Music Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

[James Demers]

Abba's "Dancing Queen" - but a very different take. Same lyrics, different message.

 

[James Demers]

Orig Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden.

 

[James Demers]

Disney's "Let It Go" from "Frozen"
I'll spare you the Cartoon Princess version; here's a Metal Queen's rocked-up version (turns out it's a pretty good song after all):

 

[jack action]

Disney's "Let It Go" from "Frozen"
I'll spare you the Cartoon Princess version; here's a Metal Queen's rocked-up version (turns out it's a pretty good song after all):

Oooh! You will love the version by The Iron Cross ...

It's on my playlist now and the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate the arrangement they've done to it.

 

[Hornbein]

Andreea Munteanu may be small, but no one has bigger attitude.



I was in Viet Nam for May Day, the big holiday, in a coastal resort town. Every day I walked by a greeting person outside a massage parlor who was about the size of Andreea Munteanu. She got tired of my ignoring her so one day she strutted up and full frontal full length bumped into big strong me. As sang Chrissie Hynde, "I gotta have some of your attention." I never forgot it. I suppose I never shall.

Here's the orig. I say, Gretchen step aside.

 

[Hornbein]

Matthew Sweet and Susannah Hoffs cover Linda Ronstadt's Different Drum. The highlight is Sweet's vocal harmony. His fashion sense needs work though.

 

[Hornbein]

"Going Down" - Freddie King​

Lots of guitar players think Freddie King was the real King of the Blues. I guess the problem was he was short on "social skills." He looks like someone you wouldn't dare mess with. BB was a lot more presentable.



Cover by Shoka Okubo and her kickass band.



Toshimichi Ōkubo was effectively dictator of Japan. He was assassinated in 1878. I wonder if there is a relation.

Ō means "big." Shoka is about as big as J women get.

 

[Hornbein]

Orig. Daydream Believer by The Monkees



Cover by 石嶺聡子. Great string/big band arrangement.



As long as we're at it, here's Robert Wyatt covering the Monkees' I'm A Believer. I like his Brit accent.

 

[Hornbein]

BOSTON - "Peace Of Mind" - KIDS Collaboration Cover​

 

[Ibix]

Just wanted to say thanks to @pinball1970 for starting this thread, and to all the people who've contributed. I've heard and enjoyed a lot of stuff I wouldn't have done without it.

 

[Hornbein]

Just wanted to say thanks to @pinball1970 for starting this thread, and to all the people who've contributed. I've heard and enjoyed a lot of stuff I wouldn't have done without it.

Yep. Radio has completely failed us. We gotta stick together and help each other find the good stuff.

 

[Hornbein]

I find this pretty cool but not weird and chaotic enough to reflect the state of society. So...

 

[robphy]

I really like this band... although I don't understand Japanese. I really like the solo of this song.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningen_Isu
NINGEN ISU / Great king of terror (人間椅子 / 恐怖の大王) - 2016

(someone's attempted translation)

solo &t=4m10s

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ningen_Isu

Ningen Isu (Japanese: 人間椅子, Hepburn: Ningen Isu, lit. 'The Human Chair') is a Japanese heavy metal band formed in Hirosaki in 1987. The band's current line-up consists of co-founders Shinji Wajima (guitar, vocals) and Ken-ichi Suzuki (bass, vocals) alongside Nobu Nakajima (drums, vocals), who joined in 2004. All three members contribute to the songwriting process. They have been noted for their stage personas, with Wajima dressing as a Meiji-era literary master, Suzuki dressing as a Buddhist monk, and Nakajima dressing as a Yakuza-style gangster.
...
...
Ningen Isu was strongly influenced by Black Sabbath.

Ningen Isu--- Great king of terror with english subtitles (solo near &t=3m40s)

---

【アクセントAccént】【鼓手ふみ】【人間椅子】『恐怖の大王』叩いてみた( Drum cover)
https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1at411j7nX/

人間椅子 「恐怖の大王」 ギター弾いてみた Guitar Cover


【Bass Cover.】恐怖の大王/人間椅子（NINGEN ISU / Great king of terror） - 青色壱号　一ノ瀬

 

[Hornbein]

The orig.

Voodoo Woman ~Koko Taylor​

Cover.



Why isn't this more famous? Very colorful lyrics.

 

[Hornbein]

Mixed Nuts - Official HIGE DANdism | SPY x FAMILY Opening full | Drum Cover



Jazz drummers love this song. Many of them covered it.

It's a TV theme song. If a musician in Japan wants to make it big a TV theme song is the ticket. So NHK rules the bigtime music scene. Jazz is associated with the noire jazz era when gangsters ruled Chicago.

 

[Hornbein]

Orig

Catfish Blues by Muddy Waters



Cover

 

[Hornbein]

Here's a possibly finished version. This was remarkably easy to do. Just put them together and everything matched up perfectly right off the bat. That's very unusual. The only thing I changed was moving Bjorn and Benny's now silent instrumental section so that Eddy's guitar solo is revealed. That went perfectly the first time, which is equally unusual. That was all. The whole thing took maybe twenty minutes.

This is with the proviso that I'm not satisfied with the quality of the vocal/instrumental splitting. I've asked the gearheads if they know of any such software that is better. Maybe yes, maybe no. It will take a day or two for them to respond.

 

[Hornbein]

 

[morrobay]

The Function at the Junction

 

[morrobay]

And original

 

[Ibix]

I rather like this recording of them:

I'm not sure it's really "better than the original", but the way they turn it back around after things go wrong is just perfect.

 

[Hornbein]

I'm not crazy about the orig by Bessie Smith, so here are two covers.





Plenty of others, BB, Freddy King, and Eric Clapton included.

 

[Hornbein]

I rather like this recording of them:

I'm not sure it's really "better than the original", but the way they turn it back around after things go wrong is just perfect.

Yep. Rock and roll is supposed to be fun.

 

[MotherMayhem]

Which songs were performed, arranged or produced better in a cover than the original version?
Which songs should have been left well alone?

Also, I think restricting the covers just to released singles will restrict some interesting stonkers and stinkers so album tracks are allowed.

Seether did Careless Whisper wayyyy better.



Maynard doing Rocketman was

 

[Hornbein]

George Michael, take that!

I like this Rocket Man. Kate Bush looks drunk. Been studying Marilyn Monroe.

 

[Hornbein]

 

[Hornbein]

Orig

Catfish Blues by Muddy Waters



Cover

By golly, Evan Nicole Bell herself corrected me. "orig by robert petway in 1941, then re-interpreted by muddy waters as "rollin' stone" in 1950. my 2023 version here takes inspiration from hendrix's 1967 recording - a true testament to keeping the blues alive!"

Here's Petway's version.

 

[Hornbein]

Cover of Tom Waits' Martha. How beautiful can music be?



Orig. He wrote this at age 24. "He was born old."

 

[robphy]

https://tonymacalpine.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_MacAlpine

MacAlpine was highly influential in the neoclassical metal genre, becoming known for his instrumental rock style of playing that displays highly advanced shred techniques;[13] one of his most oft-used techniques being 'sweep tapping', a variation of sweep picking. He has incorporated elements of classical, jazz, fusion, hard rock and heavy metal on both guitar and keyboard, and has been described as a virtuoso by Jason Ankeny at AllMusic.[14]

"Tears of Sahara" is track 3 of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Security_(Tony_MacAlpine_album)
George Lynch (from Dokken) contributed some solos.

During grad school in 1990s, I saw Tony MacAlpine perform in a bar in Chicago.

• (1987) Tony MacAlpine - Tears of Sahara - Official Clip (High Quality)
  
• (2012) Tony Macalpine - Tears of Sahara (KKZ Moskva, Moscow, Russia 23.03.2012) - Nili is playing along with Tony at &t=2m13s
  

---

(2008) Tears of Sahara - piano cover by yokojapan


(2018) Nili Brosh Plays Tony MacAlpine - "Tears of Sahara" FULL SONG [also see the 2012 video above]

(see also the cover of Van Halen's Girl Gone Bad in #776 and Eric Johnson's Cliffs of Dover in #1068 )

(2020) Tears Of Sahara - Tony MacAlpine (keyboard cover) by Pasquale Bubbico

(has some interesting covers of Paul Gilbert/Technical Difficulties , Marty Friedman/Megadeth Tornado of Souls , and Yngwie Malmsteen/Far Beyond the Sun)

(2023) Tears of Sahara by Tony MacAlpine - Cover Song/Collaboration Video - by Steve Stine et al.

• (Rick Beato 2021 interview) Tony MacAlpine: Shredding On Keys and Guitar

---

 

[robphy]

"I am a Viking" is a track #5 on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marching_Out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yngwie_Malmsteen
https://www.yngwiemalmsteen.com/

(see also #25 from Favorite Electric Guitar Rock Solos )

• (1984) Yngwie Malmsteen - I Am A Viking (live version) [Jeff Scott Soto on vocals]
  
  
  
  
• Yngwie J Malmsteen - I Am A Viking (2021 Remaster by Aaraigathor)

---

His Greatest Solo - Yngwie Malmsteen - I Am A Viking Cover - Steve Jeffrey


[Vocal & Guitar Cover] I am a Viking - Yngwie Malmsteen by 최영관의 워뮤밸[WMB]


I AM A VIKING - Alexios Anest feat. ASHA


I Am a Viking - Mezzo-soprano & Acoustic Guitar YJM Cover (Yet Another Superstrat)


Yngwie Malmsteen's "I am a Viking" (acoustic) - Ben Woods

(see also Ben Woods in Flamenco Guitars I AM A VIKING (Yngwie Malmsteen) Heavy Mellow )

---

• (Rick Beato 2023 interview) The Yngwie Malmsteen Interview