Johnny Cash - Hurt

+1 Hell Yeah

there's something so wrong with you. trent just whines and poses. Johnny's lived it and you can hear it in every word.


Rufus Wainwright' cover of both Across the Universe, and Hallelujah. don't get me wrong, i love Jeff Buckley, but Rufus just kills with that song.

are you saying trent hasen't "lived it"

do your research!!

Most of the American songbook from the 30s, 40s, and 50s have better 'covers'.

Stanley Jordan's Stairway to Heaven. The definition of taking something great and making it better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjXN3OLgoqs

Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

no one can beat dio :/

Sorry dude, I definately like Avail, no doubt about that, but we're on a bass forum here and I give mad respect to Eric Wilson (God of Thunder) from sublme. I also respect the reggae style. But . . . . that's just my take on it, different strokes for different fokes. R.I.P. to Brad

Ya, eric is the man. I've got to meet him a few times.

We played with longbeach shortbus last year, and then we have played with his new band StoneWing... he plays drums in it.



I like the Avail version because Santeria always seemed to me like it was written as a punk tune, but some producer told them to do it reggae.

Check it out, it's on the album that came out in '94 called "Robbin' the Hood." The song is called the Lincoln Highway Dub. So it was most definately a reggae song to start. The whole album was dubbed on a four track. ] But I respect Avail's rendition because punk rock was just as important to Sublime as their reggae and dub styles were. And they absolutely rock the Sh*%!!

another reel big fish cover:

Kiss me deadly (originally a lita ford song)

when I saw them live they played about 2 minutes or so of Enter Sandman and did a very good job, I'm not a metallica fan but that got me moving

I would definetly nominate Voivod's cover of Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine. Killer work!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hhP9ZGHTEQ

~S~

No quarter was written for Tool

Husker Du's cover of "Love Is All Around" (the Mary Tyler Moore Show themesong)

The Replacements' cover of Kiss' "Black Diamond"

How about Judas Priest cover of Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez.

~S~

Melvins do "going blind" better than Kiss..

Man tuff one ...

Coming from a guy who literally wore the grooves out of CCR records when I was young and a total Fogarty fan, I loved "Fortunate Son"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMsMfOlaWV0&feature=related

But holy catfish gumbo when I heard Ivan Neville with George Porter on bass do it ... :eek:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShHe7nh5mkc

:D ... My band Blackkat Bone takes elements from both in our version

Blind Melon - Three is a Magic Number (from Schoolhouse Rocks: ROCKS!)

Someone other than me actually owns this CD?

Jason and the Scorchers version of "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Aimee Mann's remake of "One" (Three Dog Night)

Jason and the Scorchers version of "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Aimee Mann's remake of "One" (Three Dog Night)

Mr. Ringenberg and his band of merry maniacs also rock the socks off of Absolutely, Sweet Marie:)

Good Thread!!
Viva Las Vegas by Bruce Springsteen
Shakin' All Over by Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO was actually a fun cover band!!)
Papa Was a Rolling Stone by David Lindley / El Rayo-X
Get Rhythm by NRBQ
I like it when someone tips their hat to the original but also manages to make the song their own.

Devo - Satisafaction



:eek:



OK, so maybe it's not better, but it's frickin' awesome.

It's better.
Also Fishbone's Freddie's Dead and Shakey Ground.
RHCP- Subterreanean Homesick Blues
Kid Creole and the Coconuts - Flip, Flop, Fly

I would not necessarily say it's better than the original, but The Bad Plus' version of Karma Police is really good.

Actually, a lot of their covers could make the thread.

Bonnie Raitt: Runaway

Phil Brown: Awesome take of many Hendrix tunes on "The Jimi Project" Jimmy Haslip on bass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfUlt-eCIiM - I like this version of "Heard it through the grapevine" more then original, this version is from "Standing in the shadow of motown" movie.

The Bad Plus - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
GNR - Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Johnny Cash - Hurt

And everyone who said that RHCP's version of Higher Ground is better than the Stevie Wonder original, kill yourself. I like the Peppers too, but... no.

im not sure if anyone said it yet, i skimmed through the pages
but Faith No More doing War Pigs was just ridiculous. I've only heard it live i dont know if they have a recorded version but live it was just sick.

o and mike portnoy, paul gilbert, neal morse and matt bissonette, doing while my guitar gently weeps. im not a big fan of the singer but check out paul gilbert. seriously watch him through the whole song. i dont think youll ever see/hear any feel that song like he does. i think it was literally perfect. gives me chills. check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9QL0Jkb_GU

Demond Wilson's cover of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is far better than the original. It can be found on MySpace and video on YouTube. Come to think of it, Demond is better than everything!!!!

Goldfinger's cover of "99 Red Baloons" is definitely an improvement...


Killswitch Engage covering Dio's "Holy Diver" is better, imho


Reel Big Fish doing "Take on Me" is hella better


Avail covering "Santeria" is better.

Well, for this post, I must clarify something first: I've never been a fan of the band Journey. When they were at their prime, the only thing I heard from them at the time were bland ballads that never caught my attention. So that's why I hardly know about their music, but I guess that "Line Of Fire" is a very well-known song among Journey fans.

This recently discovered video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X79Mm4LiSks) shows a now defunct band from my country (born in Medellín) called Nash. Taken from a TV broadcast around '82 or '83, so you can imagine how corny this video is. The main portion of the video is dedicated to their version of Uriah Heep's "Weep In Silence" and it's a great version in my opinion, but the song doesn't fall in the category of "terrific" to me. On the other hand, the (regretfully incomplete) version of "Line Of Fire" at the beginning is simply awesome :bassist:! Never heard that tune before and it really impressed me (totally stuck in my head all these days). Never heard about Nash either and, after some research, I found that they recorded an LP in the early eighties and of course they are lip-synching over their own recording.

I've just heard the original version and still like Nash's much better. Maybe because it was the first one for me? I'm curious about your opinions.

me 1st and the gimmie gimmies': jolene
spider bait: ghost riders in the sky
children of bodom: final countdown
turisas: rasputin

there's loads of cover songs out there but these are the only one's i would say are better than the original

Elmore James "dust my broom" done by ZZ Top and Otis Redding's "hard to handle" done by the Black Crowes

White Zombie's cover of "God of Thunder"

Marilyn Manson's cover of "Tainted Love" and "Personal Jesus" and "Sweet Dreams"

A Perfect Circle's combonation/cover of "Diary of a Madman" and "Love Song", making "Diary of a Love Song". Also every cover on Emotive was better than the original.

Metallica's cover of "Turn the Page"

Disturbed's cover of "Shout" and "Land of Confusion" and "Fade to Black"...yes it IS better than Metallica's...I was shocked as well.

Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" was a cover of an old Gloria Jones song, and wasn't drastically different in the arrangement.

Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" was a cover of an old Gloria Jones song, and wasn't drastically different in the arrangement.

Oh cool I didnt know that.:)

Faith No More's 'Easy' is obviously a better cover than Lionel Ritchie's Commodore's original version, because whilst they are nearly identical songs, the radio stations all play the FNM version!

Simon & Garfunkels rendition/cover of Scarborough Fair. It's origin is from an old English folk song long ago...

~S~

i dont know if anyone else said it but...

Fantomas(artist) - The Directors Cut(album)

awesome. movie theme covers. check it out.

Hurt - Johnny Cash
The Man who sold the world - Nirvana
Babe I'm gonna leave you - Led Zeppelin
Hotel California - Majek Fashek

Hurt - Johnny Cash (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go)

Any cover by Type O Negative.
Their cover of Cinnamon Girl (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0bHCY865xs) is awesome, I dislike Young's high pitch vocals, its all about the Bass! :bassist: