Covers that surpassed the originals

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

Moonspell's cover of Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley:"



Rhapsody of Fire's version of Manowar's "Power of Thy Sword:"

[SCRawl]

Manfred Mann's "Blinded By the Light". Way better than Springsteen's original, if you ask me.

If you really need to see a YouTube link...

[Gil Hamilton]

I would argue that the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" is actually better than the Bob Dylan original.

[JointStrikeFighter]

[Bounty]

No, seriously.

[Darth Wong]

I would argue that the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower" is actually better than the Bob Dylan original.

Bob Dylan is a good source for cover songs because his original compositions are sparsely laid out, and he has a godawful shitty singing voice. This makes it a lot easier for someone to do a cover of a Bob Dylan song which beats the original.

[tim31]

Fantastic poet, awful performer

But for the flower children it wasn't about that.

Anyway, even Trent Reznor conceded this one.

[Simplicius]

Aretha Franklin's version of 'Respect' has so far surpassed the original that most people don't even know it's a cover.

Franklin, 1967:


Otis Redding, 1965:

[Adrian Laguna]

How I Could Just Kill a Man
Rage Against the Machine took a mediocre rap song by Cypress Hill and turned it into pure unadulterated awesome. The original version sounds to me like some gangasta wannabe, a poser with a big mouth. The cover sounds like an actual psychopath, with just the right amount of gleeful delight as he describes shooting somebody.


Pretty much every cover I have heard Marilyn Manson do is better than the original. The ones that come to mind are Personal Jesus, Tainted Love, Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and You Spin Me Right Round. The last two are really close calls, though. If my mood is right, I some times prefer the originals.

Disturbed's Land of Confusion

I'm going to disagree there. The cover has a consistently angry tone with very little emotional variance, which does not match what the lyrics are saying throughout the song. The stanza that starts with "I remember long ago..." should feel tender and melancholy, which is does beautifully in the Genesis version, while Disturbed just sort of plows through it like any other line. Another example is the stanza, "Did you read the news today? They say the danger's gone away, but I can see the fires still alight. They're burning into the night." They seem poignant when Genesis sings them, but when Disturbed does it they sort of get lost amongst everything else. The singing in the cover sounds like just going through the motions, which is rather bland when compared to the original's more emotional vocals.

I also like the original music video better as well. While the Disturbed video is admittedly cooler, I prefer the sheer insanity that is the Genesis original.

[Darth Wong]

Yeah, I heard the cover of "Land of Confusion" a while ago and found it to be totally flat. Yes, it's louder and more "hardcore", but it's flat.

[Gil Hamilton]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKbt3wRsZYw

No, seriously.

You're full of it. The Pulp original was great.

[Gil Hamilton]

Bob Dylan is a good source for cover songs because his original compositions are sparsely laid out, and he has a godawful shitty singing voice. This makes it a lot easier for someone to do a cover of a Bob Dylan song which beats the original.

Dylan was a great guitarist and a brilliant writer, but yeah, he couldn't sing very well. However, I think what puts Hendrix' version over the top is that he takes what Dylan does best and mixes in his own extraordinary sound and skill. As a general rule, alot of the people who cover Dylon (and that's ALOT) don't do it as well. Everyone and their dog has covered "The Times Are a Changin'" and "Mr. Tambourine Man", from the Byrds to Eddie Vedder, but I still prefer Dylon's originals. I don't know, maybe its the sincerity of it. Sound quality wasn't a big thing, I mean, hell, I first heard Mr. Tambourine Man on an actual vinyl 78, after all.

[YT300000]

Possibly the best cover of all time would be Joe Cocker's version of With a Little Help From My Friends, most famously seen at Woodstock:



As for the Moonspell cover of Mr. Crowley, it's okay, but not even a shadow of the original. The bass, drums and rhythm guitar suffer from the modern production which compresses away any trace of dynamics, and the lead guitar is clumsy, with none of Randy Rhoad's subtlety or touch.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Ok here's two of my favorites (question how about Kristopherson? he's written a number of songs that others have used)

[Napoleon the Clown]

Nazareth is one of many to cover "Love Hurts". It is, in my opinion, the best rendition of the song.


Judy Garland popularized "Over the Rainbow". Then Sissel performed it.


k.d. Lang has a slight vocal advantage over Leonhard Cohen. She is one of the few artists out there who can actually cover Roy Orbison songs without butchering them, after all.


Mason Williams did awesome work with "Classical Gas". Chet Atkins came along and covered it. Please note, this isn't multitracking or multiple guitars. One man, one guitar.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Johnny Cash's "Solitary Man":



Neil Diamond's original, on the other hand, is kind of lame:

---

Judas Priest has a knack for turning mediocre songs into awesome ones (possibly because anything KK and Glenn touch turns to gold):




Originals:

[Highlord Laan]

I'm rather fond of Judas Priest's cover of Johnny B. Good

[Alferd Packer]

Thought, really, anything off the Renegades album is better than the original.

[Executor32]

Speaking of Johnny B. Goode, I've always preferred the Johnny Winter version from BttF, over Chuck Berry's original.




Just for shits and giggles, here is Elvis:



I also like both Marilyn Manson's and Johnny Cash's covers of Personal Jesus:

[Gunhead]

Speaking of Johnny Cash. In addition to being a great song, it's the song that must be played when hungover, twice if it's sunday.



I like this version slightly better, it's the heavier guitars that do that to me



While it's technically not a cover as such. Tom nails this. To a fucking T. If you like blues and haven't heard this you're so missing out.



And Rhapsody of Fire, while decent, doesn't come even close to the awesomeness that is Manowar. It just can't get the power captain.

-Gunhead

[phred]

Gary Jules version of Mad World


versus the original by Tears for Fears


I just like the stripped down style better.

[The Yosemite Bear]

what about frankie and elvis for only doing covers.

[Frank Hipper]

[Rye]

0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)

Wiseblood did the original:



Fear Factory did the cover (and for my money a far, far better version thanks to the vocals, especially at "I LOVE THEE, SATAN!" part):



I also prefer the Fear Factory version of Cars by Gary Numan:

[Silver Jedi]

Much like Hendrix did with All Along the Watchtower, with Black Magic Woman Santana took took a pretty good song and turned it into an amazing song.
Fleetwood Mac Version:


Santana Version: