Viewing Thread:
"Cover Versions - Good or Bad?"

I love the new H-Blockx Cover of "The Power" (originally by Snap). I was talking to a friend of mine about it. His attitude was that bands that cover songs are akin to vultures. It made him cross that decent songs were being ripped off to fund some other band.

So it got me thinking. I get cross when a song I like gets covered and "ruined by the artist that are doing the cover". For example, I love the song "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King, and it still grates on my ear every time I hear the John Lennon version (but then I don't really like anything John Lennon did after he left the Beatles).

maybe I have double standards. I love some cover versions but I get cross when a favorite song of mine gets 'ripped off' by someone else.

Thinking about it I decided that you can put all coverversions into three groups.

1. Cover versions which are recorded as close to the orininal as possible. i.e Tribute versions
examples: Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman - Something Stupid, Sterophonics - Handbags and Gladrags

2. Cover versions that are rerecorded with no major changes to the song but in the style of the covering artist. 'rip-offs'
examples: - Madonna - American Pie,

3. Cover versions where the original song had a 'new twist' on it. Where the new artist has expressed their own art in the song.
examples: Queen Adrina - Joline, Tori Amos - Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Although it is to some extent down to your own opinon as to which of these catagories a cover song will fall. And people will always be influenced by how much they liked the original song and the new artist.

It might just come down to are you to lame to write any songs yourself or are you having a laugh with the song.

I guess the really telling point is if the original artist likes the new cover version.

Ros

Mattyboy wrote:
> Best cover version Ive heard is Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams (are
> made of this)

Yeah that was good, have to say All Along the WAtchtower is the textbook 'good cover', also Gareth Gates' Unchained Melody and Atomic Kitten's Eternal Flame.

Lol, only joking. BTW, just how stupid (/Scouse) are AK? I heard they went to McDonalds and asked for a cheeseburger without the cheese. Maybe they just listen to Steve Penk when they're in London.

P.S. Smooth Criminal was good, by Alien Ant.

Best cover version Ive heard is Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams (are made of this)

Cover versions = laziness.

Covers can be good. Was at a local dive a week back and this band covered 'Unity' by Operation Ivy. That ruled a lot. Some cover versions you just think "christ, write something for yourself you twit", or you just think they're really bad compared to originals.

Henry Rollins (used to be the singer in Black Flag) is releasing an album of Black Flag covers that will be performed by Rollins Band, but each song will have a different vocalist. That sounds like a good album. The proceeds are going to the West Memphis 3 ( www.wm3.org ) and confirmed artists include Corey Taylor (I think... it's the Slipknot guy who is also in Stone Sour...?), Jim Lindberg of Pennywise, Tim Armstrong and Lars of Rancid, Exene Cervenka of X and Original Sinners and probably some others I forgot... Anyway, sometimes covers are good, sometimes they are bad. It's all down to personel preference, but when some pop 'star' (I use the term loosely) covers a song just because they not talented enough to write their own material then they suck...

In my opinion anyhow.

Difficult to define a good cover because, as ever, it's down to personal taste. However, the generic "bad cover" is when a band have done it simply to make shut-loads of money from releasing it or where they have techno-ed it up adding computery beep'n'meeps.

Damn good covers:

Counting Crows - We're Only Love ; Better than the original.
Counting Crows - The Ballad Of El Goodo ; Bloody awesome
Counting Crows - Private Archaepeligo ; Again, bloody awesome.
Counting Crows - Poncho and Lefty ; Done acoustically, this song rocks.
Counting Crows - The Ghost In You ; Best version is in the Clueless soundtrack. Sincere sounding. Mexcellenté

Hmmm... all Crows. Bah, cannae be arised to think of any others. Meh. Covers rule if they're done well. Which is a stupid thing to say as "well" varies from person to person. I should stop typing. Babbley. Damn sugar overload. Neenaw.

pop to rock works very well.

examples : Feelings, The Offspring
papa don't preach, Kelly Osbourne

rock to pop... erm...

Time of your Life, Darius

lol

There are very few decent covers, with the exception being All Along The Watchtower by Hendrix.

I find that the thing that annoys me most of all about this is that, a vast majority of the people buying these records don't have a clue who wrote the song originally, mainly because nobody bothers to mention it.

Covering songs went on all the time back in the day, but it was done with a modicum of respect for the songwriters talent, and no attempt was made to 'cover' who's song they were performing. Take for example the old crooner Mr. Neil Diamond. I read somewhere that around one third of the songs (that he wrote) have been covered at some point, some a lot more than others.

To name a few;

I'm a Believer
Sweet Caroline
Red Red Wine
Girl, You'll be a Woman Soon

Now, the people that covered these songs might not be you're cup of tea, but you've got to admit that Elvis Prestley, U2, UB40, Julio Iglesias, Pearl Jam, Cliff Richard, Frank Sinatra and so on are hardly lightweights.

The fact that most kids watched Shrek and thought that either Smashmouth featuring Eddie Murphy wrote I'm a Believer, or at best could remember the EMF with Vic Reeves thing, never mind The Monkees,

This is what annoys the hell out of me. A cover version can be good, rather than an exploitive way of making quick money from 12yr old kids that will have no idea about the origins song until their parents tell them. A cover version now forms part of the separation process between a musician and a corporate entertainer, a music machine puppet.

Atomic Kitten suck

Like most who have already posted I like covers when the artist offers something of their own or actually performs it the way the song should be performed. There are a lot of great songs that many people have sung and all worth listening too. Sadly at the same time there are a lot of awful covers out there, and people who sing them just for the guaranteed good sales. People like Gareth Gates, Will Young, Atomic Kitten and so on seem to be singing the most popular listened to songs just because people buy them - silly people.

Soon every song in the charts will be a cover, karaoke is what the pop music industry is at the moment.
Thank God there are original bands, with original music and decent covers out there still.

Sorry I meant 'I remember..'

But you've heard it so thats cool.