Songs where the cover is better than the original by the widest margin.

Certainly right at the top

 

Speaking of Phil Collins/Genesis songs, Nonpoint does a good version of In the Air Tonight

 

Pennywise-Land Down Under

Devo-Satisfaction

XTC-All Along the Watchtower

 

Those are close but I think SRV killed Little Wing

 

I'm prolly gonna catch some shit for this but I like Halestorm's "Get Lucky" better than the original.


Oh, and any of the Rockabye Baby versions are better than the originals. All you hard-rocking fathers out there will surely agree.

 

Oh oh oh! Can't forget Sheryl Crow's version of Sweet Child o Mine

 

LOL.


As for The Ramones? Ugly.

 

This immediately came to mind when I read the thread title.

 

Foo Fighters cover of Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty

 

I don't know about that! As a New Englander, I find that The Modern Lovers' original recording of Road Runner with its references to AM radio, Rt. 128 and Stop & Shop is damn near the State Anthem of Massachusetts.
On the other hand, David Bowie did a slick cover of The Modern Lovers' Pablo Picasso.

 

My response was to compare Jimi and Stevie. Hendrix was innovative, while Stevie mastered the subtlety. Jimi introduced us to new women, and SRV revealed their souls and their sensuality.
The Dixie Chicks polished Landeslide to a shine, which surpassed the the Welsh Witch's version. The nuances of Natalie Maines voice make it 'more appealing', whilst Emily and Martie made me wish I was younger, better looking, smarter, wealthier, and more socially adept ... (Other than that, I am good !)
Who said 'The first cut is the deepest' ?

 

Agreed. I don't need an old guy talking over an acoustic guitar.

 

Eurythmics "Here Comes the Rain Again" Hypnogaja

 

"In a Gadda Da Vida" Iron Butterfly
"Abolish Government" T.S.O.L (for dave k)
Slayer's version of both

 

Slapshot doing "White Rabbit"
Ozzy doing "Working Class Hero"
Rage Against The Machine doing "Renegades of Funk" as well as "Maggie's Farm"
Seven Seconds version of "If The Kids Are United"

 

This one kind goes against the "better" but Mark Kozelek covering Celebrated Summer. The original is almost perfect but Kozelek does it differently and kills it.

Anthrax also does a great cover of this one as well.

 

Yeah, I remember the original (I grew up in Mass), heard it on WAAF and COZ when they were good.

Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole. And a Repo Man is always intense.

 

I didn't read the rest of the thread, so this may have been covered. I'm certain I'm going to take a shelling for it, but here goes...

Hendrix wrote some unbelievable music, and is definitely in the top 10 guitarists ever, but he probably shouldn't have sung a lot of it.

I can think of like five Hendrix covers that were legendary. Leading the list is probably Little Wing. My favorite is probably the one that Clapton/Winwood recorded live but Clapton/Derek and the Dominoes killed it a bunch of times. Also, SRV figured out that the guitar was so good it didn't need words, and he was right.

Speaking of SRV, he blew the lid off VooDoo Chile. I can't even believe that Jimi would argue if he could have heard it.

This will get some people fired up, but John Mayer did an incredible version of Bold as Love with Trio. It's only three dudes, and better than the original.

 

Got the time (Joe Jackson) redone by Anthrax.

 

Santana - Black Magic Woman
Allman Bros - Statesboro Blues
CSN&Y - Woodstock
Yes - America, probably not any better than the original, different orchestration
I always like Mott the Hooples cover of Sweet Jane, though I much prefer the intro by Steve Hunter on Lou Reed's original
Van Halen - You really got me
Aerosmith - Train Kept a Rollin
Lindsey Sterling & Pentatonix - Radioactive
Walk off the Earth - Someone I used to Know