Cover Songs: The Best and the Worst

There have been a lot of artists who have made cover versions of another musicians songs, sometimes with the same sty|e as the original song, and sometimes the musicians like to experiment with their own sty|e of music. Here are some of the best and worst cover songs I've heard:

The Best

• You Really Got Me, covered by Van Halen (Original version by The Kinks)
• Where Did You Sleep Last Night?, covered by Nirvana (Original version by Leadbelly)
• Paranoid, covered by Megadeth (Original version by Black Sabbath)

The Worst

• Holy Diver, covered by Killswitch Engage (Original version by Dio)
• The KKK Took My Baby Away, covered by Marilyn Manson (Original version by The Ramones)

What are some good and bad covers you guys have heard?

I quite liked Killswitch Engage's version of Holy Diver...AudioPrison

I like MSI but i detest their cover of Tom Sawyer...the faster tempo and the whole production of the song ruined one of my all time favourties :( and im not keen on Metallica's cover of tuesdays gone ;(

A few covers i like right now are

Goldfinger-99 red balloons

New Found Glory-Iris

Yashin-Everytime

Four year strong-Roll to me (so amazing xD)

I like MSI but i detest their cover of Tom Sawyer...the faster tempo and the whole production of the song ruined one of my all time favourties :( and im not keen on Metallica's cover of tuesdays gone ;(

A few covers i like right now are

Goldfinger-99 red balloons

New Found Glory-Iris

Yashin-Everytime

Four year strong-Roll to me (so amazing xD)

 

razgriz_101

 I loved MSI's cover actually :lol: 

I used to listen to MSI, then I just didn't;t like them anymore. Never heard their cover of Tom Sawyer actually.

My pick for the worst cover has to be this:

Original: Smells Like Teen Spirit. (Highly doubt I need to link anyone to that)

Terrible Cover is here.

Dope does a great cover of NWA stuff.

The worst I've heard live is the guitarist of Linkin Park doing the intro to Sweet Child O Mine.

Just found a video of Linkin Park butchering the song. Here if you dare. PsychoRedFox666

Towards the end of that, I heard "That's enough of that ****". Yeah, it certainly is.

(In case you guys haven't already guessed, I really hate Linkin Park. :P)

Why?telvisnostic

1. Their music contains elements of rap, I simply don't like rap.

2. Pretty much all of their songs are very instrumentally bland to me, and all of their songs that I've heard contain the same self-loathing lyrical nonsense. It's like a very bland, boring version of grunge.

3. Speaking of which, it annoys me when people clas-sify Linkin Park as a grunge band when they aren't one. This isn't a reason why I hate them, it's just a pet peeve of mine, and I feel the same way about Smashing Pumpkins.

Thank you. It's a better explanation than what most have said to me by various persons (non virtual).

And whoever says they are grunge needs to be slapped.

The Best

• You Really Got Me, covered by Van Halen (Original version by The Kinks)

cronomagus36

[QUOTE="PsychoRedFox666"]Just found a video of Linkin Park butchering the song. Here if you dare. cronomagus36

Towards the end of that, I heard "That's enough of that ****". Yeah, it certainly is.

(In case you guys haven't already guessed, I really hate Linkin Park. :P)

I share you hatred. :D That band is just...no. PsychoRedFox666

[QUOTE="telvisnostic"]Why?cronomagus36

1. Their music contains elements of rap, I simply don't like rap.

2. Pretty much all of their songs are very instrumentally bland to me, and all of their songs that I've heard contain the same self-loathing lyrical nonsense. It's like a very bland, boring version of grunge.

3. Speaking of which, it annoys me when people clas-sify Linkin Park as a grunge band when they aren't one. This isn't a reason why I hate them, it's just a pet peeve of mine, and I feel the same way about Smashing Pumpkins.

Thank you. It's a better explanation than what most have said to me by various persons (non virtual).

And whoever says they are grunge needs to be slapped.

 

telvisnostic

Who the hell calls them grunge?PsychoRedFox666

Lady in Black - Ensiferum. I dare say the cover is.... better than Uriah Heep's version. O_O

Aerials - Amon Amarth. Close to being better than SOAD's.

Im sure i've already made a thread about this already actually :? 

:o 

Another bad cover worth mentioning is the Run DMC cover of Walk This Way. I know Aerosmith did help make the cover of the song, but really, that song got butchered badly.cronomagus36

I also just found some hilariously bad (intentionally) Nirvana covers of Sweet Home Alabama and More Than a Feeling.

TOOL's cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" is a favorite of mine.

I also enjoy Sonata Arctica's cover of Metallica's "Fade To Black". 

Two cover songs that capture a very elusive and creepy vibe that other artists would probably not pick up on in covering these songs. 

I also have to mention that Carpathian Forest's cover of Darkthrone's "In The Shadow Of The Horns" is brilliant IMO. :) 

As for bad cover tunes that I have heard... well, far too many. :P I feel that mediocre-to-horrible might be the norm with cover songs for the most part. 

As for bad cover tunes that I have heard... well, far too many. :P I feel that mediocre-to-horrible might be the norm with cover songs for the most part. 

Booticon

[QUOTE="Booticon"]

As for bad cover tunes that I have heard... well, far too many. :P I feel that mediocre-to-horrible might be the norm with cover songs for the most part. 

raimgamer

I don't even consider that to be legit entertainment. :P 

[QUOTE="Booticon"]As for bad cover tunes that I have heard... well, far too many. :P I feel that mediocre-to-horrible might be the norm with cover songs for the most part.raimgamer

The song "Mad World" - covered by Gary Jules and originally done (I believe) by Tears For Fears - is a haunting masterpiece of a cover song.

Holy cow, it's not Metal! :o

It may well not even be Rock, but that doesn't matter, it's a great work of art.

The cover version was used in the final scene of the film "Donnie Darko", and also in the TV show "Cold Case".

Just remembered Tainted Love by Manson. Seriously bad cover right there.

Original: Gloria Jones

My Favorite Verson: Soft Cell

I also just found some hilariously bad (intentionally) Nirvana covers of Sweet Home Alabama and More Than a Feeling.

cronomagus36

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzp6seZaxME

that just tops it....seen them do it live and most of the crowd just mulled round merch and the bar including myself.Then yashin came on and just played an amazing hometown set as usual :D 

Death's version of Judas Priest's Painkiller is awesomeapplesxc47

That it is.

A few weeks back, I was at a store and saw a Pink Floyd cover album called Back Against The Wall. It's basically all the songs from the original The Wall album covered by an assortment of progressive rock musicians, like members from Yes and King Crimson. Here's the cover version of the first song on the album. It's not quite as good as the original, but good nonetheless, I might buy this album sometime.

I'm pretty sure all the same people did a cover album of Dark Side of the Moon as well, called Return to the Dark Side of the Moon.

I used to listen to MSI, then I just didn't;t like them anymore. Never heard their cover of Tom Sawyer actually.

My pick for the worst cover has to be this:

Original: Smells Like Teen Spirit. (Highly doubt I need to link anyone to that)

Terrible Cover is here.

PsychoRedFox666

That was horrible :| 

[QUOTE="PsychoRedFox666"]

I used to listen to MSI, then I just didn't;t like them anymore. Never heard their cover of Tom Sawyer actually.

My pick for the worst cover has to be this:

Original: Smells Like Teen Spirit. (Highly doubt I need to link anyone to that)

Terrible Cover is here.

AudioPrison

That was horrible :|

I also liked to listen to their music, but not nowdays.

Must have been a 20th century thing for me. :P

I agree... that song is awful.

Well, a few thoughts on covers I like :P

Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith) by Crystal Castles (and also the version minus Robert Smith's guest vocals) (Original by Platinum Blonde)

Limit To Your Love by James Blake (Original track by Feist)

All Along The Watchtower by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Original by Bob Dylan)

Sweetheart by Klaxons (Original by Suicide)

Wordy Rappinghood by Uffie (Original by Tom Tom Club)

Louder Than A Bomb by Tiga (Original by Public Enemy)

Will have to think a bit on bad covers :P

I used to listen to MSI, then I just didn't;t like them anymore. Never heard their cover of Tom Sawyer actually.

My pick for the worst cover has to be this:

Original: Smells Like Teen Spirit. (Highly doubt I need to link anyone to that)

Terrible Cover is here.

PsychoRedFox666

The cover of Smells by Teen Spirit by Mudvayne and Slipknot is an atrocity. I would post a link, but I fear my brain might start melting away.

the best cover i've probably heard is johnny cash's cover of NIN's hurt.

the best cover i've probably heard is johnny cash's cover of NIN's hurt.

StaticKornSlipX

If it counts I'd also add an entire album:

'The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing Darkside of the Moon'

A cover of Pink Floyd's classic album by the psychedelic rock bands The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs. Naturally, covering such a classic and monumental album is gonna make this a love or hate thing for most. Personally I love this album from start to finish, a nice take on the album like the much more chilled out versions of Time and Money or the more funky and heavy sounding versions of On The Run and Any Colour You Like.

The Ramones had several good covers, my favorite being I Don't Want To Grow Up. Son of A Gun by Nirvana, Rolling In The Deep by John Legend, and I Fought The Law by the Clash and Dead Kennedys are some other good ones.

For bad covers, the only thing that's coming to mind is Justin Bieber's cover of Lose Yourself and Mily Cyrus's cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Metallica's Cover of Thin Lizzy's Whiskey In the jar was pretty Damn good :P Thin LizzyMetallica's Coverkylts

I listen to 70s-80s music all day at work cause my Boss prefers such. I prefer this cover over the original & think of it whenever the Queen version comes on.

Under Pressure - My Chemical Romance and The Used - YouTube

I can't believe no-ones mentioned Muse-Feelin Good, though it doesn't match the Nina Simone original, IMO.