Covers That Outdo the Original

I never knew what a painful song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" was until I heard this raw but layered version by The Slits.

I think the punk and even reggae notes in this one add a layer of anguish/anger missing in the motown versions (though I love motown, this song never really did it for me before).

What a great, fun cover.
Feel free to post some covers you think were better than their inspiration
Happy Sunday!

a reply to: zosimov

Sound of silence by disturbed was an amazing cover, 100 times better than the original, imo.


Peace.

a reply to: zosimov
Of course this cover is one of the greatest of all time:

a reply to: Lichter daraus

I love that cover. I don't even like Disturbed that much, and really like Simon and Garfunkel's version, but that's a beautiful cover.


ETA: Peace

I love this Kid Cudi cover:

a reply to: Lichter daraus

Yes, I was just thinking of that very song.
It is so deliciously painful.

While you can't really outdo this original, I love the take on this one:
(sorry you'll have to follow the link--Apolcalyptica's Hall of the Mountain King)


Hope this link works The song starts at about 2:30 though

a reply to: zosimov
Sorry, don't care for that version, however, IMHO, this is the best rendition of "Grapevine"...

There's a longer version by CCR, too, I just posted the short one.

This is a campy song about Mickey, lol. What I did not know is that its a cover for an earlier song called "Kitty".

Toni Basil's rendition...

Ear worms, for sure!!

Where I learn things like this...
College of Rock presided over by none other than the Professor of Rock...

Havin' Fun!

The original of Under Pressure with Bowie and Freddie Mercury is awesome.
But it pales in comparison to the version with Gail Anne Dorsey.


www.youtube.com...

With his amazing range, I also think that the Bowie version of Wild is the Wind is superior to that of the original by Nina Simone.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: NightFlight

I'll enjoy checking these out! Imo that Creedence cover is an awesome song, but it almost sounds too happy for the material.
I believed the Slits singer when she said she was just about to lose her mind, lol. Though I'll bet the music itself is a matter of taste, and the music of CCR is impossible to top.

I see Puddles come up a lot in conversations about great covers and that's because it's just very good (once again, captures the lyrics very well, being a little crazy (we're all mad here kind of "mad world") as well as the sorrow the original depicted.)

a reply to: zosimov

I grew up in the '50s and came of age in the '60s especially with two older sisters. I got double dosed with country and rock. 1959 was a sad year when the music really did die. I remember that day.

Things changed in the early '60s, it seemed everything changed after that. Television, FM radio came of age, I remember when the FM station in Columbia started stereo. Couldn't tell it was stereo until I got my own receiver in 1970.

My father loved the big bands and it was still big in the '50s...

Myself, I like music like this...

and this...

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Great David Bowie songs.

a reply to: zosimov

I love Puddles. I haven't heard one that is not an equil or better take on the original.

If we can include instrumentals, might I suggest the Harp Twins.



Another I discovered on YouTube that I haven't heard a bad one from.

And then there is Cybertronic Spree.



Also a great cover group.

a reply to: NightFlight

Those are fabulous. I like music like that as well. And music like this for guitar:

and this too

adding another:


well I love many types of music. The songs you posted were great. Thank you!

Jeff Buckley really does Van the Man justice

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

That Zeppelin cover is great

a reply to: zosimov

Those are great. I like how we are covering a lot of types of music.

How about the cover song Henry the Eighth.



From the original.

archive.org...

A little staticy but it is from a 1911 wax cylinder.

a reply to: BeyondKnowledge3

How fun thanks for posting the original as well.

Agreed about the variety, I like it!! Might be something for most tastes on here

I love this song


Don't usually like modern country music so much but I do love this cover: (this one's for the country fans )