Favorite Covers

Having done a list of frustrating covers, I'm overdue for my favorites, and this list is apparently longer. This is a bit disconcerting because conventional wisdom dictates that negativity is associated with discernment. On the other hand, so is contrarianism, so I've elected to be discerning about that. With all due respect to some covers, I'm concerning myself with improved versions. I admit that it's not consistent with the other page's premise, but I really wanted to complain Millennials' thinking that Alien Ant Farm's version of "Smooth Criminal" is better than the original. I'm not judging by the video portion, so I'm not including Fallout Boy's version of Beat It in which Buster shows up out of nowhere.

 

18. ROBERTA FLACK – “KILLING HIM SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG”

- Original by Lori Lieberman

The original version is a good, somber, one that works in a minimalist way. The cover adds a whole new level by adding what seems to be an entirely new melody. Despite its being good, it joins many bad pieces like "Friends in Low Places" as one of those songs that should be non-negotiably banned from karaoke. 

 

17. GUNS N’ROSES – “LIVE AND LET DIE”

- Original by Paul McCartney and Wings

The only Bond song, for some presumably Byzantine legal reason, that seems to be on any radio stations' Radar screen. If you're lucky they'll have the decency to play this version, which is rescued from being a Perfunctory Hard Rock Cover by Slash's above-average guitar work.  

16. METALLICA – “TURN THE PAGE”

- Original by Bob Seger

This would be a natural example of a PHRC, but it manages to have more emotion and pathos in its sound than the original. 

 

15. ARETHRA FRANKLIN – “RESPECT”

- Original by Otis Redding

Mostly known for one of the greatest Motown classics every composed, Redding also apparently inspired a rather memorably sassy repudiation by Franklin.

14. ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO'OLE - "SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW"

- Original by Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, and Judy Garland 

A far more heartfelt and poignant version of a well-known movie song. Kamakawiwo-ole is also most well known for a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World," which is not an improvement over the original.

13. GHOST - "HERE COMES THE SUN"

- Original by the Beatles

Okay, Beatles is like clubbing baby seals, but Ghost has a great sound and many other covers that are arguably improvements over the original. 

12. GHOST - "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL"

- Original by The Rolling Stones

You know what, I'm racking up years in Purgatory for dissing on the Stones like this, but they could have given it a darker sound like "Paint It Black."

11. THE TEMPTATIONS – “GET READY”

- Original by Rare Earth

Though lacking in the baritone vocals, this version has a much more energetic tempo, and would make a great metal song with its sense of progression. It's practically begging for a Judas Priest cover. 

 

10. THE IRISH ROVERS - “DONALD WHERE'S YOUR TROUSERS?”

- Original by Andy Stewart

As a product of an only-slightly-Irish Catholic family, I was a captive audience to many Irish folk songs, with only a handful of them being really good. It's kinda funny how this guy decided to belt out a genuinely epic, rousing melody for a goofy song making fun of Scottish people for wearing skirts. This version has the energy and execution to bring it out and improve it.

 

9. PEGGY LEE – “FEVER”

- Original by Little Willie John

The original is good enough to make me hesitate to call this an improved cover, but Peggy Lee is the sexiest female voice ever (the sexiest male voice is, of course, Barry White).

 

8. THE ANIMALS – “THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN”

- Folk Song

A true classic and the best version I know of. The earliest famous version is by Tom Clarance Ashley, but it lacks the heaviness the subject matter demands. Did they just not know about Minor Key back then?

 

7. SIGRID - “EVERYBODY KNOWS”

- Original by Leonard Cohen

The Leonard Cohen song that everybody should be talking about as being outdone by its covers. The original lacks the pathos it needs, but it could work if it is interpreted as the gloating of a victorious villain. Concrete Blonde imbued it with the appropriate tone, and the Sigrid version of improves upon that improvement. There might be a bit of an ad hominem issue in the fact that Zack Snyder of all people knows when a Leonard Cohen cover is better than the original and when it isn't. 

 

6. SLEIGH BELLS – “WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT”

- Folk Song

The song was considered codified in its current form by Leadbelly, and re-popularized by Nirvana. The Nirvana version isn't that innovative, but its' a default improvement simply for omitting the intermittent questions that (I'm sorry) are just annoying immersion-killing crap. As heretical as it may sound this new version defeats the two in my book by a fair margin.

5. DALE ANN BRADLEY – “STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU”

- Original by Stealers Wheel

An energetic Bluegrass version of a song I never particularly cared for either way. Kudos to No Evil for exposing me to it.

 

4. MANFRED MANN – “MIGHTY QUINN”

- Original by Bob Dylan

It's rather surprising that this band, which is responsible for two insufferable covers that have plagued me throughout most of my life, also produced a cover that is an extremely enjoyable and fun song, certainly better than the janky execution of the original. 

 

3. CONFIDENTALMX AND BECKY HANSON- “I STARTED A JOKE”

- Original by the Bee Gees

A symptom of the dastardly trend of making movie trailers that are more epic than the movies themselves, this cover was certainly put to good use making Suicide Squad look like a better movie than it really was. I'm going to go out and say that I love the somber cover trend. It's getting some hate as a trend apparently simply for being a trend, but I wonder were this hate was during the dark time when trailer editors somehow got the idea that the Millennial Whoop sounded epic. There are plenty examples, but this is one that stands as an obvious improvement over the original, which I never really cared for. 

2. SOFT CELL – “TAINTED LOVE”

- Original by Gloria Jones

An obvious entry. The added synth-notes and minor key turn this into the definite version of a mostly forgotten Oldie. Pretty much any subsequent cover is a cover of this version.

 

1. JOHNNY CASH – “HURT”

- Original by Nine Inch Nails

Typical choice, I know, but sometimes, on rare occasions, democracy works. Then again, it's not one of Nine Inch Nails' better songs. 

 

*I kinda wish there were more hard rock/metal covers, but part of me wants to pretend that these entries are (accidentally) massively improved versions of other songs.