Covers better than originals...

[Liam]

Yeah, so pretty straight forward.....cover songs that you think do a better job of a song you already liked.

I'll list some when I have a think.

[GhostMachine]

Only one I can think of is Alien Ant Farm's version of Smooth Criminal.

There are plenty of covers that I liked where I hated the original, though.

[YI]

"Running Up That Hill" by Placebo (Originally by Kate Bush)

"Wait" by Death Cab For Cutie (Originally by The Secret Stars)

Pretty much everything on "Keasbey Nights" by Streetlight Manifesto (Originally by Catch 22) (BEST EXAMPLE OF THIS...seeing as Keasbey Nights is probably my favourite 2 ska-punk albums of all time )

"Rooftops" by Alkaline Trio (Originally by Hot Water Music)

"Radio" by Hot Water Music (Originally by Alkaline Trio)

"Bitches Aint Shit" by Ben Folds (Originally by Dr Dre)

"Another Girl, Another Planet" by Bell X1 (Originally by The Only Ones)

Edited January 9, 2007 by Steve Mandela

[PkmnTrainerJ]

Lithium by Polyphonic Spree, originally Nirvana.

[NobBe Nobbs]

Whiskey In The Jar by Metallica (originally by Thin Lizzy)

[Liam]

The two I think of when I started this are Between The Buried And Me's version of "The Day I Tried To Live" (originally by Soundgarden)...I'm not sure why, just something about it, and A Perfect Circle's "The Nurse Who Loved Me" (originally by Failure)....this one primarily because I prefer Keenan's voice on it.

I'm sure I have more, but thats all I can think of for the time being.

[GhostMachine]

Whiskey In The Jar by Metallica (originally by Thin Lizzy)

[YI]

I love Between The Buried & Me's, "The Day I Tried To Live"....but I've never heard the original. In fact, I've heard very few of the origals on "The Anatomy Of".

[R.W.]

Oooh, good question Liam. For me, it would be.........

"Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by David Gray (original by Soft Cell)

"Better Be Home Soon" by Kasey Chambers (original by Crowded House)

"Feeling Good" by Muse (original by Nina Simone, non-musical anyway)

[Iain76er]

Whiskey In The Jar by Metallica (originally by Thin Lizzy)

Whiskey In The Jar is a fairly old song. Pretty sure someone else did it before Thin Lizzy.

I know Roger Whittaker has done a version of it. I know because I was forced to listen to that shit when I was a kid.

[Liam]

"Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" by David Gray (original by Soft Cell)

Yeah, there's another one for me. Excellent cover of a song I quite like....Gray's version is just that bit much better for me.

[The Future]

Another Brick In The Wall-Korn

Whiskey in the Jar-Metallica

[Rashid]

My favorite version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is probably the one Eric Clapton did. Then I would say Bob Dylan's original, then the GnR version.

[Dr. Rated-R]

Chris Cornell's acoustic cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". It's a different song entirely. Sheer awesomeness.

Nirvana's cover of "The Man Who Sold The World", originally by Bowie. I like both, but I prefer the cover.

There's two.

Edit - And Buckley's "Hallelujah" goes without saying, I think. ^_^

Edited January 9, 2007 by The Rated-R Superstar

[GhostMachine]

My favorite version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is probably the one Eric Clapton did. Then I would say Bob Dylan's original, then the GnR version.

[Guest Pringle]

Sargant Fury - Eagle [Orignal done by ABBA]

[Olive the other Jiberdeer]

Another Brick In The Wall-Korn

Whiskey in the Jar-Metallica

[King Ellis]

I've always liked A1's cover of Take On Me more than the a-ha original.

[Skummy]

Yeah, as has been said, plenty of bands had recorded Whiskey In The Jar before Thin Lizzy. I believe The Dubliners recorded the earliest version of it, that I'm aware of at least, but plenty of other bands recorded it pre-Thin Lizzy, too. Personally, my favourite version that I've heard is the Pogues & Dubliners duet version.

More on topic, though, I adore The Pogues' "Dirty Old Town", originally by Ewan MacColl, and The Pogues version is certainly bette. I also love, on a related note, Nick Cave's "Rainy Night In Soho", originally by The Pogues. In fact, every Nick Cave cover version other than his abysmal "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is fantastic, and all of originally good songs, with the exception of "In The Ghetto", in which case only Cave's version is worth a mention. How many of them are better than the originals, I'm not sure, though. Possibly just "Wanted Man" and "The Singer". I would say "Stagger Lee", but I haven't heard enough earlier versions to judge.

Napalm Death's "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" has a place in my heart, especially the live version. I don't know if I'd say it's better than the original, though.

Edited January 10, 2007 by Skummy

[alldaws1]

Maxeen - Murder By Numbers, originally by The Police. I heard the cover first, loved it, listened to the original, really liked it but preferred the cover.