Cover Songs....I hate them!

I know we have discussed cover tunes before but to me...I HATE THEM, I utterly cannot tolerate bands that do covers especially live bands...not only that thye are usally done poorley. If your capable enough to play an instrument you should be able to come up with your own tunes...I guess whatt set me off is I was on a break so I turned the TV on and there on MUch Music is Marilyn Masnon doing Depeche Modes Personal Jesus...I am not a DM but they definetly did it better....anyhow that's all I gotta say

You have to uderstand that writing good songs isnt as simple as being technically accomplished on an instrument when bands start out especially they play alot because they lack other material but when you are open to playing covers it makes doing an entire set much less strenous now in terms of big name people doing covers a think alot of it is crap for example Limp Bizkits version of Behind Blue Eyes when I heard that I got really angry but I thought Mansons versions of Sweet Dreams and Tainted Love kicked ass but i do agree that there are alot of crappy covers put there

usually a songs done in tribute to the band i probably would never of even heard of the pixies if it wasnt for placebos cover of where is my mind (that and them reforming and headlining every festival in existience)

i usually prefer the remakes because most bands (not all but some) add a new breath of life into it and modernise it, i love my classic rock and old bands like the cure and everything but to hear an old song revitalised (especially if i was around for the original) is always nice

when i think covers i do generally assume pop music/ pop groups because it's stereotypical to think of them as being unable to write new good songs...i think some covers are good and show that a group/artist can cross genres but unfortunately not all covers can be brilliant, especially if the first time round the song was deemed as bad...
still though, murderdolls "white wedding" is one of my favourite songs..and i originally liked billy idol's version.

I like covers...sometimes they turn out really good and give a song another life or personality...case in point The Who's "I can't explain" covered by David Bowie...great song made equally great in anothers hands.

The Leningrad Cowboys did an amazing LIVE cover of L.A. Woman and infused it with so much energy, life, and american pop culture it stands on it's own...same with their versions of Yellow Submarine and Sweet Home Alabama. The Cramps do all sorts of obscure covers and they sound amazing...

Covers can work really well...but those doing the cover need to ADD to not MIMIC the original version.

The meteors did a bitchin rad cover of the rawhide themesong which im listening to right now :D

I only like them when they are done with a totally new sound.

When they just try to copy the original, it sounds lame.
It has to be a totally new sound, style, pacing, etc...

Devo: "Can't Get No Satisfaction" is a good example.
Or Slayer doing "InnaGadaDavida".
Anthrax: "Bring tha Noise"

Some of the industrial tributes to AC/DC are cool.

But when a pop band just remakes the same song over again,
with the same style and pacing, it sounds lame...

i absolutely love well done (note the well done) covers and remixes and on occasion mash-ups (when they play two or sometimes more songs on top of each other usually getting the lyrics of one and the instrumentals of the other or such)

some of my all time faves:
shades apart:tainted love (on the xgames vol 1 sdtrk)
system of a down:metro(dracula 2000 sdtrk)
rammstein: stripped
reel big fish: hungry like the wolf(awesome cheesy big band/lounge singer cover, i laugh every time)
sometimes it is as simple as taking a song and modernizing it(a lot of 80's stuff especially) ... sometimes it is taking a song that is great to listen to on its own but not particularly good to dance to and making it club worthy sometimes it is taking a great song musically and adding to it raw emotions

now of course punk covers *most of the time* are just really fast cheesy covers and while some are alright most of the time i think they just crap.

i guess if you want to talk semantics covers SUCK b/c they are never ass good as the originals and if they are then congrats you just redid the original... remakes kick ass, you are adding something to them making them different in some way that makes them interesting.

kinda related: i am not particularly fond of acoustic versions.... not sure way i just always listend and say"not bad but i like the original better"

IMO. I think that covers are awesome, they are a total compliment to those who have wrote them originally... It is kinda like a living tribute to those who have gone before you and you have idolized for many years... The Cure have done it, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, 311 and many others... Not only are they doing covers of bands or performers that have passed but, they are also doing living tributes to those that live on... Hell even HIM has covered an old song I heard as a kid in the 70's, "Solitary Man"...

Gary Jules' "Mad World" is a really cool acoustic cover song...

If you like mellow stuff...

I really think it's case dependent. I really like the cover of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, done by The Suicide Machines... and I LOVE the Cure's cover of Hello, I Love You. There's some really crappy ones, too. But you can't really do anything about it, except not listen to them, can you? As long as people are convinced that a certain artist is cool, you'll have crappy covers by crappy artists.

there are some covers I think are great......... like Personal Jesus by Johnny Cash, but some songs I do prefer the original to, like Blue Monday is better as a New Order song than as an Orgy song. And I haven't heard the Manson version of Personal Jesus, but he's never done a cover I liked.

As someone mentioned about favorite covers here's mine
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover)
Mindless Self Indulgence - Bring the Pain (Wu Tang Clan cover)
Deadsy - Tom Sawyer (Rush Cover)
Rammstein - Pet Semetary (Ramones cover they did it live with gODHEAD)
Johnny Cash - Personal Jesus (Depeche Mode)

wow....cool folks...I was hoping this would be good....cool...I think it was the marilyn Manson video that set me of on a narrow view...actually I was hoping someone wouls say.."CPRB YOU FUCKING HYPOCRITE!!! In ANOTHER THREAD YOU MENTIONED A FEW COVERS YOU LIKED....."I Also like Th Jonhy Cash Cover of that NIN nails song....Hurt??? anyhow It's a great way to see what people have heard and seen....plus I wanted a new thread....

I dont really like covers much at least not on a cd album but I dont mind them played live I think its because hey everyone in the crowd already knows the words so it kind of usually brings in audience participation the worst cover I've ever heard is lulu's cover of david bowies the man who sold the world (it used to get played alot on the radio of my last job) I could have happily ripped my ears off and stuck them in a blender to that song

I like CoF cover of Iron madien. I hate most others but some songs can be improved...

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Originally Posted by hewhoisagod

Rammstein - Pet Semetary (Ramones cover they did it live with gODHEAD)

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NO SHIT? That's like my favorite Ramones song, and I love Rammstein! I had no fucking idea they did a cover of it! How awesome! I must seek it out immediately! AWESOME!

I hate them too. you are right.

I just love covers. I admit it. And, yeah, Johnny Cash's version of 'Hurt' nearly brought a tear to my eyes.
My favorite cover song is Haste's version of Bad Barins' 'No Conditions'. It's absolutely delirious. Not that I expect anyone here to know either...

... right? Right!?

Yet again... I haven't read any of the posts, except for the starting one.... (dammit, i've gotta do something about my lazyness :o )

I am a Depeche Mode fan, and I thought tha Manson's version of Personal Jesus was really good - but that's just a question of tastes (or me hearing the Depeche version way too many times :D and desperately needing a refresion). He also covered Tainted Love (looks like he's preparing for a Tribute to Darkwave Bands release :1orglaugh )

As for cover songs in general, I think as many times as they can sound terrible, the can sound even better than the original. For example The Kovenant covered Spaceman (originally by Babylon Zoo).

yeah, I like it when a band takes a song and totally redoes it in a completly different style, like Apop doing metallica's "nothing else matters" wasn't the greatest song ever, but I could appreciate it for what it was. I don't really car much for cover's that sound just like the original, they seem pointless, so in short, I don't mind covers, but I absolutlely hate it when people are too stupid to realise that a cover isn't an original, and even worse when that cover is the only "hit" by the band.

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NO SHIT? That's like my favorite Ramones song, and I love Rammstein! I had no fucking idea they did a cover of it! How awesome! I must seek it out immediately! AWESOME!

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If you're a Rammstein fan, you'll probably like their (accoring to them) biggest influence: Leibach (i'm not sure of the spelling, though). It's like a bit more electronic 'industrial march', as they refer to it. I just thought I'd let you know. Btw, although I can't say that I like any of the two bands, I have to admit that I like rammstein videos: the one with the wolves; and the one with snow white.

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Oh, and I forgot to mention (now that I've read the posts), like Sceptic_Messiah and TheDeathknight already said, covers can be good cause they give a new vibe to the song, refresh and modernise it.

Or perhaps the song was a poorly performed good idea (for any possible reason) and the people who covered it just couldn't let it go to waste. Or they just wanted to re-do it in their own style. Or they wanted to do a tribute to a strong influence of theirs. etc.


And as for the MOST BIZARRE cover I've ever heard of, I'd have to say that it's:

PAIN OF SALVATION covering SEPULTURA!!! Haven't listened to it though, but it's availible on their official site.

I don't know... have you heard william shatner doing lucy in the sky with diamonds?

Eric Cartman singing "come sail away" by Styx!!!!!!!!

lol

While on the subject, what do you think of tributes, such as Apocalyptica's 'Inquisition Symphony' ('Refuse/Resist' blows my mind!) or the String Tribute to Tool 'Third Eye Open' (not as well performed as Apocalyptica, but it covered Tool songs!)?

I like Apocalyptica tributes (i've only heard the ones to metallica & sepultura). Haven't heard any of their original stuff.

Their third album, "Cult", just kicks ass.