Cover is as good as/better than Original

[SurrenderMonkey]

Beaten by Rick and others, but anyway

Hurt - NIN / Johnny Cash
Personnal Jesus - Depeche Mode / Johnny Cash
Higher Ground - Stevie / RHCP
Fire - Jimi Hendrix / RHCP (on crack!)
War Pigs - Sabbath / Faith No More
Under The Bridge - RHCP / All Saints




... Only kidding for the last one I thought I was gonna puke when I heard the cover version. Trash!

 

[MakiSupaStar]

Stepping Razor by Peter Tosh. I like this version better than the original Cutting Razor by the Versalites.

 

[J.D.B.]

Pretty much anything off the "Blues on fire" Aerosmith tribute. Robert Cray's take on "Pink" rules.
Josh

 

[Yvon]

iron man/ cardigans

I love black sabbath and Iron man is one of my favorite all time song. But I also really like the cardigans version.

Very different.

 

[Dave Martin]

La Bamba - Richie Valens/Los Lobos
And Maybe Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochrane/Brian Setzer

Interesting - I always thought of La Bamba as a loose interpretation of the Isley's "Twist and Shout"

Blue Cheer's version of Summertime Blues rocks pretty hard, too - and even country singer Alan Jackson had a hit with it.

 

[Dave Martin]

I Thank You - ZZ Top/Sam & Dave

Bonnie Raitt released it as a single at about the same time that ZZ Top did, thereby killing the chances of either being a hit. Bonnie has also recorded Del Shannon's Runaway, a version that rocks.

 

[Dave Martin]

how about
all the young dudes ian hunter

Umm... Ian Hunter was the first person to record "All The Young Dudes", as part of Mott The Hoople; even though David Bowie wrote it, Mott the Hoople's is the original.

 

[Dave Martin]

By the way, this is why I prefer the term 'version' rather than 'cover'; if I record, for instance, "How High The Moon", who would I be covering? it's been recorded a zillion times. And what about Layla, recorded by Eric Clapton (with Derek and the Dominoes) and also by Eric Clapton (doing his unplugged thing on MTV). Can you 'cover' your own record?

 

[BigKahuna13]

Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac/Santana
Little Wing - Hendrix/Derek and the Dominoes

 

[the_fonz]

Mastodon's cover of Orion (pretty much all of the kerrang CD)
Mindless Self Indulgence's cover of Tom Sawyer (sorry geddy)

i feel so dirty

 

[lunarpollen]

I can think of dozens and dozens.... and I can't even begin to say how many I disagree with in previous posts in this thread. But these are our opinions. Although someone who claims Limp Bizkit's version of "Behind Blue Eyes" is equal to or better than the Who's original makes me want to inflict violence with a lead pipe.

Anyway, one example that always pops into my mind first as something I think is way better than the original version is "The Mighty Quinn" by Manfred Mann (originally by Bob Dylan). Actually there are a bunch of Dylan tunes I think were covered better than his originals... tunes covered by the Turtles, the Byrds, and plenty of UK psychedelic acts among others.

 

[Musicschild17]

Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan/Red Hot Chili Peppers

 

[MaskedJackal]

Dinosaur Jr- Just Like Heaven (originally by the Cure)

 

[Altitude]

This is an old thread and I have posted before; I forget if I may have said this already. Alison Krauss sings a version of Robert Plant's "Big Log" on her brother Viktor's excellent CD "Far From Enough". When I listen to it and then the original, from "The Principle of Moments" back to back, the original sounds too fast, has a cheesy 80s drum machine clap in it that sticks out like a sore thumb, and Alison's smooth vocals seem much more suited to the tune.

Interestingly, Krauss (Alison, not Viktor) and Plant have recently released a duo recording. What I have heard of it is excellent.

 

[Altitude]

And in an interesting counterexample, 311's version of "Love Song" sounds almost completely indistinguishable from the Cure's original. I wonder why they went to the trouble.

 

[eiland]

iron man/ cardigans

I love black sabbath and Iron man is one of my favorite all time song. But I also really like the cardigans version.

Very different.

-check out Giant Sand's version of Iron Man.. It couldnt possibly touch the Sabs' version, but it's sorta good anyway..

 

[AdamR]

Faith No More - "War Pigs"

Some may not like the faster tempo, but the instrumentals are truly amazing, and the basslines are expanded upon heavily around the last guitar solo...

...it still stays true to the original, though

Awsome version of the song.

 

[Bass Hero]

I'm new and didn't read the whole thread, but one of my favorites is Boyz n the Hood by Easy E, covered by Dynamite Hack, prolly not the most popular of choices but they actually made it a nice song.

 

[MonetBass]

"Memories Can't Wait"-Talking Heads covered by Living Color

I was getting ready to post this one. BIG +1! I just heard the original Talking Heads version the other day for the first time(!), and I found it hard to listen to. Ugh.

"You Really Got Me" - Van Halen (Kinks)
"Crosstown Traffic" - Living Colour (Hendrix)
"Every Day Is A Winding Road" - Prince (Sheryl Crow)
"Statisfaction" - Devo (Rolling Stones)
"You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" - Hall & Oates (Righteous Brothers)
"Rock & Roll" - Heart (Led Zeppelin)
"For You" - Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Springsteen)

 

[ryco]

"Just Like Me" - Paul Revere & the Raiders/Pat Benatar

LOVE both versions. Giraldo is an excellent arranger and this is an interesting treatment.
Off topic: Took me a long time to appreciate his guitar style, but all my lead guitar buddies were nuts about him.

If you're gonna do a cover make it yours and make it at least as good as the original.

Ex: IMO Tne Scorps version of The Who's "I Can't Explain" is an example where a band just plays through a song without adding anything to it. I love the Scorps, but I wonder why they didn't do more with it. It certainly isn't a lack of talent or creativity. Just sounds like they cleaned it up a little (and why would you want to do that? --it's rock 'n roll!!).