When you Prefer the Cover to the Original

The Lounge General Discussion
#22

You can’t take issue with anyone’s preference, that’s what’s great about the Arts I guess. That cover is wonderfully constructed, but on two counts it’s hard for me to see how it could possibly be better. Firstly it’s too closely following the original - that’s quite an achievement to be fair and it’s presented beautifully, but there’s nothing added, there’s a lot removed as the vocal performance has no soul (for me) … it’s impeccably sung, but sterile by comparison- a song like that needs an authentic voice. A tough one to cover probably, as would Ghost Town be imho, that can’t be topped

Here’s a live Sylvian take for those unfamiliar …

Agreed … Those cloying advert covers are unbearable and utterly sapped of real soul. They’re a special kind of art vandalism in my book.

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#23

Phoebe Bridgers :point_down:t2:

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#24

I heard this cover version before the original by the Moody Blues. When I finally heard that, it was so disappointing. It barely staggered along… it kept stopping… the cover, on the other hand, is great.

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#25

Some (or all) of these are certainly debatable, but are at least valiant attempts that bring something new and exciting to timeless classics.

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#26

I went off the original after I overzealously danced too vigorously to it and made myself sick…
Then I discovered this freshly baked plodder in the midst of an Orb mix I heard some years ago.
Think Senor Coconut with sitars.

Sorry, nothing sophisticated to offer, it seems everybody got there first.
Happy Sunday.

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#27
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#28

Ah Deftones! Love Chino’s voice. This one is cool:

I love the original too

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#29

I was going to post that too but thought
it might be a bit much :slight_smile:

Yeah the Deftones are one of the few bands that consistently do amazing covers.

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#30

Yeah, his love of 80s pop is what made them more than just another late 90s metal band.

Another interesting one (with Korn this time), though not sure it’s better than the original:

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#31
#32

That Sunn cover is just brutal.

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#33

Hang On To Your Ego - Frank Black

Cover of I Know There’s an Answer - Beach Boys

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#34

Jolene - The White Stripes

Jolene - Dolly Parton

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#35

I don’t think any band can do a proper early Bad Brains cover, but at least Deftones attempted it with H.R. on stage…

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#36

(don’t get me wrong, the original is awesome too, but I prefer Metallica’s version)

Yeah, I want to hear the opposite—bombastic 80s style covers of cute breathy pop songs

#37

Agreed, Lloyds Bank ad with the cover of “We’ve only just begun” is a particular travesty - sounds like the vocalist was sleep deprived for a week. It isn’t even like the original was exactly too uptempo FFS.

If you are going to do a cover at least try to do it better or at least interesting, these slow, boring, anaemic, sappy cover versions all seem to be inspired by Gary Jules cover of Mad World, which was also extremely slow and boring and anaemic IMHO.

Call me cynical but seems like a way to avoid paying royalties.

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#38

I blame Frente

horrible twee warning

Frente! - Bizarre Love Triangle - YouTube

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#39

The moany covers in movie trailers are just the worst, but I did like the Trent Reznor et al cover of Immigrant Song from the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trailer.

Anyway:

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#40

Rock El Casbah - Rachid Taha (Rock the Casbah - The Clash)

Eagle eyed viewers will spot the Akai S6000 in the rack.

Reasonable call imho.

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#41

It’s hard to say this is better than the original… I mean it’s really hard to top Prince. But as a melancholic version of 1999 in 7/4, this is one of the best cover songs I’ve heard.

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