A couple of months ago, my dad was introduced to Sonic Youth through their cover of the Carpenters’ “Super Star” from the Juno soundtrack. I’ve always been a fan of cover tunes, so I decided to compile a list of my own ten favorite cover tunes. Unfortunately after I actually started putting the list together, it grew from ten songs to nearly a hundred before cutting it back down to sixty. To make the list easier to digest (and enjoy), I’ve broken the songs up into a few different categories, and split the list into five parts.
Why do bands record cover tunes? Here are a few reasons I came up with:
– To take a (semi)obscure song and re-record it (ie: Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll”).
– To pay tribute to a band or artist that inspired you.
– To update an old classic (Jessica Simpson’s version of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin”).
The rules I set for myself were pretty simple. The first rule was, the cover song could not be more famous or well known than the original version of the song. That ruled out Elvis’ version of “Blue Suede Shoes” (Carl Perkins), Motley Crue’s “Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room” (Brownsville Station) and the aforementioned Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” (The Arrows). I also excluded any rap song that pretends to be a cover by simply using a long sample of the original. “Ice Ice Baby” is not a cover of Queen’s “Under Pressure,” nor are Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” and “Come With Me” covers of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” respectively.
I would also like to add that these posts would not have been possible without YouTube. Every single song I looked up (over 120 of them) had already been uploaded to Youtube, although a few of the more obscure ones appeared in audio-only. Still, that’s an amazing success rate. I had hoped to embed them all into my posts, but several of them did not allow it and for the sake of consistency, I changed them all to links. I also looked quite a few of these bands up on Wikipedia to get band member and album names.
As I said, I’ve broken the list down into different categories. Today’s two categories are Fairly Faithful and Reinventions.
.xX{ Fairly Faithful }Xx.
Many musicians first learn to play their instruments by playing cover tunes. Sometimes, these songs end up as part of the band’s repertoir. When the cover version sounds similar to the original, I call them “Fairly Faithfuls.”
01. “War Pigs” by Faith No More (original by Black Sabbath)
After releasing two non-mainstream albums with lead singer Chuck Mosley, Faith No More dropped Mosely and hooked up with Mr. Bungle vocalist Mike Patton. Their first album with Patton, 1989’s The Real Thing, made several Album of the Year lists that year and had several charting singles including “Epic” and “Falling to Pieces”. Epic’s closing track was a cover of Black Sabbath’s classic song, “War Pigs.”
Faith No More’s version
Black Sabbath’s version
02. “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” by Anthrax (original by Black Sabbath)
Faith No More’s cover of Sabbath’s “War Pigs” is just one of hundreds of Black Sabbath covers. As one of the founders of heavy metal music, most metal bands of the 70s and 80s were influenced to some degree by Black Sabbath. As a result, you can find literally hundreds of Black Sabbath cover tunes within the genre.
Anthrax has covered several Black Sabbath tunes both live and on their albums. On their 1987 EP I’m the Man, the band included a cover version of the classic Sabbath song from 1973, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.” At the end of the Anthrax version, the band included several bars from Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf.” Over the years Anthrax has also covered “Antisocial” (Trust), “The Cowboy Song” (Thin Lizzy), “God Save the Queen” (The Sex Pistols), “Got the Time” (Joe Jackson) and “Parasite Lady” (KISS). Anthrax also appears three more times on the list, so keep an eye out for them.
Anthrax’s version
Black Sabbath’s version
03. “Lovesong” by 311 (original by The Cure)
Alternative pioneers The Cure have seen many bands cover their classic songs. In 2004, the band 311 had a number one hit with the classic Cure track “Lovesong.” Surprisingly, The Cure only hit #2 with the original version back in 1989. The song was written by lead singer Robert Smith as a love note to his soon-to-be wife, Mary.
311’s version
The Cure’s version
04. “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Guns and Roses (original by Bob Dylan)
In the 1970s Bob Dylan was known for his thought provoking lyrics. In the 1980s and 1990s, Guns and Roses were known for overdosing, fighting, and starting riots. You wouldn’t think Guns and Roses covering Bob Dylan would work, but it does here with their 1991 cover of classic Dylan, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Incidently, Eric Clapton covered this song in 1975 (just two years after Dylan released the original), which has almost eclipsed the original in popularity. According to Wikipedia, some of the other bands who have covered the song include: “The Grateful Dead, Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne, Mad Zize, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, The Sisters of Mercy, Bryan Ferry, Meir Ariel, The Alarm, Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, Heaven, The Lost Dogs, Randy Crawford, Babyface, Beau Jocques, Chaozz, Zé Ramalho, Antony and the Johnsons, Warren Zevon (whose version was released two weeks before his death), Roger Waters, and Bob Marley. Duets on the song include a team-up of the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and U.S. country diva Dolly Parton, and the Red Army Chorus and Ensemble with the Leningrad Cowboys.”
Guns and Roses’ version
Bob Dylan’s version
05. “Live and Let Die” by Guns and Roses (original by Wings)
Another classic Guns and Roses cover, this time of Paul McCartney’s band Wings. “Live and Let Die” was originally recorded back in 1973 by Wings for the James Bond film of the same name. Guns and Roses’ version appeared on 1991’s Use Your Illusion I. While G&R’s cover version rocks a little more, it is still very faithful to the original.
Guns and Roses version
Paul McCartney and Wing’s version
06. “Time” by Wrathchild America (original by Pink Floyd)
The quintessential song about aging, Wrathchild America (later Souls at Zero) faithfully covered the Pink Floyd song on their debut album, Climbin’ the Walls. The song actually seemed out of place on an album full of thrash metal, but it’s a great, loyal version of the original.
Pink Floyd’s version
Wrathchild America’s version
07. “Baker Street” by the Foo Fighters (original by Gerry Rafferty)
The first time I heard the Foo Fighter’s version of “Baker Street,” I didn’t even realize I was listening to a cover tune! The Foo’s version is very similar to the original, and yet still maintains a bit of Foo Fighter flavor. According to Wikipedia, “the eight-bar Tevendale alto saxophone solo apparently led to a resurgence described as “the Baker Street phenomenon”. There followed a jump in saxophone sales, and a noticeable increase in the use of the instrument in mainstream pop music and TV advertising.” In the Foo Fighter’s version, the saxaphone is played on guitar.
Foo Fighter’s version
Gerry Rafferty’s version
.xX{ Reinventions }Xx.
Reinventions are the opposite of faithful renditions; it’s where a band takes a song and completely reinvents it.
08. “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Life of Agony (original by Simple Minds)
Simple Minds scored a hit in 1985 with their song “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” written for the John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. The song quickly rose to number one and stayed on the UK charts for over two years. The song has appeared in other movies since then and has been covered by several artists (including Billy Idol), but on their sophomore album Ugly, Life of Agony completely reinvented the song from the ground up, replacing the original’s poppy hooks with dark, brooding music. Life of Agony’s version is basically unrecognizable until you reach the chorus — which you definitely need to stick around for.
Life of Agony’s version
Simple Mind’s version
09. “Summer Breeze” by Type-O-Negative (original by Seals & Crofts)
Seals and Croft’s original version of “Summer Breeze” is typical of dopey hippy music from the 70s. Type-O-Negative tuned down and slowed down the original and came up with their own super creepy version.
Type-O-Negative’s version
Seals and Crofts version
10. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Devo (original by The Rolling Stones
Covering the Rolling Stones is dangerous territory — if you try it, you had better make the song sound original. Fortunately, Devo did just that in their cover version of the hit Stones single, “Satisfaction.” Devo has claimed in interviews that “The Rolling Stones stole this song from us,” which is kind of funny if you know Devo. This is a great example of a reinvention cover tune. The video is great, too.
Devo’s version
The Rolling Stones version
11. “Imagine” by A Perfect Circle (original by John Lennon)
It’s amazing what a simple key and tempo change can do for a song. John Lennon’s original (yet kind of wimpy) version of “Imagine” has again been both tuned and slowed down to achieve a bit more sinister tone. I know Lennon’s a god and his version of Imagine was voted the 3rd best song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2004, but I have to admit I like A Perfect Circle’s version better. So shoot me. Wait …
A Perfect Circle’s version
John Lennon’s version
12. “Hard Luck Woman” by Garth Brooks (original by KISS)
In 1994, the album Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved (a collection of bands covering KISS tunes) was released. Many of the songs were throwaways, but one song — Garth Brooks version of “Hard Luck Woman” — stood out as an instant classic. What many people did not know at the time was that KISS actually recorded the music for this cover version — Brooks simply provided vocals.
LOA’s cover of Don’t You (Forget About Me) is super awesome, and I salute you for including it. I love their second album, even if many don’t.
waiting to see if my favorite shows…
Any rules regarding a cover band? What about a “does lots of covers” band? Speaking of Don’t You forget about me, Atrocity has a version that I happen to like — now in all fairness Atrocity has two 80s cover CDs, so there is lots of material to pick from … German metal band covering 80s songs = “teh win”
I tend to think Brownsville Station’s edition is more famous than Motley Crue’s. After all it reached #3 on the charts while Motley Crue’s only got to position #16. So I’m wondering, what criteria are you using on whether or not the cover is more famous than the original? Total records sold? Position on the Billboard charts? Personal feeling among yourself and friends? I’m not criticizing your reasoning, just trying to figure it out.
Cool list. I always thought these were decent too;
and
@Ubik: I’m just going by my own experience. In the case of Brownsville Station, I suspect it might be a generation thing. I guess is if you took a poll among people my age or younger, not one out of a hundred would have heard of Brownsville Station. I just asked a co-worker if he had ever heard of Brownsville Station and he said, “No, where’s that?”
@Fraze:(spoiler) Both of those are on the list and will show up later this week.
You mention Don’t You Forget About Me (and in passing Billy Idol’s cover), but you knew that the song was originally offered to hin and he turned it down? Ironically, he sings it in the cover à la Simple Minds… Wonder how it would have been had he recorded it originally?
Also, I like the Smashing Pumpkins’ cover of Landslide (from Pisces Iscariot), of You’re All I’ve Got Tonight and Destination Unknown (both from The Aeroplane Flies High).