Covers that are better than the original

[Symmetry]

Unashamedly Indie, I'm liking Peter Gabriel's cover of Flume by Bon Iver's Flume:

Flume

No points for pointing out All along the Watchtower, but yeah, Hurt sung by Johnny Cash still makes NIN sound like whiny teenagers.

Edit-

I forgot add Vampire Weekend covering Exit Music for a Film:
Exit Music

Not a lot of covers find a balance between a new take and faith to the original. VW stick a bit too close to the original, but the beats improve the song so I'm on the side of the cover.

[mgconstruction]

A little to get this thing started, great topic!

I went here to jog the memory for some songs and not only found a few I love but quite a few I never new were covers.
http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/page ... songs.html

Tears for fears - Shout < by Disturbed - Shout 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTPFlwZ6gmI

Bob Seger - Turn the page < Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOibtqWo6z4

Whiskey in the Jar - The Dubliners < Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIh3nO6-V_A

Black Magic woman - Fleetwood Mac < Santana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymh1o09vRWE

Blinded By The Light - Bruce Springsteen < Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Never new this was a cover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8cDmi7-U8

Signs - Five Man Electical Band < Tesla
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0tu_4Y_b_w

[mgconstruction]

Simple Man - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Shinedown - Not better than original but different with a twist. Love both versions
http://www.youtube.com/user/shinedowntv ... bN99f9esS4

The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie < Nirvana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fregObNcHC8

[PLAYER57832]

I'm Dating myself, but I always like Wierd Al.

Of course, I'm not sure parady is really what you are asking about..

[JOHNNYROCKET24]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

[kevusher]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

...except Yesterday, in which case they're all equally bad by default.

[F1fth]

any remake of a Bob Dylan song is better than the original

Fixed it for you. Seriously though, the only cover that comes close to a Beatles song is "With a little help from my friends" by Joe Cocker (the intro theme to the show "The Wonder Years" if you remember it).

[mgconstruction]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

...except Yesterday, in which case they're all equally bad by default.

I beg to differ, Guns & Roses did a cover of that song I think is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QHBZrDLvc

[Symmetry]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

...except Yesterday, in which case they're all equally bad by default.

I beg to differ, Guns & Roses did a cover of that song I think is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QHBZrDLvc

That's, erm, not a cover. Although it is kind of a cover of Sweet Child, but most Guns & Roses stuff ends up like that for me.

I can't agree with the Beatles covers, that's just showing poor taste. As for Bob, well that's a given in a lot of cases. Awesome songwriter, poor performer until you get to know him. Even then it's a coin toss.

[Timminz]

Seriously though, the only cover that comes close to a Beatles song is "With a little help from my friends" by Joe Cocker.

Indeed! That version of that song is always the first to pop into my head when considering covers that were better than the original.

The second, is always the White Stripe's version of Dolly Parton's Jolene.

[mgconstruction]

Seriously though, the only cover that comes close to a Beatles song is "With a little help from my friends" by Joe Cocker.

The second, is always the White Stripe's version of Dolly Parton's Jolene.

I forgot about that one, def better

[mgconstruction]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

...except Yesterday, in which case they're all equally bad by default.

I beg to differ, Guns & Roses did a cover of that song I think is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QHBZrDLvc

That's, erm, not a cover. Although it is kind of a cover of Sweet Child, but most Guns & Roses stuff ends up like that for me.

I can't agree with the Beatles covers, that's just showing poor taste. As for Bob, well that's a given in a lot of cases. Awesome songwriter, poor performer until you get to know him. Even then it's a coin toss.

Correct, I have no idea why I thought that was a cover

[Symmetry]

any remake of a Beatles song is better than the original

...except Yesterday, in which case they're all equally bad by default.

I beg to differ, Guns & Roses did a cover of that song I think is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QHBZrDLvc

That's, erm, not a cover. Although it is kind of a cover of Sweet Child, but most Guns & Roses stuff ends up like that for me.

I can't agree with the Beatles covers, that's just showing poor taste. As for Bob, well that's a given in a lot of cases. Awesome songwriter, poor performer until you get to know him. Even then it's a coin toss.

Correct, I have no idea why I thought that was a cover

No worries, if you'd said that you were being sarcastic I would have felt like an idiot

[Rainbow Eater]

how about a whole album.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars

Both are great, don't get me wrong, but I kinda like the Dub side better.

[mgconstruction]

how about a whole album.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars

Both are great, don't get me wrong, but I kinda like the Dub side better.

Never heard of it, gonna check it out. Thanks

[mgconstruction]

Wow def a different twist, Reggae Pink Floyd

[Rainbow Eater]

how about a whole album.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars

Both are great, don't get me wrong, but I kinda like the Dub side better.

Never heard of it, gonna check it out. Thanks

let me know what you think.

[mgconstruction]

how about a whole album.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars

Both are great, don't get me wrong, but I kinda like the Dub side better.

Never heard of it, gonna check it out. Thanks

let me know what you think.

Thought it was cool. They took one genre & completely made it another.

[pimpdave]

David Bazan's Black Cloud- Let Down (Radiohead)

CAKE- I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor)

Johnny Cash- Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)

[demonfork]

how about a whole album.

Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon or Dub Side of the Moon by the Easy Star All-Stars

Both are great, don't get me wrong, but I kinda like the Dub side better.

Never heard of it, gonna check it out. Thanks

let me know what you think.

dub side is the disc I'm listening to in my car at the moment...its been one of my favorites for a while now.

how bout' Smashing Pumpkins version of Landslide much better that the original IMO.

[jonesthecurl]

The Stranglers - Walk on By

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Stranglers/_/Walk+On+By

[nietzsche]

How about Shadowplay? I'm not sure but lately I'm liking it better played by The Killers than by Joy Division.

[Symmetry]

I'm going to add Placebo covering Kate Bush:

Running up that hill

Shame it gets over played on a bunch of fun b-movie trailers nowadays, Daybreakers being the big culprit here. Still, It's a good reason for pop music as a a decent genre.

[Kid_A]

Jimi Hendrix remake of All Along the Watchtower!!

And it is not possible to remake a Beatles song better than the original

[strike wolf]

As a fan of Bob Dylan's work I would agree that most remakes of his songs are better than the original. A couple of exceptions;

Knocking on Heavens Door-Guns N Roses (may not be a popular opinion just don't like the GNR cover)

Desolation Row-My Chemical Romance (The Bob Dylan version blows this cover away. No contest)

Other than that, I find Chris Cornell's cover of Billie Jean to be better than the Michael Jackson version.