maybe it's just me, it seems that lately more and more bands are covering old songs instead of making new material. there's A Perfect Circle's cover of Imagine, Korn's cover of Another Brick in the Wall (1-3), some band i've never even heard of covering Skynyrd's Simple Man, and etc. etc. i don't necessarily mind some of the remakes (although they're never as good as the original), but i was wondering what everyone else felt about it. are these bands ripping us off by taking the easy way out and simply re-doing a song? is it wrong for them to even touch certain songs that (for some of us) are almost sacred? just looking for opinions....
those bands probably think they can do a better version or they feel that the song really fits them. i agree that they hardly ever sound as good as the original and some bands even deserve to be shot for what they do to clasic songs (Alien Ant Farm and Scissor Sisters come to mind) In my opinion it's o.k when a band records a cover as B-side of a single or play them during concerts but I don't want to hear them on the radio every day for two months :$ Luckily there are always exeptions and to bring a little positivity in this post i'll mention a few covers that i really like Evan dando - $1000 wedding Ben Harper - Strawberry Fields Forever Ryan Adams - Wonderwall Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane Lucinda williams and David Crosby - Return Of The Grievous Angel
I like bands and artists who redo a song and put their own spin on it. I hate these lame-ass covers that dont even stray from the original. its like the same music, but different vocals. I even heard a counting crows version of "friend of the devil" on the radio, and I just had to shudder.... smash mouth is another band that makes me cringe every time they do a cover. I have noticed alot lately that there have been quite a few covers released to airplay in the last few years. I think there is no more originality, and hard to come up with a good, decent song, so some bands do resort to doing a cover so that they get noticed. more people will latch on to a cover song, because they heard that song before. then if they hear it enough, they will try to find out who does that version, and may look into more songs by the band. or, it could really turn them off. there are quite a few bands out there though, that can do pretty decent covers of other peoples material. Type O Negative is the best band at this. They just totally redo the song. you should check out their cover of Seal's and Crofts "Summer Breeze" other bands/artists that put out good covers. any cover is good in my book if they put their own heart and soul in it, they make it much different than the orginal by making it acoustic, or harder edged, or in a whole different style: Tool APC (other than imagine, check out their cover of when the levee breaks) joe cocker (he actually made beatles songs even better, grittier, less poppy) White Stripes (Have you heard their version of Jolene?) jeff buckley tori amos ben harper (best version of the drugs dont work) alternative/punk bands seem to do this alot. if you listen to your local alternative station you will hear a whole slew of covers. postal service's version of phil collins "against all odds", snow patrol's version of beyonce's "crazy in love", the white stripes version of dolly parton's "jolene", dynamite hack's version of eazy e's "boyz in the hood"......... I could keep going.
another thing I must add, the artist who either does great versions of other peoples songs, or makes them absolutely horrible was Johnny Cash. He had done some great covers over the years like personal jesus, rusty cage, and hurt (of course). but then he done things like the beatles "in my life" and simon and garfunkel's "bridge over troubled water". absolutely terrible.
Willie Nelson actually did a really decent (And slightly different) version of Bridge over troubled water. and i love in jazz music when some one like Buddy Rich covers Thelonious Monk's Straight No Chaser, its like the song took speed or something... but then again that is jazz and not exactly a cover, but more like an homage-- there arent really Rock standards out there. Iron and Wine's cover of the Postal Service is also very interesting and perhaps better (though i dont listen to either of them regularly, or rather i do but rarely) sure. and Perhaps Maynard signed a three album contract and didnt want the pressure so he decided to release a cover album, that happens sometimes.
odd fact...nirvana covered 24 songs including 'man who sold the world', 'where did u sleep last night' and 'the immagrant song'
that is indeed true. and it usually happens to bands that are about to split up. they have contractual obligation to do one more album, so they do one of all covers. RATM is a prime example. their covers totally kick tho. I forgot to mention them.
Bands always did lots of covers. I do like when bands put their own spin on stuff. One of my favorite bands is a local band that works at CVS and only has a show about once every 5 months, is a cover band that turns classic rock, mostly 50s into a high energy, party metal type thing. They got kicked out of a lot of the local concert spots because their lead singer gets really rowdy and likes to jump into the audience and just start bouncing off people and shit. But anyway my favorite cover actually wasn't changed that much, it's hard to explain, it's heavier and more energetic but other than that it isn't too different, it's Along Comes Mary - Bloodhound Gang. Originally by The Association. My second favorite is the cover of I Want You To Want Me - SR-71 The worst and funniest is Avril Lavigne doing Chop Suey
i prefer to see covers of songs that aren't really common listening to most people. specifically, the derek trucks band's rendition of "volunteered slavery" and "leavin' trunk". however, there are a lot of other great covers of popular songs; gov't mule has done a ton of great covers, "cortez the killer", "war pigs", "spanish moon", and "politician. i love seeing bands play cover songs in their own style, though.
yeah i think there's only a point of doing a cover if you do it completely differently or change some of it so it's actually better than the original! whats the point of trying to sound like someone else? one of the covers i like is the Foo Fighters doing "have a cigar" by floyd, check it out, it's amazing
The worst one out right now I think is A Perfect Circle's Imagine. Their music totally contradicts the words of the song. The music is so dark and somber, but the lyrics are supposed to be hopeful... not a downer about how shitty life is. Grr.
Well i would agree w/ u in a local music scene sort of way..meaning there is a few local bands where i live and all they do is play in a shitty bar and cover other bands music...to me that is lame...i want to see some origional music... but on the other hand groovatron may throw a cover song in a 4 hour show..and they do it tastefully...they preform the song well and it always kicks ass..plus they cover amazing songs... i think covers can be done and can be very good..i mean the grateful dead did alot of covers...and they are fabulous..
One problem with cover songs is that our generation (for the most part) doesn't know who the original artists are. For instance, I was talking to people on myspace and this girl asks, "Who's that song by, you know that one like 'above us only sky' and 'imagine' and stuff?" And everyone was saying A Perfect Circle!!! Until I told them, no, it was actually John Lennon...and they didn't know who he was. It's so annoying to see the lyrics to a song, like "Imagine", in someone's profile, and then at the end it says "By a Perfect Circle (and John Lennon)". And then there's the cover songs where the artists changes the whole meaning of the song...like Hilary Duff's cover of "My Generation." You know how that song is all about staying young and making trouble and being rebels forever? "I'd rather die before I get old..." Hilary Duff says, "I'd rather NOT die before I get old" and talks about getting old later on and crap. It's okay to change how a cover song sounds, that makes it interesting...but reversing the meaning is a little different than that. There are some amazing covers out there, by talented people, and those are fine. But if you're going to cover a legendary artist...you have to do it well, for God's sakes.
i like the grateful dead, rasputina, me first and the gimme gimmes,(i like their covers of other bands)... i LOVE covers!
I think the bottom line is a cover a band has a responsibility not to fuck that song up. Alot of bands do fuck the song up (googoo dolls&LimpBizkits cover of "Wish you were Here" sucked balls........However TheDeads cover of "Wish you were Here" Is freaking Epic in its-self) So it really depends on the cover. Some other good covers: FooFighters: Have a cigar(Pink Floyd) KorN:Another Brick in the Wall(pt1-3)(PinkFloyd) (I liked it...) Steive Ray Vaghn: Voodoo Chile(Jimi Hendriz) Grateful DeaD:Buba O'Reiley(TheWho) Phish:Us&Them,Any Color you like(Pink Floyd) WideSpread Panic:Sympathy For the Devil(Rolling Stones) Velvet Revolver:Money(Pink Floyd) moeingsOnTheWing-pt1(Pink Floyd) Phish&Phil Lesch:Like a Rolling Stone(Bob Dylan) Too name a few. . . .
