Thread: Covers of Songs that Beat the Originals

Besides some of the ones listed (Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower," the Animals' "House of the Rising Sun"), I also like:

-The House version of "Get Happy." They put it in a minor key, and it sounds frickin' awesome. ...Except when it gets all happy/silly, so I skip that part.

-Peter Gabriel's version of Arcade Fire's "My Body Is a Cage."

-PHEVOTT and Tsubaki Ichimatsu's version of ZUN's "Kid's Festival ~ Innocent Treasures." The original's interesting, but I just like the other more.

-Masayoshi Minoshima and Nomico's version of ZUN's "Bad Apple!!" The nice black and white video doesn't hurt. :D

-Blackmore's Night's version of Renaissance's "Ocean Gypsy."

-Loreena McKennitt's version of "The Highwayman." It was originally a poem, and the only other musical version I've heard (Phil Ochs, I think) I didn't care for at all.

-The Pokémon Live! version (as opposed to the third movie CD version) of "You and Me and Pokémon."

-The show version (as opposed to the 2.B.A. Master version) of "The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye)."

-I'm not actually sure which came first, and they're both by the same people , but I like the Engrish "Just Like a Rainbow" over its Japanese counterpart "Niji ga Umareta Hi." Listening to "Niji" again, the timing of the words is just off as hell. Sometimes (mostly at the beginning) it sounds like she's trying to squish too many syllables into too short a time, and other times it sound like she started a word too early and just kept singing it until it should've ended.

Originally Posted by TheCapsFan

I absolutely hate Manson, but I really like Marylin Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). (Ack, I can't remember the original artist!)

Eurythmics.

Agreed on Johnny Cash's "Hurt", Judas Priest's "Diamonds and Rust", Aretha Franklin's "Respect", Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" and The Beatles' "Twist and Shout". And speaking of The Beatles, their cover of "Long Tall Sally".

Some more that I can think of.

"Evil Woman" and "Warning" by Black Sabbath, originally by Crow and Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, respectively.
"Planet Caravan" by Pantera, originally by Black Sabbath
"Zero the Hero" by Cannibal Corpse, also originally by Black Sabbath
"Word Up" by Korn, originally by Cameo
"Land of Confusion" by Disturbed, originally by Genesis
"Change the World" by Eric Clapton, originally by Wynonna Judd
"Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin, originally by Jake Holmes
"Heroes" by The Wallflowers, originally by David Bowie
"Ievan Polkka" by Loituma, originally by Eino Kettunen

I'm gonna go against the majority here and say that I actually prefer the NIN version of "Hurt" to Johnny Cash's - they're both excellent, and Johnny Cash definitely lends it a buttload of gravitas, but it's a personal thing and "Hurt" is actually my favorite NIN songs strictly in terms of sonic aesthetic.

As for the actual thread topic, a few stand out. "Mad World" is the easiest one - the Tears for Fears version does a good job of actually sounding, y'know, mad, but it's honestly kind of all over the place. Willie Nelson's recent cover of "Just Breathe" as well -the original's a fine tune, sure, but a bit uncharacteristic of Pearl Jam's overall style. That, and it sounds like it was born to be a Willie Nelson song. It just does.

I can also name a few covers that don't exactly outdo the originals but definitely hold their own against them. The Karen O/Trent Reznor collab on "Immigrant Song" (off the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack) is just about as good as any Zeppelin cover can get, and Amanda Palmer's ukelele-based Radiohead tribute is tremendous. Y'know what, I think I'll throw any cover Amanda Palmer does in here. They're all great.

'Jealous Guy' by Roxy Music, originally by John Lennon.
'All along the Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix, originally by Bob Dylan.
'Hallelujah' by Jeff Buckley, originally by Leonard Cohen.

All I can think of at the moment, there are some awesome ones I know I'm forgetting though.

Not sure if they have already been mentioned, my favorites:

• "The Exorcist" by Cannibal Corpse, the original was by Possessed

One of the my favorites:
• "These Boots" by Megadeth - try and find the uncensored version on YouTube, in the CD is censored, love it whole lot better than the original Nancy Sinatra, he claimed the song was too insulting with Dave Mustaine's added lyrics

• "Smokin' in the Boy's Room" by Mötley Crüe, the original by Brownsville station

• "Cum On Feel the Noize" by Quiet Riot, original by Blade

not sure if this one counts still I write it down
• "O Come All Ye Faithful" by Twisted Sister, the original is a traditional Christmas song



I'll post more later when I remember them

Simple Man, originally by Lynyrd Skynyrd, covered by Shinedown. I love Lynyrd Skynyrd, but the Brent Smith's (lead singer of Shinedown) voice is MADE for this song.

Kidnap the Sandy Claws. Korn worked their magic on it.

Motorhead's cover of Enter Sandman.

Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails, U2's cover of Helter Skelter by The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix's cover of All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan, and Smashing Pumpkins' cover of Landslide by Fleewood Mac.

Most Led Zeppelin songs are better than the originals, with a few exceptions. I like the original When the Levee Breaks by Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie. Maybe a couple others.

Also, with regards to Hallelujah, there have been over 9000 covers but I have yet to hear one that comes close to Leonard Cohen's performance.

I hope I don't piss off too many Grateful Dead fans for saying this, but I do like Counting Crows' version of "Friend of the Devil" a heck of a lot more than theirs. The Counting Crows version seems genuinely quite sad and haunting, feelings which I don't really get from the original.

Practically every 80's Nylons song ever. Maybe I'm just a sucker for acapella with drum beats, but their version of "Kiss Him Goodbye" totally beats the Steam version for me.