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What's your favorite song cover?
As the title says. Bonus points for covers that really surprised you. My personal favorite is Sugar Ray's cover of The Steve Miller Band's Abracadabra. It's super faithful to the source material but Sugar Ray kinda heavied it up a bit
The first one to come to mind which I really love is Motorpsycho's cover of the Moondog song "All is Loneliness," though it's more of a cover of of the Big Brother & The Holding Company / Janis Joplin's own versions of that song.
Shonen Knife's cover of My Bloody Valentine's When You Sleep is one of my favorites where the tone of the song is entirely changed, though. The original song is bittersweet and has a moody kind of half-positivity to it, but Shonen Knife made it the cutest, most feel-good thing I've ever heard. To anyone that's a fan of Loveless in general, you should definitely check out the album this comes from: Yellow Loveless, with a variety of prominent Japanese bands covering the entirety of that record.
Fuck yeah Cap'n Jazz!! Nice. Also the onion's under cover is amazing if you like covers and genre benders. Against Me! doing Jamie Jones is a standout for me. But honestly there are so many good ones. This is a youtube hole i regularly fall down.
If we're talking 'official' covers, it's a close tie between Disturbed's take on The Sound of Silence and Bad Wolve's cover of Zombie.
My favorite amateur cover is this acoustic of The Good Left Undone.
I used to be with you regarding NIN's cover of Johnny Cash's Hurt until I saw NIN close a set with it. Wow is that song way better live. Wow. It's fucking powerful.
You've got it backwards. Johnny Cash covered NIN!
Yeah, I know. It's a mindfuck. The first time I ever heard the Johnny Cash version, my brain short circuited to "Damn, I never knew the NIN song was a cover." The possibility of Cash covering NIN just didn't compute... but that's exactly what happened!
Edit: maybe I misinterpreted the thread?
I know I know! That's the joke
OK.OK. :)
You had me there for a second, lol.
Gotta admit that was fucking awful, sorry. I'm a huge AC/DC fan and that was on par with the Celine Dion one or some local teenage band.
Edit: ...and I'll add some AC/DC covers I think are good and different instead of just bashing Phish. I enjoy Mark Kozeleks versions of Up To My Neck In You and If You Want Blood You've Got It
Oh man, the first Space Oddity I saw was a mind-fuck. So good. I would listen to Trey do silly mouth guitar-solos all day long.
With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker. Maybe the only time a Beatles song was done better than the Beatles.
Blinded By the Light by Manfred Mann
The original was by Springsteen. He also wrote it.
Link for anybody interested :)
I also love this song, it's great!
Manic Street Preachers' cover of Rhianna's Umbrella
Bette Davis Eyes by Little xs For Eyes, I like it more than the original.
I seem to have a thing for Elvis Costello covers, although I love the originals too. A few favourites:
Baby Plays Around, covered by Curtis Stigers.
Shipbuilding and All Grown Up, covered by Tasmin Archer.
My favourite cover has got to be the cover of Rasputin by Turisas, followed closely by Blind Guardian's cover of You're the Voice.
They're just both so much fun! I can't help jamming along
Hurt by Johnny Cash
My go-to for this question is usually Ulver's version of Solitude by Black Sabbath which absolutely smashes the original (even though the original is still great in its own right) and fits perfectly in with the album it's a part of.
For me, it's a tossup between Geographer's cover of This is How We Walk on the Moon (originally a very eclectic Arthur Russell song), Motion City Soundtrack's cover of Wait So Long by Trampled by Turtles-- I never thought a bluegrass song would do so well as a pop-punk one, or The Rural Alberta Advantage's cover of Eye of the Tiger.
I've always been fond of the Cowboy Junkies' version of Blue Moon.
I like the Steve'n'Seagulls cover of Thunderstruck but their other covers are good too imo.
Mark Kozelek's cover of Modest Mouse's 'Ocean Breaths Salty' just opens up the song in a whole new perspective. Usually I hate when people take big songs and strip them down to make them sound 'deeper', but Mark does such a sincere job, it's remarkable it's a cover at all.
Also, Phoebe Bridger's cover of Mark Kozelek's 'You Missed My Heart' is how the song should be, imo. Something about hearing a song that's clearly a male perspective through Bridger's voice.
I, uh, have a few favorite covers. I have more, but I got a little worried about the size of the list.
I've always felt like a bit of a heretic because I don't really care for Bob Dylan's singing voice, to the point that I rarely enjoy any of his songs. Lay Lady Lay by Magnet gets me around that.
In a similar vein, for the same reason, I prefer Darlingside's cover of 1979 over Billy Corgan's voice.
A good Spanish styled rock song can take me a long way. Enter Rodrigo y Gabriella's acoustic version Stairway to Heaven.
I think The Civil Wars' Billie Jean is among of the few Michael Jackson covers that I like as much as the original.
I go back and forth between finding The Cleverly's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)" bluegrass cover more hilarious or impressive.
While I can do without the head bobs in the video every time he changes keys, Antoine Dufour's acoustic-electric version of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" is really pretty (and technically proficient). Normally I think you should shit or get off the pot when it comes to acoustic-electric guitars. Pick one or the other, not both--I'd say. This is the rare instance where I'll begrudgingly admit the combo guitar does it better than either the electric or acoustic would.
Ever wanted to know what Cher's "Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves" would sound like in a more authentic Roma sound? I didn't think I did either. Dervish's cover set me straight.
Florence + the Machine play their cover of Tori Amos' "Cornflake Girl" fairly straight, but Florence Welch's impressive voice adds a distinct flavor that I enjoy pretty thoroughly.
I've long been a big fan of Nickel Creek, then Chris Thile's later projects (including, importantly for this cover, punch brothers), Sara Watkins' solo career, and Sarah Jarosz. Take Punch Brothers' bassist, combo Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz, and add Aoife O’Donovan, and we have a gorgeous acoustic cover of Adele's "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)".
Deep Purple - Help (The Beatles).
Phil Collins's version of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors
Wreck and Reference just released an EP of four Guided by Voices "covers": Alien Pains
Thou: Endless Nameless (covering Nirvana)
Dillinger Escape Plan: Jesus Christ Pose (covering Soundgarden)
sunn O))): F.W.T.B.T ("covering" Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls)
Full of Hell: Oven (covering Melvins)
Dreamcatcher's cover of Really Really by Winner. I like both, but I think the song works really well at a higher register. I think I might like it more than the original actually.
Dustin Kensrue's (from Thrice) cover of Counting Crows - 'Round Here.
Specifically this version. There are a bunch of higher quality recordings, but this is the first one I heard and I think it is his best rendition. I think I downloaded it directly from a Thrice fan website back in the day.
Aretha Franklin's 1969 cover of The Weight with Duane Allman on guitar
Original version by The Band in 1968
Seal's cover of Fly like an Eagle by Steve Miller is one of my favorites and the first one that came to mind.
I really dig
Queensryche - Welcome to the Machine
Cake - I will survive
Killswitch Engage - Holy Diver
Also, not so much a cover as adding words to an instrumental Malukah - Reignite It was basically using Mass Effect 3 Leaving Earth and a couple others from the OST.
My personal favorite is Sonic Youth covering Superstar from the Carpenters.
Olivia Newton-John's cover of John Denver's “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is great. If I ever visit the US, I would really like to visit Blue Ridge mountains.
I usually don't pay that much attention to covers, but once in a while one comes along that endears itself to me and sticks around in my playlists.
Most recently that'd be We Barbarian's cover of Strange Overtones. It trades a bit of the tone of the original for raw power, which I'm digging. I've had Hyde & Beast's cover of (and the) Pictures In The Sky (an old Medicinehead track) in one of my playlists for years, still like it better than the original. Those are the only ones I have in any kind of rotation.
Whoops, almost forgot Shakey Graves w/ Shovels & Rope covering Unknown Legend. This is one I absolutely love. Charles Bradley's cover of Changes is pretty damn epic too, and a radical departure from the original (in all the best ways).