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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2016 14:51:45 GMT -5
Not that I don't also love the original, but I always dug Alex's trembly take on "Femme Fatale".
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 21, 2016 15:02:00 GMT -5
I'm sure I could come up with a bunch of these, but the first that comes to mind is Regina Spektor's cover of the lesser John Lennon composition "Real Love". Whereas the original recording and overproduced Beatles reunion versions are cloying and sentimental, Spektor makes it observational and introspective:
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 21, 2016 16:01:26 GMT -5
I've kind of given up attempting to embed videos, so sorry about that. But some choices:
The Cramps, Domino - Orbison's original is great, but this has style and menace to spare
The Clash, I Fought The Law - no contest
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 21, 2016 16:04:05 GMT -5
I've kind of given up attempting to embed videos, so sorry about that. But some choices: The Cramps, Domino - Orbison's original is great, but this has style and menace to spare The Clash, I Fought The Law - no contest Or The Clash, Police and Thieves - so much fun |
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Post by Lord Lucan on Jan 21, 2016 16:25:12 GMT -5
Good topic which I struggled to think of additions to. I can't seem to think of a cover I like to a song I dislike, but . . .
I like the Sinatra version a lot, but this is an improvement inasmuch as it adapts it to a new idiom so successfully. I think Kurt Weill would have appreciated it.
Jimmy Reed's version, good as it is, can't match the sexual ferocity of Etta James's.
My favourite of the AVC's. I like the original fine, but here it's made lovelier.
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Post by Liz n Dick on Jan 21, 2016 19:14:41 GMT -5
I'd never heard the Leonard Cohen version of "Paper Thin Hotel" before hearing Greg Dulli's. I was stunned, then, to hear the original; Dulli is, for my money, among the very best at covers, and this might be his best.
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 21, 2016 20:21:49 GMT -5
That cover of "Terrible Lie" is fascinating! I agree with your points, @patrickbatman, but it's interesting how even in a much more brutal setting, the song is still so darn catchy! It's like Trent Reznor just can't help but make catchy music when he's writing as NIN!
Meanwhile, what this thread is teaching me is that I tend to not go back and listen to the originals of covers I like. I should maybe start looking into that... Anyway, here are two I think improve on the originals:
Grails - "Space Prophet Dogon" (original by Sun City Girls)
The original is great, but I think losing the singing makes the melody that much clearer and more uplifting.
Mark Lanegan - "Brompton Oratory" (original by Nick Cave)
Obviously, the original of this one is also a gorgeous song, but I think Lanegan's take makes the song sound more complete, and also manages to be both rougher and more lush.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2016 23:49:21 GMT -5
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Jan 22, 2016 4:44:10 GMT -5
Awesome stuff, everyone! Keep 'em coming, I'm really digging these! A Perfect Circle, Failure's "The Nurse Who Loved Me" --Hallucinatory sonics add pathos to lyrical content --Maynard James Keenan's voice I had no idea that was a cover. I was close to finding out when I started listening to the album that the original came from last week but I got distracted by work and never went back to finish it. |
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Jan 22, 2016 5:38:24 GMT -5
A Day To Remember - Since U Been Gone (original by Kelly Clarkson)
-it's dumb as heck, like me
-double bass pedals are good
I don't know if this really counts or not as it's a remix rather than cover but I'm going for it anyway because it's dead good.
65daysofstatic - Face of the Earth (Clinging Onto) (original by Dismemberment Plan)
-the drums sound massive
-true to their name the hazy static layered over everything
-it's 90 seconds shorter than the original which I always felt was a little longer than it needed to be
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 22, 2016 5:57:30 GMT -5
Aretha Franklin's version of Respect is much more potent in every way than Otis Redding's, and that's a tough act to follow.
Emmylou Harris is a peerless coverer of fantastic songs. Her version of Townes Van Zandt's If I Needed You is better, I think.
Another personal favourite that might not mean much to you, but I much prefer Big Country's version of Prairie Rose to Roxy Music's.
The Jim Jones Revue's covers of 50s rockers are incredible: overloaded, dirty, unhinged, which is probably how the originals sounded back then. Try their versions of Good Golly Miss Molly and Big Hunk O' Love.
Neko Case trumps Queen's version of Misfire.
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Post-Lupin
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Post by Post-Lupin on Jan 23, 2016 6:52:45 GMT -5
Grails - "Space Prophet Dogon" (original by Sun City Girls) The original is great, but I think losing the singing makes the melody that much clearer and more uplifting. Completely agree: and the middle section with the ghostly quiet and the refrain cutting through it is like sunshine hitting a dark alley. (Though seeing Sir Richard Bishop perform an acoustic version last year was a joy.) Modern versions of folk songs might be an iffy area, but hey... There's a whole complex semiotic discourse about this one... Strange little white boy brings something special here: I have a lot of time for what The Goth They Call Brian did here... Tonks's nomination... The all-time winner in this category is, of course... |
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Dellarigg
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Post by Dellarigg on Jan 23, 2016 10:42:56 GMT -5
Don't know if they're an improvement, exactly, but it's interesting how many soul artists - Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, PP Arnold - covered Eleanor Rigby. Which at first listen, doesn't seem to lend itself to a soul treatment.
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Post by songstarliner on Jan 23, 2016 13:06:48 GMT -5
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Post by Jimmy James on Jan 25, 2016 13:17:33 GMT -5
Don't know if they're an improvement, exactly, but it's interesting how many soul artists - Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, PP Arnold - covered Eleanor Rigby. Which at first listen, doesn't seem to lend itself to a soul treatment. On the subject of Beatles covers, this is my favorite: |
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repulsionist
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Post by repulsionist on Jan 25, 2016 15:38:31 GMT -5
End of the month stumping for my Record Club nomination, Love and Rockets' Express. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2016 15:59:51 GMT -5
This one improves on the Damned's wonderful version, and also makes me want to dance in a flouncy dress:
This one gives me goosebumps and makes my nipples stiffen, which never happens when I listen to The Beatles:
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2016 16:50:46 GMT -5
The Violent Femmes weird up a smooth 80s hit, with fantastic results:
This one might cause some controversy; I don't think it's necessarily "better" than the original, but while the idea of a disco cover of "Comfortably Numb" sounds awful, it's actually pretty great:
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 25, 2016 19:08:28 GMT -5
Has no one yet mentioned Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane"? It really does take the song out of Lou Reed's distinctive voice and transform the song into something moody and mysterious.
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 27, 2016 1:32:56 GMT -5
With this cover, Maxwell accomplishes two very difficult feats: 1) gender-switching a song without making it sound awkward and 2) matching the intensity of Kate Bush.
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Post by Lord Lucan on Jan 27, 2016 1:50:24 GMT -5
moimoi I'm not sure how to feel about that. Kind of curious that one, brief lowering of the pitch from the falsetto. I like it, though I find it hard not to hear Kate Bush in my head competing his his vocals, similarly pitched as they are to hers.
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Post by songstarliner on Jan 27, 2016 2:55:33 GMT -5
I really enjoy this Devo cover - it's so spastic and nerdy and twitchy, and the complete opposite of what the Stones were going for - like seriously anti-rhythm and blues.
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Jan 27, 2016 8:25:19 GMT -5
If we're doing covers of Kate Bush songs then this one has to go up.
-it has more woah-ohing
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 27, 2016 13:24:55 GMT -5
moimoi I'm not sure how to feel about that. Kind of curious that one, brief lowering of the pitch from the falsetto. I like it, though I find it hard not to hear Kate Bush in my head competing his his vocals, similarly pitched as they are to hers. See, I think it's good that he drops the falsetto and puts his male voice in for that last chorus. Maxwell's version changes the perspective of the song, in which the verse is in third person and the chorus and bridge is (arguably) in first person. When Kate Bush starts, it's doesn't appear to be from the mother's perspective, it's some other female voice in the room - the midwife, the sister, or the grandmother. Maxwell makes it the father: Pray God you can cope
I stand outside
This woman's work
This woman's world
Oh it's hard on the man
Now his part is over
Now starts the craft of the Father The chorus continues in this encouraging, but also remorseful way - wherein the narrator reflects on their relationship with either the mother or the unborn child: I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
I should be crying but I just can't let it show
I should be hoping but I can't stop thinking
All the things I should've said that I never said
All the things we should've done but we never did
All the things we should've given but I didn't
Oh, darling, make it go, make it go awayThen the bridge comes, which you can interpret as the mother talking to the struggling newborn baby or the father talking to the mother who is experiencing complications: Give me these moments (back)
Give them back to me
Give me that little kiss
Give me your hand...
I know you have a little life in you yet
I know you have a lot of strength left
From here, Maxwell only ad-libs the line "my love child, whatever you need" and hasn't changed the rest of the words much at all. In the beginning, the falsetto is empathetic, but after the complicated birth/loss of the baby (it's ambiguous in both songs) the man drops the falsetto to grieve, then picks it up again to mimic a man on the verge of tears. I think for Maxwell, that last chorus is meant to drive home, with maximum grit and soul, his remorse and his desire to be a better partner/father. The original, with it's crescendo-ing final chorus, kind of implies that the relationship is broken beyond repair. |
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Post by Lord Lucan on Jan 27, 2016 16:45:42 GMT -5
moimoi That's a sensitive analysis. I like it, and I think if I hear it more I won't hear Bush's voice competing with it so much.
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Post by nowimnothing on Jan 27, 2016 17:05:45 GMT -5
I may have to disagree on that Terrible Lie NIN cover, just too much wall of noise for me.
How about this:
I like the original ok, but getting rid of the synth and changing the tone to better fit the lyrics really worked some magic.
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Jan 29, 2016 9:27:52 GMT -5
Context: I'm very much against one man with an acoustic guitar singing songs, I instinctively recoil in hatred when I happen to be stuck within earshot of them BUT there are exceptions. One of these is Jonah Matranga, who I saw live for the first time around 10 years ago and the man has presence like no one else I've seen in this format. He was buddies with Deftones from his days touring alongside them in his band Far during the late 90s so he knows his way around this song. The result is a great cover version of an already great song. Great bunch of lad. All the best.
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Post by Hugs and Hisses on Jan 29, 2016 13:36:32 GMT -5
I read the comments, @patrickbatman, and I care deeply about what each and every one of us has to say. Or, um, something.
Meanwhile, there doesn't seem to be any easy way to link to it, but Chelsea Wolfe's contribution to that Eagles of Death Metal "Hey, Everyone, Cover 'I Love You All The Time'" Project is awesome. The original song is like a mild party. CW turns it into a killer, killer song full of pathos and hurt and longing and beauty. So, basically, she turned it into a Chelsea Wolfe song.
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Post by The Sensational She-Hulk on Jan 29, 2016 14:20:42 GMT -5
This isn't just one of my favorite covers of all time, it's probably one of my favorite songs of all time. I love Richie Havens - he imbued all his music with such warmth.
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moimoi
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Post by moimoi on Jan 29, 2016 23:26:54 GMT -5
Patrick Batman - another reason to like the Radiohead covers from that session is that they look like they're having so much fun.
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