What is the best cover song of all time?
 

I love good cover songs, so, what is the top on everyone's list here? Myself, I really love the heavy metal remake of Baby Got Back from Ph8. Great stuff.

I really like the covers that Van Halen did back in the day, when DLR was still with them. Their cover of "You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt was exceptional, as was their version of the Kinks' "You Really Got Me".


Devo's cover of the Stones' "Satisfaction" was cool as well, but more in a campy way.

Wiskey in the jar is pretty damn good imo.

SHOCK THE MONKEY!

Performed by Coal Chamber and Ozzy Osbourne. Original by Peter Gabriel.

damn right!

Let's see...

Hendrix's Watchtower has got to be the odds on favorite, but there's a lot to be said for the Outlaws' cover of Ghost Riders in the Sky, The Stone's covers of Poison Ivy and The Stop Breaking Down Blues, and, my all time favorite cover, The Gourds' bluegrass cover of Snop Dogg's Gin and Juice.

Cliche, and its been said MANY times (though not in this thread) but Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's Hurt is sooooo good.

And, while I adore Nena's 99 Balloons, I really like Goldfinger's cover of it as well..

yeah, metallica turned that song into "listenable." :)

I'm a little biased, but check out Metallica's cover of "Turn the Page" (Bob Seger) and their cover of "Tuesday's Gone" (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Those are fucking kick ass too.


Stone Temple Pilots did a live cover of "Pour Some Sugar On Me." That is probably the single best cover I've ever heard.

Pixies cover of evil hearted you by the yardbirds.

They translated it into spanish, and it sounds really good. I haven't heard the original though...

carazon de diablo!

"Best Ever" things are so difficult, I'll list a few:

Helpless - Metallica
All Along the Watchtower - Hendrix
War Pigs - Faith No More
Planet Caravan - Pantera
Message in a Bottle - Machine Head

I have a bootleg of the show where Dream Theater played the entire Master of Puppets album. They nailed every song.

YES. I forgot about that song. EVERYONE should check that out, if you are fans of Ozzy or not. Simply incredible.

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes' version of "Mandy." Love. That. Song. I also really like their version of "One Tin Soldier."

I really like Finger Eleven's cover of "Walking in my shoes".

I love that band. I have yet to hear anything from them I didn't like. I REALLY dig their cover of Rocket Man and Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me. Awsome, awsome stuff.

Man, I don't know who it was, but there was some new-wave type bluegrass band that did a cover of "Gin and Juice" by Snoop. Good stuff.

I like the Tool cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter." They are both great listening though.

Haven't heard that one yet. Will have to look for it. What album it on?

DOA - Folsom Prison Blues
Black Velvet Flag - No Values

Me first and the gimme gimmes do rock something serious. I disliked most of the stuff that they covered, but their versions of them are quite pallettable.

Ok, now don't throw things at me, but I like the remake limp bizkit did of behind blue eyes alot. also, whiskey in the jar done by metallica is great

That's on the Salival (sp) cd and DVD box set

Most of the above mentioned covers are quite good, but two that I particularly like are local bands:

Bobaflex: They cover a Jackson5 song (not sure which one) with their usual heavy instrumentals, but vocals that are a spot-on match for a young Michael Jackson.

Another local band, Natural Born Losers, does a medley of covers, including Tight Fitting Jeans, He Stopped Loving Her Today, and Jesse's Girl...they're working on Take On Me, which should be hilarious.

I love covers, they're sometimes better than a band's original material (and often better than the original band's version, just for the novelty factor).

Cake - I will Survive

oh, almost anything Johnny Cash did on American. There's only a couple songs he did that I don't think are better than the originals.

Sweet. I'll have to go look for it later.

Fiona Apple covering the Beatles' "Across the Universe"

You're kidding? If I have to pick a cover of that song, I'll take Rufus Wainwright thank you very much.

Firewater just released a cover able that's pretty good, called "Songs we should have written". Two of my favorites are Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On", and The Stones' "Paint it Black".

Seether covering You Know You're Right by Nirvana

Definatly "Hurt".

I liked it when the Cure covered the doors song "hello, i love you"

"Hurt" is one.

Tool's "You Lied" is my favorite though. Also on Salival, and I actually prefer it to "No Quarter". Which is a pretty tough choice.

Nirvana - Lake of Fire (Meatpuppets)

Nirvana - Jesus Doesn't Want me for a Sunbeam (Vaselines)

I'm a big fan of the Foo Fighters' take on "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty. Either that or System of a Down's version of "Snowblind" (never been a big Sabbath fan).

System of a Down does some great covers. I LOVE their version of Zelda. Takes a great band to do something that silly and still make it sound good.

Another one I like: Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah."

Crap, I didn't know that was a cover.

Also: Travis - "Baby One More Time"

OK, three more:
801 (Roxy Music minus Brian Ferry) - TNK (Tomorrow Never Knows)(Beatles)
Heather Nova - I Have the Touch (Peter Gabriel)(Closing Credits music for The Craft)
Ahmet and Dweezil Zappa - Baby One More Time (Brittany Spears)(from Ready to Rumble)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World medley

hit me baby one more time cover by travis
that shit is awsome

That was The Gourds. Good cover.

But for my money I like the "Enjoy The Silence" cover by Failure.

stand by me by pennywise

Tangled up in Blue by the Indigo Girls.

(Originally a Bob Dylan diddy for you youngins')

By far the single best cover song ever recorded, imho.

-bear

I love that song :) Great cover song.


A few months back I was at a local dive bar with some friends and I put that in the juke box. For some reason I was getting major cool points from my friend Michael all night long, but the playing of that song caused him to take them all back. He's not a fan... Okay, that was a pointless story.

Maybe, but isn't it always the pointless ones that seem to be the best? Just look at Cube and Pi. Great movies, but if there was a point in the end, it was lost on me.

Crossroads by Cream.
Travelling Riverside Blues by Led Zeppelin.

I like New Found glory covers like; Aerosmith's - Don't wanna miss a thing, Celine Dion - My heart will go on..
But I'd prolly have to say Nirvana's covers on Unplugged in New York are the best

paint it black- the black dahlia murder

nothing compares to you-sinead oconnor(originally by prince i think)

everything counts-in flames

when the smoke is going down- soad

goodbye blue sky- soad

blasphemus rumors-duncan shiek

enjoy the silence-dead to fall or shadows fall?

sunday bloody sunday-evergreen terrace

and my favorite

anesthesia- shai hulud

And DEFINITLy Fiona's version of across the universe.

My two absulote fav's are right there..mmmmmThats good stuff.

UUmmm..Did you see cube 2? : ) I think there was a point.(even if the point was to make it as lame as the first.)

Oh Oh Oh...One more thing.. Bowling for soup's Hit me baby one more time.Oh yeeeaaa...

i really enjoy smells like teen spirit by tori amos (originally nirvana)

Pearl Jam's live cover of Smells like Teen Spirit is pretty cool too.:D

what about Jeff Beck's white hot remake of Pork Pie Hat? Can my man get some juice for that?

Prince wrote the song, most definitely. I am unaware of any recordings of it by him though.


edit: a quick check of AMG reveals that the only recordings of the song by the man himself are live performances, primarily bootlegs.

A few of Dream Theatre's:
Elton John - Funeral for a Friend, Love Liews Bleeding
Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers
Led Zep - Rover, Achilles, The Song Remains the Same
Pink Floyd - In The Flesh

I'll put in another vote, this time for Dave Matthew's Band's cover of "Cortez the Killer" on the "Live in Central Park" CD. Un-fucking-believable. Warren Haynes is the guest guitarist and he plays about as close to Neil Young as you are gonna hear.

"Twist and Shout"
The Beatles

all of the covers from Nirvana's Unplugged in New York
Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" originally done by NIN

yeaah both covers are really really good.

Also the atari's remake of boys of summer was pretty good.

Haven't seen that one yet. Want to though. If nothing else, the death traps were a lot of fun to watch.

One of my favorite covers is Stabbing Westward's "Bizarre Love Triangle" (New Order)
And for the gratuitous cover performed by Metallica..."Breadfan"

No, I agree with irateplatypus, I like Fiona Apple's version of Across the Universe better.

Not sure as to what the best cover song is, but I know Mike Patton sings it! :D

Yeah they do a good cover of Metro and Snowblind but Im pretty sure that the Zelda song is not SOAD. Sounds a bit like them, but its just a mislabeled mp3 thats been circulating the net for a while. Who is it a cover of anyway?

I'm pretty sure it is them Sounds just like them. I'll have to diggin through albums to find out for sure. It's a remake of the theam song from the NES game, Zelda.

Try "N.I.B." (orig: Ozzy), a band called Primus redid it. They are all bass-centric and crazy. Check it out, one of the only remakes I accept.

I can't believe I forgot this one when I started the thread. There is a cover of the Rolling Stones Gimmie Shelter by the Sisters of Mercy. Not only is it the ONLY Rolling Stones cover I like, it is the only Stones cover I like better then the original. They style that the Sisters do it is SO much more suited for the song.

Dynamite hack did a damn good cover of "boyz in the hood" a few years back- whatever happened to them?

I would have to say Pantera's cover of Black Sabbath's Planet Caravan. . .very good!!

Aside from the many other already mentioned tunes...

Radiohead covering Carly Simon's - Nobody Does it better.

I would love to hear this but I can't find it. Where'd you get it? Is it live? Bootleg? Help.

Hendrix's <i>All Along the Watchtower</i> is my favorite cover of all time. Lyrics of Dylan with the sound of Hendrix.

Radiohead does a cover of <i>Union City Blue</i> that I also like.

War Pigs - Faith No More is definitely one of the best covers out there.

--jaded

The Whitney Houston remake of Dolly Parton's "I will always love you".

Snake River Conspriracy doing the Cure's LoveSong.

Sonic Youth doing the carpenters Superstar

"A band called Primus..."

Who the hell doesn't know who Primus is?!

My favorites:

"Hurt" - Johnny Cash cover/NIN original
"Burning Inside" Fear Factory and Static-X cover/Ministry original
"Sober" - Staind live cover/Tool original
"Kill You" - Deftones live cover/Eminem original
"Tourniquet" - Rasputina cover/Marilyn Manson original

Boysetsfire - Rocketman

Snowblind - System of a Down is one of my favorites. That and anything by SOAD.

I know this is off topic but I need to rant.
Jessica Simpson covered that annoying Berlin song from Top Gun and actually made it worse. Made me cry since I couldn't change the channel. j/k

Boysetsfire also does a cover of fade to black that is alright.

The first time I saw them was awesome.

Children of Bodom - rebel yell

All the ones I like:

- Adema - Nutshell(AIC)
- Godsmack - Sweetleaf(BS)
- System Of A Down - Snowblind(BS)
- Jonny Cash - Hurt(NIN)
- Avril Lavigne - Fuel[live](Metallica)
- Avril Lavigne - Knocking On Heavens Door(can't remember)
- Disturbed - Fade To Black[live](Metallica)
- Audioslave - Seven Nation Army[live](White Stripes)

Humm didn't know they did that....I heard on the radio Sevendust covered NIN's Hurt, but can't find that either!

Eva Cassidy made some very good covers..

Fields of Gold, Over the Rainbow, Time after Time, What a Wonderful World....actually she made a lot of good covers... :)

Jeff Buckleys version of Halleluja is one damn good cover..

Tori Amos' version of Zep's Thank You blows my mind.

I'll second (or third or fourth) Primus's cover of N.I.B.

My favorite is Stevie Ray Vaughan's cover of Little Wing.

1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut (orriginally Black Sabbath)

Uh...

Cake - I will survive

Hendrix - All along the watchtower

Nirvana - The man who sold the world

and humor wise:

Phish - Mmmbop

"116 times!"

"wait! ... that's goin too far!"

Re: What is the best cover song of all time?
 

They're local I got to see them play about a month ago. I'd have to say my fav cover song is Deftones cover of To have and to hold by Depeche Mode.

most ska covers like Reel Big Fish - Brown eyed girl, Less Than Jake - I would walk 500 miles and others like Pennywise - Land Down Under

I like the White Stripes cover of Jolene. Originally done by Dolly Parton.

Not the best ever, but I've taken a shine to Vanilla Fudge's cover of "Keep me Hanging On"

john mclaughlin's solo cover of "good bye pork pie hat"---done before he joined up with miles davis.

in general, i dont like covers unless the new version shreds the original. coltrane's "my favorite things" is something of an exception, for sentimental reason mostly.

as for mashup things, i really like dj/rupture's reframing of nina simone's "plain gold ring" from minesweeper suite.....

Re: Re: What is the best cover song of all time?
 

WHat area of Az you at? I'm from Tucson my self. Used live around Alvernon and Grant.

ahahaha good memories. :D

I like the goofy covers myself, found a lot of junk in the cut out bins.

Ballad of the Green Berets (Sgt. Barry Sandler) done by Elvis Hitler
Rainy Days and Mondays (Carpenters) done by Cracker
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkel) done by The Coolies
Cinnamon Girl (Neil Young) done by the Replicants
Rock and Roll All Nite (Kiss) done by Toad the Wet Sprocket

OK, I'm sure it's not the best, but I really like 311's version of the Cure's "Love Song".

fly me to the moon-eva cassidy (org:sinatra)

The Kinks- "You really got me" covered by Van Halen
*edit* I just noticed Sion already mentioned this one on the first page! Great minds think alike!

I have his live DVD called "Rave" and it's on there. Great DVD btw.

Actually it was on the Hits compilation (3 cds).

Some of my favorites:

Zevon - Knockin' on Heaven's Door. (The emotion is heart-wrenching.)
Hindu Love Gods - Raspberry Beret
Jeff Beck/Rod Stewart - People Get Ready
Hootie & the Blowfish - Hey Hey What Can I Do
The Smiths - Rusholme Ruffians (cover of Elvis' His Latest Flame)

i completely agree... that song gives me chills every time i listen to it. i love how they go back and forth singing the lyrics... their voices compliment each other so well.