Comparing covers to the original

I remeraber seeing a thread when I first joined that was about covers. Problem is that it was only a list and didn't really compare the original to the cover. I'd like to have a chance to discuss how the cover affected the original. Did the cover artist stay true to the original? Maybe change it and somehow improve it? Did they rape it and leave it for dead in a ditch? With the wonderful ability to erabed Youtube videos, I think we can enjoy this thread even more.


First, I'd like to talk about Breadfan.

Originally by Budgie in 1973.
[YOUTUBE]54H3EUAzpVg[/YOUTUBE]
Covered by Metallica in 1988
[YOUTUBE]wqTRWvmHB5Y[/YOUTUBE]

I think that Metallica stayed true to the song. The Metallica version has a slightly faster feel and Hetfield's vocals are a bit rougher, but these are expected with the nature of Metallica's sound at the time.



Next up is Hurt.

Originally by Nine Inch Nails in 1994
(not an official video. This is the only studio version I could find on youtube)
[YOUTUBE]g0bZtf5MCzY[/YOUTUBE]
Covered by Johnny Cash in 2002
[YOUTUBE]SmVAWKfJ4Go[/YOUTUBE]

My opinion is that Johnny Cash improved the song and added a level of depth and passion. I'm not saying that it is necessarily better, but Cash took it and made it his. He didn't settle for making a Nine Inch Nails song, he only used their worRAB and beat and gave the song a new life.


Last up is American Pie.


Originally by Don McClean in 1971.
(its best to not watch the crappy video when listening to the song.)
[YOUTUBE]obiXDx6XU-c[/YOUTUBE]
Covered by :eek: Madonna (I think I just threw up a little) in 2000
[YOUTUBE]gkvpuOebd88[/YOUTUBE]


I'd like to say that the Madonna version had some good qualities but I just can't. Its no shock that I'm not a fan of this version. I can't think of anyone that really is. It was a well done folk rock song in its original form, but Madonna turned it into a horrible pop/dance song.
 
the way i see it there are 3 ways to cover songs and you provide examples of all three. a copy / a personal take / a professional take

metallica did a straight copy. sure it's a little faster and a little rougher but still so close to the original that there's not much difference.

johnny cash didn't really improve on 'hurt' so much as record a personalized version. if anything rick rubin deserves far more credit for the end of johnny cash's career than the man himself. if it weren't for rubin pushing him to cover modern rock tunes i'm willing to bet most young people would have been saying 'who? / so...' when he died.

madonna's cover is a straight career move. hardly the first time a past radio hit gets reworked with a beat box. it's why disco lasted longer than a summer. i always hated that song, at least madonna has great tits when you drop the volume.

in any event the original artist usually does win out once their song is covered and released as a single whether it's a copy or crap. no one releases a cover of a single that's still getting airplay, so it will still draw indirect attention to the original song and group regardless of the quality of the cover.
 
^And on the topic of The Fall versus...
I'll forgive you your taste with Soft Cell Urban, if only for The Fall's cover of 'There's A Ghost In My House'....just don't upload that B-Side!
 
Original

[YOUTUBE]r_6CN_HXek8[/YOUTUBE]

Cover

[YOUTUBE]PYhGi65Lijg[/YOUTUBE]

I'm a Motley Crue fan, but I don't think they did this song justice. When I hear the Brownsville Station version, I can actually imagine smokin (or tokin) in the school bathroom. The Motley Crue version just makes me imagine thinking about it without the balls to actually do it.
 
"Big City Nights"

The Scorpions (Original):
[YOUTUBE]ax8ljCbh8y4[/YOUTUBE]

Fozzy (cover):
[YOUTUBE]kDNjKG_DUNQ[/YOUTUBE]

Fozzy's cover is better.

edit: links work, my youtube tags are probably wrong?
 
Joy Division- Shadowplay
[YOUTUBE]1o8noZIfO1M[/YOUTUBE]

The Killers- Shadowplay
[YOUTUBE]3cPpKYY3uVs[/YOUTUBE]


the killers did a good cover and made it danceable, but it can't hold a candle to the orignal.
 
Original
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Cover

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Cover 2

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Cover 3.........WTF?

[YOUTUBE]JnrA6-bgkFk[/YOUTUBE]


I know there are more, but I'm only going with these 3.
 
I see what you're trying to do there, you selectively picked a subpar Kinks performance to make your band look better, nice try.

I'd rather compare the cover to the original song, as in the studio version.

And other than the vocals being considerably worse The Fall version dosen't seem very different from it.

The Kinks ftw.
 
I'm not sure about that. True that most people knew him for Hurt and its one of his best songs (which is even more remarkable since it was one of his last) but the live albums in the 60's were good enough for him to be recognised as a brilliant artist in his own right and i still think he would have been remeraber fondly for them.
 
Big Star "Thirteen"
[YOUTUBE]Rl09w91aLYw[/YOUTUBE]

Elliott Smith "Thirteen"
[YOUTUBE]YpgjAMahdko[/YOUTUBE]

They're not too different aside from Elliott's version having one guitar but I think Elliott's version provided an intimacy that is absent in Big Star's version which adRAB a more honest level to the song and since its so simple it works so much better.
 
This one has always stumped me as I could never actually remeraber whose was the cover & whose was the original.

I know it's a Mary Chain song now.

[YOUTUBE]JZrN1YDus4E[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]vCBSOAYnUFc[/YOUTUBE]

Don't ask me which I like better.
 
Heavy flow this month?


Why Atreyu should be legally forbidden from performing covers.


Faith No More: Epic
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That was awful. I wonder if Atreyu thought it sounded good.

Bon Jovi: You Give Love A Bad Name
[YOUTUBE]GccfzxHIXaY[/YOUTUBE][YOUTUBE]Szjv8DjD1rE[/YOUTUBE]

It was bad enough by Bon Jovi, then Atreyu came up with the great idea of covering it.

I think Atreyu should stick to making their own shitty songs. Stop fucking up other peoples music.
 
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