I Got a You Covered, eh?

[Zarles]

fIREHOSE - 'Sophisticated Bitch'

Slayer - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Dead Kennedys - 'Viva Las Vegas' - Got coke up my nose, to dry away the snot...

[Seppuku]

This has got to be my favourite cover version of all time: John Cale - Heartbreak Hotel. It probably shouldn't even be called a cover...it just took the raw Presley original, and transformed it into a shrieking, experimental gothic-tinged classic. Why is Cale so underrated?

[yaz67]

A band called Last Town Chorus covered David Bowie's Modern Love. It has really grown on me. NOTHING like the original. Pretty cool to hear lap steel guitar in a pop song.

[tapehead]

By rights, this should probably suck, but I really like it - The Foo Fighters (a band I've had little interest in since it developed beyond Dave Grohl's studio project and that great first album) do a cover of Arcade Fire's 'Keep the Car Running'. Stereogum have an mp3 download.

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

The Foo Fighters (a band I've had little interest in since it developed beyond Dave Grohl's studio project and that great first album)

Inna'teresting that a you feel that way, eh paisan? The Dino, he always has a the ear for a the good rock anna roll band (have I mentioned, recently, the sheer stroke of a my genius inna having a the Queen make a the music for a the Flash Gordon, eh?). Anna I have always a felt that a the Grohl, he's a got a the great ear for a coming uppa with a the catchy "hook" with a the rock anna roll back-a-beat anna yet with a the pop sensibility, no?

[Fried Gold]

By rights, this should probably suck, but I really like it - The Foo Fighters (a band I've had little interest in since it developed beyond Dave Grohl's studio project and that great first album) do a cover of Arcade Fire's 'Keep the Car Running'. Stereogum have an mp3 download.

It's on big rotation on the BBC today, as they did for the first time for Radio 1 on Friday.

[bastard_robo]

I've been listening to Killswitch Engage's version of HOLY DIVER... Its what I like about a cover... Basic tone done in the bands personal style!

[Ribbons]

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Cat Power

It almost sounds like a completely different song, but it really works.

[vicious_bastard]

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Cat Power

It almost sounds like a completely different song, but it really works.

Not as good as Devo's version of the same. I love it so much that I almost certainly mentioned it earlier in this thread. The hypnotic bassline is ripe for sampling as well. I probably did the same with Joanna Newsom's cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing". Magic!

[Cha-Ka Khan]

This is probably sacrilegious, but one of my most hated songs is "The Weight" by Robbie Robertson and The Band.

Hate everything about it. The allegorical lyrics, the twang, the plodding tempo, the way all those voices come together to (barely) sing "aaaaaaaaaannnnd" right before "put the load on me." I don't think it's possible for another song to make my finger hit another station preset faster than "The Weight."

Imagine my surprise when I heard John Denver's cover of The Weight. His version is a hippy/bluegrassy/lively version that really brought out the beauty of the song for me.

I was amazed... one of those moments where I suddenly had a whole new way of looking at something.

[unikrunk]

Fisherspooner covering Wire's 'The 15th'

Oldy but a goody.

[minstrel]

This is probably sacrilegious, but one of my most hated songs is "The Weight" by Robbie Robertson and The Band.

Hate everything about it. The allegorical lyrics, the twang, the plodding tempo, the way all those voices come together to (barely) sing "aaaaaaaaaannnnd" right before "put the load on me." I don't think it's possible for another song to make my finger hit another station preset faster than "The Weight."

Imagine my surprise when I heard John Denver's cover of The Weight. His version is a hippy/bluegrassy/lively version that really brought out the beauty of the song for me.

I was amazed... one of those moments where I suddenly had a whole new way of looking at something.

Hoo boy, you're picking a fight here!

I love The Band. I love the homemade feel of their songs. "You know what this song needs? A horn section. Anyone here play any brass instruments? No? Nobody, huh? Well, give it a try anyway." I love how easily they sound so deeply American, especially since they're 80% Canadian.

And The Weight is a great song. Sure, Robertson wrote pretentious lyrics. But the singers managed, through pure backporch honesty, to drain all the pretension from them and infuse them with real humanity.

When I was a kid, learning to play guitar, my guitar-strumming friends and I would play The Weight. Hell, it was easy, and it helped us learn to sing without being so damn self-conscious all the time. The Band's singers were totally untrained and improvisational, and they encouraged us to be the same way, and we'd wail our way through The Weight happily even if we had no idea what the words were talking about, and we loved it.

I still love it.

In fact, I love it so much, Cha-Ka, that you can piss all over it all you want and not change my opinion.

I think I'm going to go watch The Last Waltz now.

[Vegeta]

Agreed, The Weight is just a classic. It's like people who hate Bob Dylan (for his singing or whatever reason), they're just so missing something...

Regardless, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I can see where Cha Ka is coming from... I just happen to disagree.

[Fievel]

Agreed, The Weight is just a classic. It's like people who hate Bob Dylan (for his singing or whatever reason), they're just so missing something...

Regardless, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I can see where Cha Ka is coming from... I just happen to disagree.

I loathe Bob Dylan.
I've walked out on his concerts twice.

I do, however, dig The Band.

[Vegeta]

Fair enough...

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

I loathe Bob Dylan.
I've walked out on his concerts twice.

Twice, eh?

Usually loathing a the putz would a be a the deterrent to purchasing a the concert tickets once, no?

[yaz67]

Any Pixies fans in here? Has anyone heard David Bowie's cover of Cactus by the Pixies. It is on his HEATHEN album. Very odd to walk into my local record store and hear one of my favorite songs sung by David Bowie.

[St. Alphonzo]

Any Pixies fans in here? Has anyone heard David Bowie's cover of Cactus by the Pixies. It is on his HEATHEN album. Very odd to walk into my local record store and hear one of my favorite songs sung by David Bowie.

I actually really love Bowie's version. Unlike his cover of The Modern Lovers' "Pablo Picasso" on Reality, his version of "Cactus" has some depth and emotion put into it.

[tapehead]

Bowie covers? I like his cover of Lennon's "Working Class Hero" - on the first Tin Machine album.

[Fievel]

I loathe Bob Dylan.
I've walked out on his concerts twice.

Twice, eh?

Usually loathing a the putz would a be a the deterrent to purchasing a the concert tickets once, no?

True, true..

Who's the putz?
The putz, or the putz that walks out twice on him?

Both times, I had gone to specifically see the opening band (Phil Lesh & Friends). Both times I really tried to watch/enjoy Dylan. The second time I even tried to keep the "But he's a legend!" mentality. Didn't help.

[The Vicar]

I love Tony Bennett's cover of Broken Hearts Are for Assholes, by Frank Zappa.
The shear weight of the balls it must have took Tony to talk his producers into letting that one on his album
"Shit Old Crooners Should Not Be Singing".

[unikrunk]

Any Pixies fans in here? Has anyone heard David Bowie's cover of Cactus by the Pixies. It is on his HEATHEN album. Very odd to walk into my local record store and hear one of my favorite songs sung by David Bowie.

Huge Pixies fan over here; that is a great cover - Bowie has been quoted as saying the Pixies were the only good band in the 80's, including himself in the 'not-good' category for the decade. Not sure I agree with him, but they are probably the best band of the decade. There was other good music in the 80's as well, methinks.

Odd that no one state-side really caught on to them until they broke up - they were huge in the UK, and over here nobody had heard of them.

[unikrunk]

And speaking of Bowie, I am about to commit heresy to some; his version of Ziggy Stardust is not as good as the cover by Bauhaus – sorry, Bauhaus just did the song better – its Daniel Ash’s guitar and Murphy’s voice; they are made for that song, the song was made for them. It’s just one of those things.

Even Bowie has said that they played it better than he could

The Proof, man.

[darkjedijaina]

I like Butch Walker's cover of Good Year for the Roses.

[tapehead]

And speaking of Bowie, I am about to commit heresy to some; his version of Ziggy Stardust is not as good as the cover by Bauhaus – sorry, Bauhaus just did the song better – its Daniel Ash’s guitar and Murphy’s voice; they are made for that song, the song was made for them. It’s just one of those things.

Even Bowie has said that they played it better than he could

The Proof, man.

That's remarkable considering their version is as close to an identical copy of the original as they could produce. Can you source your Bowie quote?

Or the one regards the Pixies?

[Maui]

Dancing in the Street - Martha and the Vandellas

Everyone and their dog has covered this, it seems.

Jagger and Bowie, Van Halen, even Atomic Kitten

I thought Van Halen did an OK job, not great, but OK.

[DennisMM]

Agreed, tapes. Perhaps the drumming is a bit more frantic, but it sounds the same to me apart from Murphy's somewhat higher, thinner voice.

[minstrel]

What is wrong with Van Morrison? The guy does great original music, but his covers don't usually work.

His version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" used in The Departed just plain sucks. Why not use the original?

[Maui]

What is wrong with Van Morrison? The guy does great original music, but his covers don't usually work.

His version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" used in The Departed just plain sucks. Why not use the original?

Wow - he did Comfortably Numb? EEK!

Love VM though. Brown Eyed Girl, Someone Like You - just to name a few of my favs.

[minstrel]

What is wrong with Van Morrison? The guy does great original music, but his covers don't usually work.

His version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" used in The Departed just plain sucks. Why not use the original?

Wow - he did Comfortably Numb? EEK!

Love VM though. Brown Eyed Girl, Someone Like You - just to name a few of my favs.

Wild Night. Into The Mystic. And It Stoned Me. The whole Astral Weeks album. The guy's brilliant, but sometimes his singing is ... unusual.

[DennisMM]

Have you heard any of his rerecordings of his own songs? Some are very painful.

[Maui]

Have I Told You Lately that I Love Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

That's a nice one!

[DennisMM]

Happiest song in the world: "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)"

[minstrel]

Happiest song in the world: "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)"

It's one of them. My nomination for that award would probably be "Fisherman's Blues" by The Waterboys. It's impossible to be miserable listening to that.

[tapehead]

Agreed, tapes. Perhaps the drumming is a bit more frantic, but it sounds the same to me apart from Murphy's somewhat higher, thinner voice.

And even then his phrasing and intonation is virtually identical.

[unikrunk]

And speaking of Bowie, I am about to commit heresy to some; his version of Ziggy Stardust is not as good as the cover by Bauhaus – sorry, Bauhaus just did the song better – its Daniel Ash’s guitar and Murphy’s voice; they are made for that song, the song was made for them. It’s just one of those things.

Even Bowie has said that they played it better than he could

The Proof, man.

That's remarkable considering their version is as close to an identical copy of the original as they could produce. Can you source your Bowie quote?

Or the one regards the Pixies?

re: sources - I heard him speaking directly of his cover of the Pixies track on NPR, of all places - it was right around the time he released it - they played both versions of Cactus (a taste of each) and asked him why the cover - he went on to talk about them being the only good band from the 80's, and how he does not really care for the stuff he was doing with Tin Machine or whatever the hell he was doing at the time.

With his remarks on Bauhaus, I believe this stemmed from a BBC (edit - it looks like this was an NME interview from 82, actually) interview - he did not care for the band, in fact he said he did not like them - however they played the song the way it was meant to played.

There is a difference, slight, yet apparent, in the two recordings - Bauhaus plays the song a little more up-tempo, and it is a little dirtier sounding - a little rawer than Bowie's version. Bowie's version is more of a ballad, where Bauhaus made a rock track out of it.

If that makes any sense; I hope it does, just woke up, and have not finished a cup of coffee.

[tapehead]

Nah it's cool - I usually like covers that do something different to the original - that reveal something else in the song - wheras, as you say, this is pretty similar to live versions I've heard Ziggy and the Spiders do, just a slightly garage rock version maybe. Mick Ronson was a guitar god all the time he played with Bowie.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

LCD Soundsystem's blistering cover of Joy Division "No Love Lost", the cover that should've played over the end credits of CONTROL instead of the Killers limp dick piss take on "Shadowplay".

[tapehead]

So I'm listening to Bat For Lashes' Fur and Gold, realising this is one of the bands that PJ Harvey probably listened to a lot before recording her last album. I'm thinking it's pretty good despite is 'wymyn play music' cliches, when, at the end, they do this dark, slow-paced, almost mournful version of Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" from 'Born in The USA. Unfortunately it's the most memorable track on the album.

[Retardo_Montalban]

So, I'm at work today listening to the soundtrack for "into the wild", and while "Hard Sun" is playing, my friend says "Why in the hell are all the radio stations playing that song, it's like 12 years old. I perk up immediately and set the fella straight. I says "Hey, fella this ain't old, this is Eddie Vedder's new song, it just came out". My friend says "Eddie Vedder? I thought this was Indio.

"Indio??¿ who in the hell are Indio"

I looked Indio up and yup the song's a cover and it's pretty much exactly the same with a different vocalist. Eddie Vedder made me a damned fool.

[Spifftacular SquirrelGirl]

I enjoy Foo Fighter's cover of "Darling Nikki"

[Bayouwolf]

Does it count when an artist covers their own song?

"Layla" by Derek and the Dominos
Then later redone acoustically by Clapton himself.
The remake had more of a blues feel to it that made that song for me.

And as a tribute to Johnny Cash (not superior, just paying homage to a legend) Social Distortions cover of "Ring of Fire" is pretty damn easy to listen to.

[Maui]

Mission Impossible Theme - Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen (from U2)
I don't know what orchestra did the original - but these two guys really do a mighty fine job with the tune!!



Baby I'm Amazed by Jem
Beautiful voice this gal has, as well, I like the addition of the banjo to this cover.

[Zarles]

The Polysics' cover of My Sharona has me doing the right now.

[DaleTremont]

I quite like Nouvelle Vague's cover of Guns of Brixton.

[King Of Nowhere]

Lennon's take on Stand by me.
Sid Vicious - My Way.

[Theta]

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by Cat Power

It almost sounds like a completely different song, but it really works.

Eh, gimme Devo's, any day.

[Theta]

Renegades, Rage Against the Fucking Machine, Bitch.

A shit album from a shit band.

[Fawst]

Frontline Assembly feat. Tiffany (yes, that Tiffany) covering U2's New Year's Day. Man do I love that version.

Frontline Assembly feat. Kristy Thirsk covering Madonna's Justify My Love. Another great one.

And I have to admit... I really do dig Disturbed's cover of Genesis's Land of Confusion. That song needed a harder edge than Genesis was capable of, and it works quite well.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Renegades, Rage Against the Fucking Machine, Bitch.

A shit album from a shit band.

what kind of a preening jackass listens to all of a band's prior material, and then, when they put out a covers album, listens to that as well?