War pigs by cake is probs my fav cover ever. Best sabbath cover. Edit: i mentioned this before he did in the video. For me the horns kill it and the bass is killer.
Every couple years you find your way back on my recommended. Great video as usual. My favorite cover is AJJ doing Neutral Milk Hotels "Two Headed Boy" but the goldfinger 99 red balloons cover is also up there.
Two covers pop into my mind... Tool's cover of No Quater very dark and ominous. While not completely different, Tool definitely adds their own sound to it. Tatran's cover of Strawberry Fields Forever I think you'd really enjoy. Much like the Eleanor Rigby cover you mentioned it's an instrumental though they don't really jam on it. Very jazzy with creative use of effects
Look up the main squeeze on YT and listen to their no quarter cover. I liked the tool cover but after hearing TMS version I honestly think it’s the best.
One of the best examples I can think of is Am I Evil originally by Diamond Head covered by Metallica. They basically made it their own song now and play it regularly. Diamond Head also did a cover of Metallica's No Remorse interestingly enough, it's quite good.
Garage inc’s covers were pretty nice like I like Tuesday’s gone but wont listen to the original also I like how a lot of the songs on gh metallica were the ones they covered
Oooh, really fun picks, and you do a good job of explaining why you like them! Glad I got this in my recommended feed. No Quarter is in the running for my favorite Led Zeppelin song, but somehow the Tool version improves on it pretty significantly on just about every front. It keeps everything that made the original so great, while sounding so distinctly like a Tool song. Pretty easily my favorite cover of all time. Muse's cover of Sign O the Times by Prince and Rage Against the Machine's cover of Maggie's Farm by Bob Dylan are also phenomenal.
Great video! I always love to hear some music recommendations. There's a few great covers that come to mind for me. Live and Let Die by Guns n' Roses I feel is a pretty popular one but I really like it, Black Betty by Caravan Palace completely changes the style of Ram Jam's original but manages to keep the vibe the same and that's really cool, and Stand By Me by Florence and the Machine is such a bombastic and passionate rendition that it always springs up in my mind over the original which is also great.
I prefer the perfect circle cover of imagination over when the levee breaks it takes the intended meaning and feels like it switches the meaning due to the dark and brooding feeling brought up throughout the song
a good cover is when Disturbed covered Genisis's Land of Confusion. While Genisis wrote the masterpiece that the song is, Disturbed brought the actual feeling of a civilians rebeling against national armies, just because it sounds so much heavier than the original.
First one i think of is blinded by the light, originally by Bruce Springsteen and turned into a hit by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Another one i love is Yes' cover of Every Little Thing by The Beatles
Saturday Night Special by Armored Saint, a hair metal cover of the original Southern Gothic Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, goes from cold and calculated to deranged and loving every second of it. Also Helter Skelter by Motley Crue purely for that guitar riff
Queens of the Stone Age have an incredible cover of Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” that is super punchy. Also Muse and Alt-J both have amazing versions (technically) of “House of the Rising Sun”. Muse’s is just a straight up rock banger and Alt-J’s is more somber and adds in extra lyrics. Thanks for the playlist I’ll give it a listen! Always looking for “new” covers.
The cover of "Just Like Heaven" by Dinosaur Jr. is absolutely phenomenal. I love The Cure with every atom of my body, but this cover is truly something special. It stands out as an incredible reinterpretation of an amazing song. Dinosaur Jr.'s version is a perfect example of the shifting music scene in the mid-1980s. While The Cure's original is ethereal and polished, capturing the essence of new wave and post-punk, Dinosaur Jr.'s cover brings a raw, grungy edge. It reflects the growing influence of alternative and indie rock, which emphasized distortion, emotion, and a more unrefined, heartfelt sound. This cover isn't just a tribute; it transforms the song into something entirely new while maintaining the spirit of the original. It’s a brilliant testament to how great music transcends genres and eras.
Jose Gonzalez's cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop is wonderful. I love the original, but this version takes it in an almost psychedelic direction. The drone-like outro is just fantastic.
Great video. War Pigs being my favorite song (for the most part) makes me not want to listen to covers of it, but hell, it never hurts to give it a spin.
Personally I think the cover of Painkiller done by Death is such a creative, unique, absolutely perfect way to close an album. Especially given the fact that The Sound Of Perseverance was already absolutely incredible to begin with.
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting covered by Nickelback is fun, and it adds a solo from Dimebag Darrell Call Me covered by In This Moment is great too Renegades Of Funk covered by Rage Against The Machine is awesome
there’s this band called The Megas that makes megaman fan music that uses the game soundtracks as a base. but they for some reason, probably because a certain character wears 2 pairs of sunglasses, have a cover of sunglasses at night that is just so much better than the original in every way I love it
i thought that guns and roses knockin on heavens door was way better than the bob dillan version also if you want to do a worst covers video than the sturgil simpson version of in bloom was pretty bad
Most of my favourite covers are ones that take the original song into an entirely new genre, but for specific choices: Sabaton - Camouflage (cover of Stan Ridgway) takes the original and transforms it into a heavy hitting metal song that is nearly unrecognisable from the original Sleep Token - Hey Ya (cover of Outkast). Hey Ya is known for being a sad song hidden behind funky rhythms, and Sleep Token goes fully into the sad element of the song, slowing it down and replacing the instrumentals with only a piano melody Hard-Fi - Seven Nation Army (cover of The White Stripes) is more busy in the instrument department than the original, giving it a sound more in line with British rock artists of the 90s, making for a unique listening experience
Five Iron Frenzy's cover of ELO's Sweet Talkin' Woman kicks its ass in my opinion. The switch from 70s pop to ska-punk just works for some reason, and it just oozes with love for the original. The "ELO I HAVE ALL YOUR ALBUMS! YES!" at the end just sells it.
TV Girl’s cover of dirtygold’s “Overboard” is amazing. TV Girl opens the track with an abrasive drum beat, which is then followed by guitar and an organ. Turning dirtygold’s beach-wave sounding song to the loud new kid on the block.
Speaking as someone in their jazz enjoying arc, there are loads of covers better than the original, and imho that's part and parcel of how jazz evolved as a genre, from dance/pop music to musical experimentation, and then to its fusion and incorporation into other genres of music. Off the top of my head, some of my favorites are: A Taste of Honey, covered by Vince Guaraldi and Bola Sete, Original by The Beatles Cherokee, covered by Clifford Brown, original by Ray Noble Ai no Jyuryoku, covered by Kari Band, original by Megumi Nakajima Alice in Wonderland, covered by Bill Evans, Original by Disney Milestones, covered by Yoko Kanno (for the Sakamichi no Apollon OST), original by Miles Davis Nutville, covered by Buddy Rich, original by Horace Silver
Funny thing, I have an experience with a The Cranberries song cover that I didn't know was a cover: A musician called Darkways made a cover of Zombie, but it's much heavier and more metal-esque in sound. I absolutely love the cover, but it was removed everywhere i could find it :( Yet another song I didn't know was a cover: Dreaming. Original by Blondie, covered by Green Day. It's an amazing cover imo
Ramones cover of "I don't Wanna Grow Up" by Tom Waite is really solid and I love thr music video. Nothing will beat the original, but it's still good stuff
I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love Billie Joe Armstrong's version of Kids In America. It finally gave the song that 'Omph' that I felt other versions lacked.
Also their cover of Alice Cooper's No More Mr Nice Guy is fun, though it's connection to Wes Craven's Shocker is probably why I have such a positive opinion of it
For me, a cover of a song that I feel gives a whole new vibe to it has to be Slothrust’s cover of “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground. The chorus in cover immediately throws out the idea of the instruments having that psychedelic slowness, along with the much softer tone of the original. Slothrust makes it sound more accusatory than awestruck like the original. And for that I love it.
Holier Than Thou slow?? It’s faster than most of the rest of the album! Anyway, cool list, I love obscure covers, so I’ll be checking some of these out.
I’d recommend Japanese band Reach’s cover of I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams by Weezer (Hear me out) “I just threw out” is already not one of the most well known Weezer songs, being off of Pinkerton’s Deluxe Edition, and making this even more obscure is that this cover is off of a Japanese only Tribute album called “Across The Sea - A Weezer Tribute,” which you will most likely only find on TH-cam (Don’t have spotify so go ahead and check for it there) as this fan music video from 18 years ago? I haven’t seen any of your other videos to be completely honest, so I don’t know how much you fuck with anime, but this cover just sounds like an anime opening, and it’s really fucking good I swear I have no idea if this is selling you on it.
Paramore's cover of Burning Down the House is worth a listen. It doesn't change the feel of the original too much besides giving it a bit more grit, but Hayley Williams' vocals are unsurprisingly brilliant.
My personal all time favorite cover has to be Seether's version of Careless Whisper. The raw emotion that Shaun Morgan puts into his vocals I feel fits the lyrics better than the original
This video and the comments are a goldmine for cool stuff i havent heard. Fantastic. Ok...the shining's cover of 21st century schizoid man is, i believe, better than the original. And anything panzerballett covers. Well...mostly everything...and maybe not better but I prefer. Oh and dirty loops covers. The best.
What about the Wallflowers covering Heroes for the Godzilla soundtrack? I was 14 at the time and didn’t know it was a cover. Still love it and wish that it was on Spotify along with Brainstew with the Godzilla roar inserted.
Here's some mentions: Santana // Black magic woman Quiet riot // Cum on feel the noize Faith no more // War pigs Alien ant farm // Smooth criminal Girlschool // Race with the devil Black sabbath // Evil Woman Van Halen // You really got me Johnny Cash // Hurt
A personal favorite cover for me is Xiu Xiu - Pirate Jenny (original by Nina Simone). The chorus just sells the idea of the song for me, I can picture the ship sailing through a violent storm, followed by black clouds and lightning, all in my minds eye. Xiu Xiu is a treasure trove for wild covers tbh.
In the same vein as Korn covering Word Up where you'd either get laughed at or spat at for suggesting it, I think Orgy's cover of Blue Monday by New Order is stupid entertaining. Orgy's version plays it pretty faithful to the original, but their synthpop and industrial influences really work well to translate the classic into this dance metal earworm. Sure, the recontextualization of the "How does it feel/How should I feel" lyric into an angsty sounding chorus in a song that didn't initially have one could be seen as corny or forced, but I say it fits the aesthetic and I would be lying if I said my caveman brain didn't pop off when I heard the band take the iconic synth line from the original's verse and played it as power chords. Really gives the cover that "jump the fuck up and scream the words" quality.
The original by Nena is arguably much better, but 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger imo is my favorite cover. Id recommend a video about the Pop Goes Punk series of covers. I listened to so many of those covers in high school
Easily for me one cover that pops to mind is Bayside's cover of "Megan" by the Smoking Popes. An emo classic stripped down even further than the original to a gentle acoustic song and Anthony Raneri's voice does the part so so well. But what's even cooler is that they even bring Josh Caterer, the original's writer and singer for the Smoking Popes to do the second verse and chorus and he does so well to reprise his part. Genuinely amazing cover
Exactly. Weezer's cover of Toto's song "Africa" is almost indiscernible from the original. Some of my favorite covers include "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica, "Ring of Fire" by Wall of Voodoo, "Stripped" by Rammstein, and "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed.
Call Me Maybe by Devon Hendryx, I still don't know how he made a Call Me Maybe cover, it fits perfectly on Ghost~Pop Tape and it's at least a top 3 song on this album
One of my favorite albums of all time is The Cover Up: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by The Protomen. Some of the tracks aren't particularly transformative (Danger Zone barely changed at all grom the Kenny Loggins version) but when it decides to go off the rails you get The Protomen's version of Silent Running, originally performed by Mike and the Mechanics. That cover is utterly phenomenal.
There's certainly a dichotomy for covers in that sound alike/ close covers do have a place, and it's in live sets. if you're playing a gig and doing a cover it tends to be for participation reasons sonkeeping it close to the known versions makes sense, where as if you're recording it, you get a bit more room to play. Insofar as covers I like, here are a few Tina Turner - Proud Mary; the actual history of how the song got to the point it is now is interesting but Tina being able to bring the energy to that song for most of her life remains impressive and it sits with Jonny Cash's Hurt as covers that transfer ownership of the song. Orville Peck - Fancy; he takes down the tone quite a bit, the track starts beautifully ambiant and grows as the story does. Aditionally, with one small lyrics change adds a whole extra dimension to the song that I just love Paul Kelly - Anti-Hero; Paul is the Aussie answer to Bob Dylan and man does that implied weight give the Taylor Swift song some gravitas, it's also a super stripped back cover, as it's only Paul and the Guitar and it really makes the lyrics work Kate Miller-Heidke - Toxic: it's a live recording and I just love how her opera training comes in to do some of the violin trills as vocal runs! She's having such fun and tou really feel it.
one of my favorite bands has a cover album and i really like everything on display there, The Cover Up by The Protomen. Some of the ones I like on there are Total Eclipse of The Heart, Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground), In The Air Tonight, and Mr. Roboto, with my personal favorite being their cover of The Trooper.
big fan of the list !! surprised they might be giants wasn't on here for "istanbul (not constantinople)" would also be cool to see ty segall's cover of "every1's a winner" on there but he's a bit more obscure
This is something that was a song, then covered, and then the original artist reworked it to sound more like the cover. Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen. The original song is just Bruce on an acoustic guitar singing. Then Rage Against The Machine got a hold of it and completely reworked the song into something more energetic. Then Tom Morello joined Bruce to again completely rework the song into the anthem it's become today.
My favourite cover over original has gotta be "Funky Town" covered by Pseudo Echo! Sure, the original is great, but I love vibing to the cover a lot more! 🤩🤩🤩
1: Rascal Flatts cover of Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane. Mainly Cars nostalgia speaking, but the Flatts version is just cleaner with less clutter. 2: My Chemical Romance’s Desolation Row by Bob Dylan for the Watchmen movie. I love you Bob, but ain’ nobody got 11 fucking minutes.
Goldfinger's cover of 99 Red Balloons is so good. That main riff goes so hard!
classic
I also like goldfinger's version of more today than yesterday by The Spiral Staircase.
Glad you mentioned the T Pain cover of War Pigs, cause that’s one of my favourite covers.
I personally love Panteras cover of planet caravan is amazing, I can't decide which ones better honestly
I like Panteras because it sounds like they're on a planet, but Sabbaths version kinda sounds like they're underwater
I love The Cardigans covers of Black Sabbath songs, usually transformed into a lounge/twee-pop style, like Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Iron Man.
War pigs by cake is probs my fav cover ever. Best sabbath cover. Edit: i mentioned this before he did in the video. For me the horns kill it and the bass is killer.
Have you seen The Main Squeeze version of War Pigs? You didn't think that song needed a keyboard solo, but it does.
HAVE you heard Brownout's cover of War Pigs
Im a simple man, i see amigo the devil getting love and i subscribe.
Great video!
There are ten comments on this video and one like total 😭
Now it's got 2.
We’ve upgraded
incredibly high quality content dude
actually insane that you aren't at least 100k subs yet
Every couple years you find your way back on my recommended. Great video as usual. My favorite cover is AJJ doing Neutral Milk Hotels "Two Headed Boy" but the goldfinger 99 red balloons cover is also up there.
Two covers pop into my mind...
Tool's cover of No Quater very dark and ominous. While not completely different, Tool definitely adds their own sound to it.
Tatran's cover of Strawberry Fields Forever I think you'd really enjoy. Much like the Eleanor Rigby cover you mentioned it's an instrumental though they don't really jam on it. Very jazzy with creative use of effects
I also love Tool's cover of You Lied, a song by the band Justin Chancellor was previously in
Look up the main squeeze on YT and listen to their no quarter cover.
I liked the tool cover but after hearing TMS version I honestly think it’s the best.
One of the best examples I can think of is Am I Evil originally by Diamond Head covered by Metallica. They basically made it their own song now and play it regularly. Diamond Head also did a cover of Metallica's No Remorse interestingly enough, it's quite good.
That reminds me of when Weezer covered Africa, then TOTO covered Hash Pipe. Thanks for the recommendation!
Garage inc’s covers were pretty nice like I like Tuesday’s gone but wont listen to the original also I like how a lot of the songs on gh metallica were the ones they covered
@@Gourune to that extent Metallica needs to cover the sweater song. I mean hey there's always Sanitarium
Dinosaur Jrs cover of just like heaven is REALLY good imo
YEEEEEAAASSS It's goated
Yes omg dinosaur jr is so good
@@Ramranchcowrangler3704 my people
This is one of my favorites too. It's so damn weird that it wraps back around to being awesome.
Yep
Oooh, really fun picks, and you do a good job of explaining why you like them! Glad I got this in my recommended feed.
No Quarter is in the running for my favorite Led Zeppelin song, but somehow the Tool version improves on it pretty significantly on just about every front. It keeps everything that made the original so great, while sounding so distinctly like a Tool song. Pretty easily my favorite cover of all time.
Muse's cover of Sign O the Times by Prince and Rage Against the Machine's cover of Maggie's Farm by Bob Dylan are also phenomenal.
I can't believe I forgot to do a rage cover. Ghost of Tom Joad is my fav on that album, but maggie is a close second.
Great video! I always love to hear some music recommendations. There's a few great covers that come to mind for me. Live and Let Die by Guns n' Roses I feel is a pretty popular one but I really like it, Black Betty by Caravan Palace completely changes the style of Ram Jam's original but manages to keep the vibe the same and that's really cool, and Stand By Me by Florence and the Machine is such a bombastic and passionate rendition that it always springs up in my mind over the original which is also great.
Thank you for the recommendations, making a new playlist with all these!
It's not even Ram Jam's original. Song is sometimes attributed to Leadbelly, but there's an even earlier version recorded by that Lomax guy.
@Bacopa68 Oh wow, I had no idea. The more you know!
Michael Sera Palin - If it makes you happy. A Sheryl Crow cover I didn’t even realize at first though
on that note, gypsy by tigers jaw.
I prefer the perfect circle cover of imagination over when the levee breaks it takes the intended meaning and feels like it switches the meaning due to the dark and brooding feeling brought up throughout the song
Love this! Went over so many different artists i love. Also soulive mentioned lets gooo
Can't believe you didn't mention Gary Jules' cover of Mad World that he did for Donnie Darko. It completely transforms the song.
It worked great in the film, but radio stations tore the a7se out of it that year and ruined it for me!
a good cover is when Disturbed covered Genisis's Land of Confusion. While Genisis wrote the masterpiece that the song is, Disturbed brought the actual feeling of a civilians rebeling against national armies, just because it sounds so much heavier than the original.
Don’t forget The Sound of Silence!!! That was way cooler and shook waves, especially seeing it live!
When cleopatrick dropped their cover of lost, I was blown away, I didn’t even know it was a cover at first because they made it their own so hard
First one i think of is blinded by the light, originally by Bruce Springsteen and turned into a hit by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Another one i love is Yes' cover of Every Little Thing by The Beatles
Desolation row covered by MCR is amazing
and Song 2
Led Zeppelin's version of When the Levee Breaks is easily one of my favourite covers of all time
All of Led Zeppelin’s discography
and greta van fleets
@ hahaha, love them both!
Saturday Night Special by Armored Saint, a hair metal cover of the original Southern Gothic Lynyrd Skynyrd classic, goes from cold and calculated to deranged and loving every second of it. Also Helter Skelter by Motley Crue purely for that guitar riff
Hole in the sky - Pantera's cover on Black Sabbath
Electric Funeral too
And Planet Caravan
Queens of the Stone Age have an incredible cover of Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” that is super punchy. Also Muse and Alt-J both have amazing versions (technically) of “House of the Rising Sun”. Muse’s is just a straight up rock banger and Alt-J’s is more somber and adds in extra lyrics. Thanks for the playlist I’ll give it a listen! Always looking for “new” covers.
In terms of covers DEVO seems to always make their covers better than the originals
Going in the other direction, Lene Lovich killed it on her version of 'Be Stiff'.
@@richiehoyt8487As did Toni Basil.
@@ChristyAbbey She did?! I'll have to check that out, I really like Toni Basil.
The cover of "Just Like Heaven" by Dinosaur Jr. is absolutely phenomenal. I love The Cure with every atom of my body, but this cover is truly something special. It stands out as an incredible reinterpretation of an amazing song.
Dinosaur Jr.'s version is a perfect example of the shifting music scene in the mid-1980s. While The Cure's original is ethereal and polished, capturing the essence of new wave and post-punk, Dinosaur Jr.'s cover brings a raw, grungy edge. It reflects the growing influence of alternative and indie rock, which emphasized distortion, emotion, and a more unrefined, heartfelt sound.
This cover isn't just a tribute; it transforms the song into something entirely new while maintaining the spirit of the original. It’s a brilliant testament to how great music transcends genres and eras.
Jose Gonzalez's cover of Massive Attack's Teardrop is wonderful. I love the original, but this version takes it in an almost psychedelic direction. The drone-like outro is just fantastic.
The cover of Call me by in this moment is great, same lyrics but they changed it to a quick and rock/metal tone, also cool vid
5:26 who dosent like korn?
Real big fish cover of hungry like the wolf is a good one. Not a big ska guy, but i do like that one.
Thank you for introducing me to some of these artists.
oh my god i wasn't expecting amigo the devil, this is so peak
Great video. War Pigs being my favorite song (for the most part) makes me not want to listen to covers of it, but hell, it never hurts to give it a spin.
Higher Ground and Smooth Criminal. That's my senseless contribution.
Jesus He Loves Me by Ghost (AND If You Have Ghosts). How did I forget them?
Muse's cover of Feeling Good is insane
Personally I think the cover of Painkiller done by Death is such a creative, unique, absolutely perfect way to close an album. Especially given the fact that The Sound Of Perseverance was already absolutely incredible to begin with.
Ik right? Chuck took everything about the original and made in even more insane than it already was.
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting covered by Nickelback is fun, and it adds a solo from Dimebag Darrell
Call Me covered by In This Moment is great too
Renegades Of Funk covered by Rage Against The Machine is awesome
there’s this band called The Megas that makes megaman fan music that uses the game soundtracks as a base. but they for some reason, probably because a certain character wears 2 pairs of sunglasses, have a cover of sunglasses at night that is just so much better than the original in every way I love it
i thought that guns and roses knockin on heavens door was way better than the bob dillan version
also if you want to do a worst covers video than the sturgil simpson version of in bloom was pretty bad
Most of my favourite covers are ones that take the original song into an entirely new genre, but for specific choices:
Sabaton - Camouflage (cover of Stan Ridgway) takes the original and transforms it into a heavy hitting metal song that is nearly unrecognisable from the original
Sleep Token - Hey Ya (cover of Outkast). Hey Ya is known for being a sad song hidden behind funky rhythms, and Sleep Token goes fully into the sad element of the song, slowing it down and replacing the instrumentals with only a piano melody
Hard-Fi - Seven Nation Army (cover of The White Stripes) is more busy in the instrument department than the original, giving it a sound more in line with British rock artists of the 90s, making for a unique listening experience
Five Iron Frenzy's cover of ELO's Sweet Talkin' Woman kicks its ass in my opinion. The switch from 70s pop to ska-punk just works for some reason, and it just oozes with love for the original. The "ELO I HAVE ALL YOUR ALBUMS! YES!" at the end just sells it.
TV Girl’s cover of dirtygold’s “Overboard” is amazing. TV Girl opens the track with an abrasive drum beat, which is then followed by guitar and an organ. Turning dirtygold’s beach-wave sounding song to the loud new kid on the block.
Another great CAKE cover is I will Survive
Speaking as someone in their jazz enjoying arc, there are loads of covers better than the original, and imho that's part and parcel of how jazz evolved as a genre, from dance/pop music to musical experimentation, and then to its fusion and incorporation into other genres of music. Off the top of my head, some of my favorites are:
A Taste of Honey, covered by Vince Guaraldi and Bola Sete, Original by The Beatles
Cherokee, covered by Clifford Brown, original by Ray Noble
Ai no Jyuryoku, covered by Kari Band, original by Megumi Nakajima
Alice in Wonderland, covered by Bill Evans, Original by Disney
Milestones, covered by Yoko Kanno (for the Sakamichi no Apollon OST), original by Miles Davis
Nutville, covered by Buddy Rich, original by Horace Silver
Check out Elanor Rigby by The Crusaders
I LOVE Spineshank's cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It is so much better than the original in my opinion
Funny thing, I have an experience with a The Cranberries song cover that I didn't know was a cover:
A musician called Darkways made a cover of Zombie, but it's much heavier and more metal-esque in sound. I absolutely love the cover, but it was removed everywhere i could find it :(
Yet another song I didn't know was a cover: Dreaming. Original by Blondie, covered by Green Day. It's an amazing cover imo
Ramones cover of "I don't Wanna Grow Up" by Tom Waite is really solid and I love thr music video. Nothing will beat the original, but it's still good stuff
One of my favourite covers is the BCNR cover of Happier than ever. It adds some instruments and changes the vibe totally
My favorite is pure hell’s cover of these boots were made for walking, I feel like the song’s lyrics make it fit so well in punk rock
There exists a War Pigs cover called More Ribs, it’s performed by a band playing the McDonalds characters and it’s insane
- Am I Evil by Metallica -
I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea, but I love Billie Joe Armstrong's version of Kids In America. It finally gave the song that 'Omph' that I felt other versions lacked.
Check out The Muffs' version of that song, too. It really rocks!
Megadeth covers This planets on fire by Sammy Hagar that is exceptional.
Also their cover of Alice Cooper's No More Mr Nice Guy is fun, though it's connection to Wes Craven's Shocker is probably why I have such a positive opinion of it
For me, a cover of a song that I feel gives a whole new vibe to it has to be Slothrust’s cover of “Sex and Candy” by Marcy Playground.
The chorus in cover immediately throws out the idea of the instruments having that psychedelic slowness, along with the much softer tone of the original. Slothrust makes it sound more accusatory than awestruck like the original. And for that I love it.
A favorite unexpected cover: "Holy Diver" by Pain of Salvation. They make it lounge (mostly) with a reggae break. It shouldn't work, but it does.
Holier Than Thou slow?? It’s faster than most of the rest of the album! Anyway, cool list, I love obscure covers, so I’ll be checking some of these out.
I’d recommend Japanese band Reach’s cover of I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams by Weezer (Hear me out) “I just threw out” is already not one of the most well known Weezer songs, being off of Pinkerton’s Deluxe Edition, and making this even more obscure is that this cover is off of a Japanese only Tribute album called “Across The Sea - A Weezer Tribute,” which you will most likely only find on TH-cam (Don’t have spotify so go ahead and check for it there) as this fan music video from 18 years ago? I haven’t seen any of your other videos to be completely honest, so I don’t know how much you fuck with anime, but this cover just sounds like an anime opening, and it’s really fucking good I swear I have no idea if this is selling you on it.
Paramore's cover of Burning Down the House is worth a listen. It doesn't change the feel of the original too much besides giving it a bit more grit, but Hayley Williams' vocals are unsurprisingly brilliant.
My personal all time favorite cover has to be Seether's version of Careless Whisper. The raw emotion that Shaun Morgan puts into his vocals I feel fits the lyrics better than the original
This video and the comments are a goldmine for cool stuff i havent heard. Fantastic. Ok...the shining's cover of 21st century schizoid man is, i believe, better than the original. And anything panzerballett covers. Well...mostly everything...and maybe not better but I prefer. Oh and dirty loops covers. The best.
In my opinion some of sershen and zartiskay’s cover are true gold, especially welcome to the jungle and back in black
I'm in to Amigo the Devil.
Also love Mylie Cyrus covers, you name it, she sings it, I like it.
What about the Wallflowers covering Heroes for the Godzilla soundtrack? I was 14 at the time and didn’t know it was a cover. Still love it and wish that it was on Spotify along with Brainstew with the Godzilla roar inserted.
Santana's "She's Not There" is my favorite. Excellent mix of instruments and the singer really kills it (particularly the bridge).
I believe I Can Fly by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes.
Cleopatrick mentioned! let's gooooo!
I really love the sam fender version of sad but true in the black album thing. Less instrumentation just makes it hit harder for me
Here's some mentions:
Santana // Black magic woman
Quiet riot // Cum on feel the noize
Faith no more // War pigs
Alien ant farm // Smooth criminal
Girlschool // Race with the devil
Black sabbath // Evil Woman
Van Halen // You really got me
Johnny Cash // Hurt
You should check out behind blue eyes covered by Limp Bizkit, BANGER
THE BYRDS MENTIONED!!!!
Type O Negatives cover of 'angry Inch' is great.
A personal favorite cover for me is Xiu Xiu - Pirate Jenny (original by Nina Simone). The chorus just sells the idea of the song for me, I can picture the ship sailing through a violent storm, followed by black clouds and lightning, all in my minds eye. Xiu Xiu is a treasure trove for wild covers tbh.
In the same vein as Korn covering Word Up where you'd either get laughed at or spat at for suggesting it, I think Orgy's cover of Blue Monday by New Order is stupid entertaining. Orgy's version plays it pretty faithful to the original, but their synthpop and industrial influences really work well to translate the classic into this dance metal earworm. Sure, the recontextualization of the "How does it feel/How should I feel" lyric into an angsty sounding chorus in a song that didn't initially have one could be seen as corny or forced, but I say it fits the aesthetic and I would be lying if I said my caveman brain didn't pop off when I heard the band take the iconic synth line from the original's verse and played it as power chords. Really gives the cover that "jump the fuck up and scream the words" quality.
2:10 nobody talks about this song its so fucking good
The original by Nena is arguably much better, but 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger imo is my favorite cover.
Id recommend a video about the Pop Goes Punk series of covers. I listened to so many of those covers in high school
Im personally a big fan of kmfdm's take on mysterious ways, type o negative's cinnamon girl, and godhead's eleanor rigby
Have you ever listened to The Crusader’s version of Elanor Rigby?
Easily for me one cover that pops to mind is Bayside's cover of "Megan" by the Smoking Popes. An emo classic stripped down even further than the original to a gentle acoustic song and Anthony Raneri's voice does the part so so well. But what's even cooler is that they even bring Josh Caterer, the original's writer and singer for the Smoking Popes to do the second verse and chorus and he does so well to reprise his part. Genuinely amazing cover
Every cover motorhead had done, their first album alone was full of them
March or Die has some peak covers
The shins cover of “We’ll become Silhouettes” by the Postal Service is great
Old School Freight Train had a GREAT cover of Heart of Glass.
And one should not miss Charles Bradley's cover of Changes
Urban Heat's cover of Goodbye Horses
The deep male vocals make it feel like Bill's singing it to you
Travis' cover of 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' is perfection.
Exactly. Weezer's cover of Toto's song "Africa" is almost indiscernible from the original.
Some of my favorite covers include "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica, "Ring of Fire" by Wall of Voodoo, "Stripped" by Rammstein, and "The Sound of Silence" by Disturbed.
Call Me Maybe by Devon Hendryx, I still don't know how he made a Call Me Maybe cover, it fits perfectly on Ghost~Pop Tape and it's at least a top 3 song on this album
Cyndi Lauper cover of Robert Hazard's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" should be on the list.
One of my favorite albums of all time is The Cover Up: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by The Protomen. Some of the tracks aren't particularly transformative (Danger Zone barely changed at all grom the Kenny Loggins version) but when it decides to go off the rails you get The Protomen's version of Silent Running, originally performed by Mike and the Mechanics. That cover is utterly phenomenal.
@Gourune what do you think of the Elanor Rigby cover by The Crusaders?
There's certainly a dichotomy for covers in that sound alike/ close covers do have a place, and it's in live sets. if you're playing a gig and doing a cover it tends to be for participation reasons sonkeeping it close to the known versions makes sense, where as if you're recording it, you get a bit more room to play.
Insofar as covers I like, here are a few
Tina Turner - Proud Mary; the actual history of how the song got to the point it is now is interesting but Tina being able to bring the energy to that song for most of her life remains impressive and it sits with Jonny Cash's Hurt as covers that transfer ownership of the song.
Orville Peck - Fancy; he takes down the tone quite a bit, the track starts beautifully ambiant and grows as the story does. Aditionally, with one small lyrics change adds a whole extra dimension to the song that I just love
Paul Kelly - Anti-Hero; Paul is the Aussie answer to Bob Dylan and man does that implied weight give the Taylor Swift song some gravitas, it's also a super stripped back cover, as it's only Paul and the Guitar and it really makes the lyrics work
Kate Miller-Heidke - Toxic: it's a live recording and I just love how her opera training comes in to do some of the violin trills as vocal runs! She's having such fun and tou really feel it.
I’m gonna make a LOT of oldheads and purists mad with this one but Michael Jackson took Come Together and perfected it. Love his version so much more
Chilli peppers version of love roller coaster, and the white zombie cover of I'm your boogeyman
The Ramones did a really good cover of Surfin Bird by The Trashmen
Also their cover of Palisades Park is fun
one of my favorite bands has a cover album and i really like everything on display there, The Cover Up by The Protomen. Some of the ones I like on there are Total Eclipse of The Heart, Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground), In The Air Tonight, and Mr. Roboto, with my personal favorite being their cover of The Trooper.
big fan of the list !! surprised they might be giants wasn't on here for "istanbul (not constantinople)"
would also be cool to see ty segall's cover of "every1's a winner" on there but he's a bit more obscure
This is something that was a song, then covered, and then the original artist reworked it to sound more like the cover. Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen. The original song is just Bruce on an acoustic guitar singing. Then Rage Against The Machine got a hold of it and completely reworked the song into something more energetic. Then Tom Morello joined Bruce to again completely rework the song into the anthem it's become today.
Have you listened to His Name Is Alive's cover of Man on The Silver Mountain by Rainbow?
My favourite cover over original has gotta be "Funky Town" covered by Pseudo Echo! Sure, the original is great, but I love vibing to the cover a lot more! 🤩🤩🤩
1: Rascal Flatts cover of Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane. Mainly Cars nostalgia speaking, but the Flatts version is just cleaner with less clutter.
2: My Chemical Romance’s Desolation Row by Bob Dylan for the Watchmen movie. I love you Bob, but ain’ nobody got 11 fucking minutes.