The Best and Worst Covers in Music.

[Inflatable Julay]

Nick Cave performing Leonard Cohen - Tower Of Song.wmv

youtu.be

Nick Cave drunk off his ass covering Leonard Cohen

 

[ShittyRecolor]

Really like this fan cover of the Ultimate Battle theme form Dragon Ball Super:

Here's the original for reference:

The official English version by Funimation wasn't very good, ufortunately...

 

[Sevatonius]

 

[Trombonista]

I cannot believe I only found out about this cover today. Masaaki Endoh is amazing.

 

[XYZpdq]

saw this in the bird thread

 

[Jason Wynn]

One of the worst is that fucking Sound of Silence cover Disturbed did. Completely destroyed the intent and melancholia of the original and turned it into another whiny, angsty, nu-metal fagfest. Can't understand why it got the acclimation it did.

Best? Gotta mention the obligatory Hurt by Johnny Cash to get it out of the way. A few others I thought were really good were Metallica's cover of Turn the Page, Bob Dylan's cover of Mr. Tambourine Man, Iron Maiden's cover of Cross-Eyed Mary, and Pearl Jam's cover of Last Kiss.

 

[Billy "the Bot" Bobson]

Manfred Manns Earth Band could have had a much greater career had they just dedicated themselves as a Bruce Springsteen cover band. Everyone knows "Blinded by the Light" but "Spirits in the Night" is far better and is just a straight up banger of a fucking song.

 

[Ex Cummunicated Sasser HD]

Gene Simmons "Firestarter" - Originally by The Priodigy.

It's one of the worst most misguided covers, by someone far far far past their prime.

 

[The Great Citracett]

Yet another great Springsteen cover by Manfred Mann that's better than the original:

And since I got beaten to posting that godawful Gene Simmons cover, here's the title track to the album it's from:

I'm considering it a cover because it's actually a weird 90s rock-sounding song he apparently bought from a Norwegian band called Shirley's Temple and just dicked around with the lyrics.

If you think it sounds dumb and juvenile and like maybe English wasn't the writer's first language, that's why.

Here's the notes from the video:

Spoiler: Song origins

This is a song by the Norwegian band Shirley's Temple, written by guitarist/vocalist Frank Tostrup, which Gene purchased for use on his solo.

The song was originally released as the title-track of the band's September 2002 EP on Capitol/EMI and would also become the title of Gene's album. The band were inspired by KISS and have recorded a cover of "God Of Thunder" for a Norwegian KISS tribute due in 2004 while the rest of their future seems undecided.

Gene would make minor lyrical changes to the song changing "But you got a personality / Just like a bucket of pee" in the first verse to "But you've got a personality (yeah) / Just like a bucket full of pee." In the chorus "Dumb as a sheep... Asshole" would be changed to: "You look like a sheep (ba-baah)... Asshole."

The second verse would be changed from "You've really got no shame / You disrespect my name / Does lying make you feel alright? / Then tell me, how do you sleep at night?" to "You know you've got no shame / And you've got such a stupid name / And one day you'll finally shut your trap / 'Cause you are the cream of the crap."

Additionally, a third verse would be omitted completely: "Your humor value reaks / I'll bet your self-esteem is weak / One day you'll get it in your life / 'Cause you're the cream of the crap." Shirley's Temple provide the backing music for Gene's recording, so it is possible that he simply recorded his vocals over an instrumental track.

Now check out the far superior original:

Yeah. Gene seems to have just bought the demo track and sung over it.

 

[Annoying Thick Bitch]

 

[Midlife Sperglord]

Ben Folds covering The Darkness and doing a damn fine job with it.

 

[TheImportantFart]

Ever heard Boyzone's cover of "Father And Son" by Cat Stevens? Spoiler: it's shit. Like really shit:

Only someone with a voice like Stevens could pull that off.

Ronan Keating later did a cover with the man himself, but it's no better and I've lost some respect for him over his choosing to be involved with this:

 

[Titos]

Vincent Gallos cover of Moon River is absolutely fantastic. The guitar has so much goddamned soul to it. It's a shame it's not on any of his albums to my knowledge and he's an absolute autist when it comes to copyright so you can't even easily find it outside of one link on Bandcamp and it's live.

Vincent Gallo - Moon River [w/ PJ Harvey e John Frusciante]

Vincent Gallo: Live At Royal Festival Hall, Londres - Inglaterra (05/04/2004) Moon River (Mancini/Mercer) [w/ PJ Harvey e John Frusciante]

soundcloud.com

 

[Anti Fun Aktion]

I know someone who did a godawful cover of my heart will go on from Celine Dion. The original song was fluff but this one is worthy of the farms. https://youtu.be/WT9BhGKfptE
g

 

[Buster O'Keefe]

I may be late with this, but William Shatner's cover of Common People is pretty amazing. The album it's from, Has Been, is a real revelation, mostly because Ben Folds is a genius. It's not the gimmicky bullshit Shatner's earlier (and later) musical output was.

 

[HighwayStar]

My favorites

Motley Crue - Helter Skelter (originally by the Beatles)

Metallica - Breadfan (originally by Budgie)

Run-DMC feat. Steven Tyler and Joe Perry - Walk This Way (originally by Aerosmith)

Faith No More - War Pigs (originally by Black Sabbath)

And speaking of Mike Patton, Here's Mr. Bungle's rendition of the "Super Mario Bros. theme" (originally by Koji Kondo)

The Dickies - Nights in White Stain (originally by the Moody Blues)

Siouxsie & the Banshees - The Passenger (originally by Iggy Pop)

Guns N' Roses - I Don't Care About You (originally by Fear)

Manic Street Preachers - This is the Day (originally by The The)

Anthrax & Public Enemy - Bring the Noise (originally by Public Enemy)

 

[HighwayStar]

More favorites:

Otis Redding - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (originally by the Rolling Stones)

Nirvana - Molly's Lips (originally by the Vaselines)

Pet Shop Boys - Always on My Mind (originally by B.J. Thomas, popularized by Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson)

Goo Goo Dolls - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (originally by Prince)

Primal Scream - Nitty Gritty (originally by Shirley Ellis, popularized by Gladys Knight & the Pips)

Lady Gaga - Your Song (originally by Elton John)

Hanoi Rocks - Up Around the Bend (originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Al Green - I Can't Get Next to You (originally by the Temptations)

The Tuesdays - Wheels (originally by Enuff Z'Nuff)

Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through the Grapevine (originally by Gladys Knight & the Pips)

 

[Ndnd]

The original was great but the cello version is epic.

 

[The Great Citracett]

Love this band, and love this song.

But this cover is so boring, it adds absolutely nothing, brings nothing new, so you're better off just sticking with the original.

It's a shame because their other covers are usually fantastic and they really know how to put their own spin on them.

And what's up with the Ghost ripoff cover art?

 

[Ruin]

I heard the Limp Bizkit cover of Behind Blue Eyes in a pub recently and I think it gave me cancer.