Best Cover Songs of All Time

[Haiku Elvis]

I love me some Bacharach & David.
Two versions of Walk on by.
It's tight but I'd call it a score draw with the Stranglers taking it on the away goals rule.

 

[aco175]

Bad wolves "Zombie" was pretty good.

Miley Cyrus' "Zombie was not.

At least Miley tried, unlike Madonna butchering this classic.

I was originally going to nominate this cover by the Bangles of the Simon and Garfunkel song.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Worst Cover I can recall: Jane’s Addiction, “Sympathy For The Devil”

Best? Well, I’ll just list some greats that haven’t been mentioned, yet.

Blondie “The Tide Is High”
Witney Houston “I will always love you”
Duran Duran “Perfect Day”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Love Rollercoaster “
Orchestra Obsolete “Blue Monday”
ELP “Mars, Bringer of War”
Deodato “Also Sprach Zarathustra“
Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal”
Joe Satriani “Sleepwalk”
Killswitch Engaged “Holy Diver”
Run DMC (with Aerosmith) “Walk This Way”
Anthrax “Bring The Noise”
Follow For Now ”Channel Zero”
Aerosmith “Come Together”
Massive Attack “Man Next Door”
Motley Crüe “Helter Skelter”

 

[Mannahnin]

How about Tricky's version of Black Steel?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another BAD one: UB40 “Red Red Wine”

Antother good one: Elton John “Lucy In The Skies With Diamonds”

 

[Hastati]

Always been a huge fan of this:

 

[payn]

Not a good one...

 

[James Gasik]

I'm here for Al.

 

[Willie the Duck]

5 seconds in I was thinking you were punking me, 30 seconds later I was omg most awesome thing I’ve heard today…but wtf with the clown suit

Same reason Sia used to do the face-hiding thing - he doesn't look like what people think a music star should look like, and it is an interesting hook. He's like 6'8" or something and looks like he should be manning the sound board for the musician instead of being the musician (or Drew Carey's comedic wingman).

Puddles is probably my least favorite PMJ collaborator, personally. I know a lot of people love him though. Haley Reinhardt tends to sing some of my favorite PMJ covers.

I love PMJ. I don't normally do celebrity crushes, and she and I are both married, but in a hypothetical world I'd marry Morgan James just to listen to her voice (and Sarah Neimitz can by my hypothetic daughter, yes I know they're like 12 years apart in age, don't question it, it's imaginary).

"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, which many people don't realize is a cover.

Another musical voice-crush. I think she gave this song a lot of weight, but I know some others who prefer the original.

On the other hand George Thorogood is really unhappy that a cover band gets more gigs playing "Bad to the Bone" than he does.

Wait, the guy who got famous for his rendition of Bo Diddley's Who Do You Love? complains about cover bands stealing his thunder? Irony abounds!

Funny enough, The Times They Are a-Changin' by Phil Collins is my favorite version of that song. So I can't argue with you lol.

Phil took a lot of flack for Genesis's 80s pop turn* and for daring to make easy-listening music, but the man clearly has amazing technical knowledge surrounding the making of music.
*which honestly was in the works at the end of the Gabriel ear. Genesis's turn at experimental art-rock had run its' course.

 

[Ryujin]

Not a good one...

Yeah, I like the version that The Headstones did much better.