Music - Covers vs Originals - good list potential (NG/NB) | Vital Football

Music - Covers vs Originals - good list potential (NG/NB)

MedwayModernist

MedwayModernist

Vital Squad Member
Morning gents

One of my mates at work is a huge Bowie fan, and so I've been playing a bit of poke the bear this week by arguing that I much prefer Nirvana's unplugged version of Man Who Sold the World, rather than the great man's original recording (which is true).

It made me wonder, are there many other cases where someone's covered an original and done a much better job?

You'd have to ignore songs like "Whiskey in the Jar" (Thin Lizzy/Metallica) and the like, because they were old standards that were just finally recorded.

Africa by Weezer is doing the rounds at the moment is another great one, although I'm not sure I'd say it's better than than toto's, its close.
 
Deftones' version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Simple Man', for me, is better than the original.

Faith No More's version of 'Easy' surpasses that of the Commodores and every time I hear the song play I hope it's the FNM version.
 
HerrLjunga said:
Deftones' version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Simple Man', for me, is better than the original.

Faith No More's version of 'Easy' surpasses that of the Commodores and every time I hear the song play I hope it's the FNM version.
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Disagree on both counts there, sorry herr.
 
MedwayModernist said:
Morning gents

One of my mates at work is a huge Bowie fan, and so I've been playing a bit of poke the bear this week by arguing that I much prefer Nirvana's unplugged version of Man Who Sold the World, rather than the great man's original recording (which is true).

It made me wonder, are there many other cases where someone's covered an original and done a much better job?

You'd have to ignore songs like "Whiskey in the Jar" (Thin Lizzy/Metallica) and the like, because they were old standards that were just finally recorded.

Africa by Weezer is doing the rounds at the moment is another great one, although I'm not sure I'd say it's better than than toto's, its close.
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I think they are both quite different I can definitely appreciate both. Hard to pick a fav there MM.

I googled best cover versions:


1. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind (made famous by Elvis Presley)
2. Johnny Cash - Hurt (originally by Nine Inch Nails)
3. The Stranglers - Walk On By (originally recorded by Dionne Warwick)
4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - All Along The Watchtower (originally by Bob Dylan)
5. Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (originally by Leonard Cohen)

That's wjat a BBC poll said anyway...

I have to say my fav version of hallelujah was by a female busker in Leeds city centre a few days before xmas while i was shopping before coming back to Kent, just after Alexandra Burke did it on factor. Her (the busker's) version made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up!
 
Have a look at 'Like a Version' on YouTube. It's a piece on an Australian radio show where bands do covers. DMA's cover of Believe by Cher is decent.
 
Isaac Hayes version of "Walk on By" from Hot Buttered Soul album is 12 minutes of perfection. Great and sexy music for an evening in with the girlfriend.
 
Billy_Bleach said:
Have a look at 'Like a Version' on YouTube. It's a piece on an Australian radio show where bands do covers. DMA's cover of Believe by Cher is decent.
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I've had a bit of a deep dive in that youtube channel too. The have some really good live covers. Tash Sultana's cover of electric feel is my fave - if you've got a spare 8 minutes it's here.


As for songs release as singles or as album tracks, I've got a lot of time for Oasis' cover of My Generation by the Who. Reason I like it so much is that it's what I imagine the Who would've done with it had they recorded it today with modern gear and better recording equipment.
 
Any discussion of the best version of Walk On By must begin with the Isaac Hayes version.

Papa Was A Rolling Stone was truly wonderful by The Temptations but Was (Not Was) took it on and made a new classic.


Way ahead of anything and everything is the Linda Jones version of For Your Precious Love.

 
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MedwayModernist said:
Morning gents

One of my mates at work is a huge Bowie fan, and so I've been playing a bit of poke the bear this week by arguing that I much prefer Nirvana's unplugged version of Man Who Sold the World, rather than the great man's original recording (which is true).

It made me wonder, are there many other cases where someone's covered an original and done a much better job?

You'd have to ignore songs like "Whiskey in the Jar" (Thin Lizzy/Metallica) and the like, because they were old standards that were just finally recorded.

Africa by Weezer is doing the rounds at the moment is another great one, although I'm not sure I'd say it's better than than toto's, its close.
Click to expand...
Forgot to say that this a great new thread. I personally like the RE's version of "The Referee's a Bastard".
 
Chris Cornell - Nothing Compares to You
Prodigy - Fuel My Fire

Agree with Johnny Cash - Hurt and Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah from AK's BBC list.
 
Cash Won't Back Down
Dylan Boxer
Sex Pistols My Way
Rolling Stones Ain't Too Proud To Beg
Winwood/Clapton Can't Find My Way Home (live)
Julie Driscoll Wheels On Fire
Joe Cocker Into The Mystic (plus little help from my friend)
 
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