Best Cover Songs/Versions Ever?

Boys of Summer- Don Henley
Remix- DJ Sammy

Husker Du covering Eight Miles High, by the Byrds.

Here's a few to get us started -- these are not necessarily all mine - my friends sent me a lot of these:

Husker Du - "Eight Miles High" cover by - (Byrds)

Johny Cash - "Hurt" cover by (original by Nine Inch Nails)

Richard Thompson - "Oops I Did it Again" (original - oh please, you know who)
Social Distortion - "Ring of Fire" (Johny Cash)
Siouxsie & the Banshees - Dear Prudence (Beatles)
Sisters of Mercy - Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones)
Marilyn Manson?- Like a Virgin (Madonna)

Iz - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Run D.M.C. - Walk This Way
Sonic Youth - Superstar (From the Carpenters Tribute Album)
Rufus Wainwright did a cover of Hallelujah on the Shrek Soundtrack that was good

Nostalgia 77 covering Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes

Ocean Blue doing "There is a Light that Never Goes Out" by the Smiths

Dwight Yoakam!"

Dwight Yoakam doing 3 covers: I Want You to Want Me , Train in Vain, Suspicious Minds

Hey there X!

Funny, we posted the same song near the same time.

Right back to that synchronicity thang.

"Wild Horses," by Mazzy Star, originally the Stones.

IMO, Johnny Cash covering "Rowboat" by Beck was one of the coolest things he ever did. He was ancient by then , but showed what great sensibilities he had.

(Sup, EM ? Welcome back.)

Another Brick in the Wall pt.2--Korn (originally by Pink Floyd)
All Along the Watchtower --Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan)

Yeah this is all I've got right off the top of my head. I don't usually like cover songs all that much anyway.

A few years back(2000? or so?), someone did a decent sort of techno-rap remake of "Pusher" by Steppenwolf.

I really like it, but haven't been able to find it anywhere. Anyone happen to know who did that one?

For the record, I agree a lot of covers suck. On the other hand, once in awhile an artist takes a song and just does a whole new great thing with it.

The Ramones cover album has some decent tracks.

Have you guys ever heard "Dub Side of the Moon" ?

That is killer.

Ok, I will check it out-- I found the artist--

Easy Star All Stars - Dub Side of the Moon

There's some really good Mashups (mixes of 2 or more songs) out there. Some you only seem to hear in the club or on a particular radio station.

Perhaps that is a different thread.

For example, some killer mashups I've heard:

Green Day vs Oasis - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
50 Cent vs Nine Inch Nails - Up in the Club mixed with Closer

I've heard several Nirvana songs remixed by trance djs--some of those were pretty killer but I think I'd have to search hard on the net to find some of those...

Anyone else know some good mashups? (I think this is a separate category, so I'll start a new thread on that)

I've heard quite a few newish covers of Come Together (Beatles) that sound pretty darn good. (No, not Aerosmith's version, though that wasn't bad either)

A few of my favorites

Manson's cover of Tainted Love
20th Century Boy covered by Drain...was an old T Rex song
Faith No More's version of Easy by the Commodores
and what Dre did with "Miss You" by the Stones

Good un's.

Lenny Kravitz - American Woman

Eric Burdon & The Animals did a helluva cover of the Stone's Paint it Black

And thinking about cover versions, I doubt any song has been covered more often - sometimes well, sometimes not so well - than Leonard Cohen's Suzanne ... and his Bird on a Wire is right up there too.

Agree with timber's Anmal/Burdon nomination, and add:

Michelle by the Overlanders (original by the Beatles)

Fantastic song, good pick.


Now that I found You- The Foundations
Redone by Alison Krauss

The Starland Vocal Band (Afternoon Delight) did an ultra down-and-dirty version of Black Sabbath's Sweet Leaf!

And Zamfir's (Professor of Pan-Pipe) remake of Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine is a genius of musical landscapes!