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The Best Coversongs


Farin

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Here's the 50 best cover versions of all time (well, until this year) as selected by Musikexpress.

I'm too lazy to copy all the descriptions/reasons for each song, if you want to know them for one, let me know :)

50. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) ~ Nouvelle Vague, 2006

(orig. Buzzcocks, 1978)

49. Life on Mars? ~ Seu Jorge, 2004

(orig. David Bowie, 1971)

48. Freiburg V3.0 ~ Console vs. Tocotronic, 2000

(orig. Tocotronic as "Freiburg", 1995)

47. Comfortably Numb ~ Scissor Sisters, 2004

(orig. Pink Floyd, 1979)

46. Jump ~ Aztec Camera, 1984

(orig. Van Halen, 1984)

45. Inside and Out ~ Feist, 2004

(orig. The Bee Gees, 1979)

44. Surf's Up ~ David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, 2001

(orig. Beach Boys, 1971)

43. Heartbeats ~ Jose Gonzalez, 2006

(orig. The Knife, 2002)

42. Ring of Fire ~ Wall of Voodoo, 1980

(orig. Johnny Cash, 1963)

41. Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime ~ The Field, 2009

(orig. The Korgis, 1980)

40. Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) ~ The Postal Service, 2004

(orig. Phil Collins, 1984)

39. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood ~ Santa Esmeralda, 1977

(orig. Nina Simone, 1964)

38. Free Man in Paris ~ Surfjan Stevens, 2007

(orig. Joni Mitchell, 1974)

37. Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon ~ Urge Overkill, 1992

(orig. Neil Diamond, 1967)

36. Light My Fire ~ Shirley Bassey, 1970

(orig. The Doors, 1967)

35. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath ~ The Cardigans, 1994

(orig. Black Sabbath, 1973)

34. Step On ~ Happy Mondays, 1991

(orig. John Kongos, 1971)

33. Black Magic Woman ~ Santana, 1970

(orig. Fleetwood Mac, 1968)

32. I Will Survive ~ Cake, 1996

(orig. Gloria Gaynor, 1978)

31. Killer / Papa Was a Rollin' Stone ~ George Michael, 1993

(orig. Adamski feat. Seal, 1990 / The Temptations, 1972)

30. Lost in the Supermarket ~ The Afghan Whigs, 1999

(orig. The Clash, 1979)

29. Yesterday Man ~ Robert Wyatt, 1974

(orig. Chris Andrews, 1965)

28. Everybody's Talking ~ Harry Nilsson, 1968

(orig. Fred Neill, 1966)

27. Gloria ~ Patti Smith, 1975

(orig. Them, 1964)

26. Song to the Siren ~ This Mortal Coil, 1983

(orig. Tim Buckley, 1970)

25. Summertime Blues ~ Blue Cheer, 1968

(orig. Eddie Cochran, 1958)

24. Under Pressure ~ Xiu Xiu feat. Michael Gira, 2008

(orig. Queen & David Bowie, 1981)

23. What a Wonderful World ~ Nick Cave & Shane MacGowan, 1992

(orig. Louis Armstrong, 1968)

22. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself ~ The White Stripes, 2003

(orig. Tommy Hunt, 1962 / Dusty Springfield, 1964)

21. Let's Stick Together ~ Bryan Ferry, 1976

(orig. Wilbert Harrison as "Let's Work Together", 1962)

20. Money (That's What I Want) ~ The Flying Lizards, 1980

(orig. The Beatles, 1963 / Barrett Strong, 1959)

19. Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There Is a Season) ~ The Byrds, 1965

(orig. Pete Seeger, 1959)

18. With a Little Help From My Friends ~ Joe Cocker, 1968

(orig. The Beatles, 1967)

17. Just Like Heaven ~ Dinosaur Jr., 1989

(orig. The Cure, 1987)

16. Respect ~ Aretha Franklin, 1967

(orig. Otis Redding, 1965)

15. The Man Who Sold The World ~ Nirvana, 1993

(orig. David Bowie, 1970)

14. Denis ~ Blondie, 1977

(orig. Randy & The Rainbows as "Denise", 1963)

13. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction ~ Devo, 1977

(orig. The Rolling Stones, 1965)

12. Killing Me Softly (With His Song) ~ The Fugees, 1996

(orig. Roberta Flack, 1973 / Lori Lieberman, 1972)

11. I Heard It Through The Grapevine ~ The Slits, 1979

(orig. Marvin Gaye, 1968)

10. Hounds of Love ~ The Futureheads, 2004

(orig. Kate Bush, 1985)

9. All Along The Watchtower ~ Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1968

(orig. Bob Dylan, 1967)

8. Superstar ~ Sonic Youth, 1994

(orig. Delaney & Bonnie as "Groupie [superstar]", 1969 / The Carpenters, 1971)

7. Black Steel ~ Tricky, 1995

(orig. Public Enemy as "Black Steel in the Hour of Darkness", 1988)

6. Hallelujah ~ Jeff Buckley, 1994

(orig. Leonard Cohen, 1984)

5. Nightclubbing ~ Grace Jones, 1981

(orig. Iggy Pop, 1977)

4. Hurt ~ Johnny Cash, 2002

(orig. Nine Inch Nails, 1994)

3. I Fought The Law ~ The Clash, 1979

(orig. The Crickets, 1959)

2. Tainted Love ~ Soft Cell, 1981

(orig. Gloria Jones, 1965)

1. Always On My Mind ~ Pet Shop Boys, 1987

(orig. Brenda Lee, 1972 / Elvis Presley, 1972)

Bonus: That's All Right ~ Elvis Presley, 1954

(orig. Arthur Crudup, 1946)

"Not his best work neither one of the 50 Best Covers ever - but: this new interpretation of a Delta-Blues classic officially marks the beginning of Rock'n'Roll.

It starts with the cover of another song."

PS I put the songs in a youtube playlist, thanks to certain record labels some are only live versions, but I tried to choose good quality ones (thanks Sony, UMG and co.) ;)

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Comfortably Numb ~ Scissor Sisters

This is one of the WORST covers of all time :thumbsdown:

Hallelujah ~ Jeff Buckley

I know this is the standard preferred cover, but I am in love with Rufus Wainwright's version. Allison Crowe's is good too.

I will immediately seek out for my ongoing covers project -

Inside and Out ~ Feist

Ring of Fire ~ Wall of Voodoo

Free Man in Paris ~ Surfjan Stevens

Light My Fire ~ Shirley Bassey

I Will Survive ~ Cake

Money (That's What I Want) ~ The Flying Lizard

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* Musikexpress Said:

Hallelujah ~ Jeff Buckley

I know this is the standard preferred cover, but I am in love with Rufus Wainwright's version. Allison Crowe's is good too.

Nothing against Jeff Buckley, but I also like Rufus' version better.

This list tends to favor the very bold covers that completely redid the song, which is good. I like that they put the Wall of Voodoo cover of "Ring of Fire" in there. In Dan's recent talk with their lead singer, he talked a lot about it:

Stan Ridgway interview

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This list tends to favor the very bold covers that completely redid the song, which is good.

that's what I like best about the list, tbh... I normally don't care for covers which sound almost the same as the original - what's the point of covering the song then?

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Covering a song is putting a cloak on it and yes, Martin . . .what's the sense?

Can't a band be original and make their own song?

But I have no right saying that because Aerosmith covered Yardbirds' Train Kept a Rollin'

But Aerosmith has a golden plethora of classic hits; some known and unknown -that were written by them.

It gets my goat when a band becomes famous solely from copying someone else's work.

Money is truly the root of all evil, especially regarding original music.

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All Along the Watchtower and RESPECT should be higher

Led Zep's You Shook Me & Babe I'm Gonna Leave You should be on there, same with Hound Dog by the King.

Cake's version of I Will Survive and Cardigan's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath both belong on a worst covers list. All the guy from Cake did was talk the entire song.

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All Along the Watchtower and RESPECT should be higher

Led Zep's You Shook Me & Babe I'm Gonna Leave You should be on there, same with Hound Dog by the King.

Cake's version of I Will Survive and Cardigan's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath both belong on a worst covers list. All the guy from Cake did was talk the entire song.

I like that it takes the focus a bit off Classic Rock

also Cake's version of I Will Survive rocks :rockon:

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50. Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) ~ Nouvelle Vague, 2006

(orig. Buzzcocks, 1978)

47. Comfortably Numb ~ Scissor Sisters, 2004

(orig. Pink Floyd, 1979)

45. Inside and Out ~ Feist, 2004

(orig. The Bee Gees, 1979)

32. I Will Survive ~ Cake, 1996

(orig. Gloria Gaynor, 1978)

10. Hounds of Love ~ The Futureheads, 2004

(orig. Kate Bush, 1985)

Here are five of the worst cover songs ever recorded :beatnik: They also picked one of Bryan Ferry's most mediocre covers; I think they probably just picked it out of a hat and it's doubtful they listened to more than just the one song they listed. "Like A Hurricane" (orig. by Neil Young) is a far, far, faaar better cover song from Roxy Music than "Let's Stick Together."

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Agreed. My favorite used to be Jeff Buckley's, but when I saw Leonard Cohen live, that was the best version of it I've ever heard. When he did it live, he reclaimed it from everyone. It's incredible.

wow, you saw him recently? :)

I saw him 20 years ago for the last time... and I saw him maybe 10 times before, so I got bored for awhile...

...but when he comes to Spain I'll see him again and ask him if he wants to marry me (I'm already married but anyways... )

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