Best and Worst Covers

[auxt]

and a couple of pop covers ...

 

[Scott]

^there's another fab cover of 'apache' by the 70's/80's electronic band,the killer watts. it's moog and korg laden. quite nice actually.

 

[marmoset]

A couple I can think of:

Best

Arcade Fire - Guns Of Brixton
Original by The Clash

Tom Hodge - Aerodynamic
Original by Daft Punk

The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain - Dy-na-mi-tee
Original by Ms Dynamite

The Killers - Shadowplay
Original by Joy Division

Jonsi - Time To Pretend
Original by MGMT

Dragonette - The Boys
Original by Calvin Harris

Florence + The Machine - You Got The Love
Original by Candi Staton

Noisettes - When You Were Young
Original by The Killers

Sugababes - Freak Like Me
Original by Adina Howard also heavily samples Gary Numan's 'Are 'Friends' Electric' on that note...

Moloko - Are 'Friends' Electric
Original by Gary Numan

Blondie - The Tide Is High
Original by The Paragons

Maxence Cyrin - Where Is My Mind
Original by Pixies
Maxence Cyrin also does amazing covers of D.A.N.C.E (Justice), Around The World (Daft Punk) and Windowlicker (Aphex Twin).

Finally... The Vines - Ms. Jackson
Original by OutKast

I didn't think I'd end up with this many!
The only bad one I can think of is Razorlight's cover of 'Hey Ya!' by OutKast, it just sounds so messy and is really dull in general. They also used a gospel choir but it didn't add anything, just made it sound worse :/

 

[marmoset]

Ooh, just thought of two more good ones:

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Nancy Sinatra which is originally by Cher I think?
And The White Stripes - I Just Don't What To Do With Myself which was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David but has been recorded by so many people. The famous version obviously being Dusty Springfield but Wikipedia is telling me it was first recorded by Tommy Hunt.

 

[Scott]

^actually both cher and nancy covered versions of the song the same year. it was actually written by sonny bono. to be honest,i prefer the nancy version myself...just so much more melancholic and wrenching.

 

[marmoset]

^actually both cher and nancy covered versions of the song the same year. it was actually written by sonny bono. to be honest,i prefer the nancy version myself...just so much more melancholic and wrenching.

ahh okay! ia about the nancy version

 

[ckgirlbr]

Best
Shadowplay * The Killers
Original by Joy Division


Worst
Last Nite * Adele
Original by The Strokes

 

[*ana*]

^but Adele's is great compared to Pixie Lott's

One of my favourite recent covers: Week-end à Rome - Vanessa Paradis + Nouvelle Vague (original: Etienne Daho)

 

[*ana*]

The two best WOTWS covers, for me:

 

[therethere]

Good:
Therapy? - Isolation (original by Joy Division)
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (original by Leonard Cohen
Patti Smith - Smells like Teenspirit (original by Nirvana)
Tori Amos - Smells like Teenspirit (original by Nirvana)
Editors - Orange Crush (original by R.E.M.)
Johnny Cash - Hurt (original by Nine Inch Nails)
Joan Osborne - Man in the Long Black Coat (original by Bob Dylan)
Placebo - Where is my Mind (original by Pixies)
Nirvana - Where did you Sleep Last Night (original by Mark Lanegan)
Nick Cave - Ramblin' Mind (original by Jeffrey Lee Pierce)
Get Well Soon - Born Slippy (Nux) (original by Underworld)

HORRIBLE:
Avril Lavigne - Chop Suey (original by System of a Down)
Jamie Cullum - High and Dry (original by Radiohead)
Laura Jansen - Use Somebody (original by Kings of Leon)
Lucy Silvas - Nothing Else Matters (original by Metallica)

 

[StoneSkipper]

Jessica Simpson's cover of Nancy Sinatra's These Boots Are Made For Walking is pretty much the essence of a bad cover....

 

[ellastica]

M Ward does a slew of great covers:
You Still Believe in Me/ Brian Wilson ( I prefer the cover over the original)
Green River/ John Fogerty
Let's Dance/David Bowie
Well-Tempered Clavier/ Johannes Sebastian Bach


other good covers:
Dancing in the Dark- Ted Leo & The Rx (Bruce Springsteen)
Everyday I Write the Book- Ron Sexsmith- Elvis Costello
Just Like Heaven- Dinosaur Jr (The Cure)
The Forest- Nouvelle Vague (The Cure)
8 Miles High- Husker Du (The Byrds)


not so good:
some god awful R&B cover of "Fell in Love with a Girl", really this song makes me queasy

 

[Lily Jo]

^^I think the cover you're talking about is Joss Stone.

Imagine-LIVE (originally John Lennon). This song is so precious that normally people should really stay away from it. But Ed Kowalcyk sang this song like nobody's business and he blew the roof off the entertainment centre.

Blind Willie McTell- The White Stripes (originally Dylan)
Paths of Victory- Cat power (originally Dylan)
I hope that i don't fall in love with you- Hootie and the Blowfish (original Tom Waits)

 

[liv4beauty]

Surprised no one mentioned Cowboy Junkie's version of Sweet Jane. (Original by Lou Reed). It's a classic!

 

[Perickles]

Best cover Am Tag Als Conny Kramer Starb by Juliane Werding (well it isn't really a cover, it's a version but %100 best than the original) (originally The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by The Band)
Worst cover Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm

 

[JacquelineJane]

A couple of good covers (IMO) - not saying they're better than the original... just that they're quality in their own right...

Placebo - Running Up That Hill (originally by Kate Bush)
Arcade Fire - Maps (originally by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Nada Surf - If You Leave (originally by OMD)
Florence & The Machine - You Got the Love (originally by The Source)
Alanis Morissette - My Humps (originally by Fergie)
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (originally by Leonard Cohen)
311 - Love Song (originally by The Cure)
Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith - Not In Love (originally by Platinum Blonde)
Jonsi - Time To Pretend (originally by MGMT)
The Vines - Ms Jackson (originally by Outkast)

 

[ckgirlbr]

Fiona Apple's version of Across the Universe is beautiful

 

[La bordélique]

Best:
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals (Bob Dylan ?)
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Al Green (Bee Gees)
Teardrops - The xx (Womack and Womack)
Superstar - Sonic Youth (The Carpenters / Delaney and Bonnie)
Yesterday Once More - Redd Kross (The Carpenters)
End of the World - Girls (Skeeter Davis)
Running Up That Hill - Placebo (Kate Bush)
Where Is My Mind - Placebo (Pixies)
Some Velvet Morning - Primal Scream and Kate Moss (Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra)
Baby I Love You - The Ramones (The Ronettes)
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2 or Joey Ramone (Darlene Love)
In My Room - Best Coast (The Beach Boys)
That's The Way Boys Are - Best Coast (Lesley Gore)
Llorando - Rebekah Del Rio (Roy Orbison)
Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton (Tony Bennett)
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones)
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Patti Smith (Nirvana)
My Generation - Patti Smith (The Who)
Ceremony - Radiohead (Joy Division)
Happiness Is a Warm Gun - The Breeders (The Beatles)
The Boy With Thorn In His Side - Jeff Buckley (The Smiths)
The Man Who Sold The World - Nirvana (David Bowie)
Ashes to Ashes - Warpaint (David Bowie)
I'm Waiting For The Man - David Bowie (The Velvet Underground)
Iron Man - The Cardigans (Black Sabbath)
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath - The Cardigans (Black Sabbath)
Siboney - Connie Francis (Ernesto Lecuona)
Cowboy Junkies - Cowboy Junkies (The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed)
Valerie - Amy Winehouse (The Zutons)
Dreams - Faye Wong (The Cranberries)
The Passenger - Siouxsie and the Banshees (Iggy Pop)
A Day in The Life - Suede (The Beatles)
Requiem for a Jerk - Placebo and Françoise Hardy (Serge Gainsbourg)
Song to the Siren - Bryan Ferry (Tim Buckley)
Le chat du café des artistes - Charlotte Gainsbourg (Jean-Pierre Ferland)
Crimson and Clover - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Tommy James and the Shondells)

Worst:
Fluorescent Adolescent - Kate Nash (Arctic Monkeys)
Islands / Love The Way You Lie - Taylor Momsen (The xx / Eminem and Rihanna)
Tonight, Tonight - Panic at the Disco (Smashing Pumpkins)
Under Pressure - The Used and My Chemical Romance (Queen and David Bowie)
If You Leave - Good Charlotte (OMD)
Last Christmas - Hilary Duff (Wham!)
So many covers by Girls Aloud...

 

[*ana*]

Another good one: It's My Party by Amy Winehouse (Lesley Gore).
Oh and Last Nite by Los Hermanos (The Strokes).
Also most covers by The Baseballs and by Nouvelle Vague...

 

[LuellaLuella]

Best:
Cover: In The Heat of The Morning - The Last Shadow Puppets
Original: David Bowie
Cover: Baby, I'm Yours - Arctic Monkeys
Original: Barbara Lewis
Cover: Valerie - Amy Winehouse
Original: The Zutons

Worst:
Cover: Teenage Dirtbag - Girls Aloud
Original: Wheatus
(They probably don't even know who Iron Maiden are)
Cover: Fluorescent Adolescent - Kate Nash
Original - Arctic Monkeys
Cover: I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Sugababes
Original: Arctic Monkeys

There are loads more in both categories, but right now I can't be bothered...