It seems every few months I come up with another idea for a list of things that I enjoy, or feel others would find interesting. During last year’s Blaugust, I made a list of 25 of my favorite Sega Genesis games, as the system’s 25th anniversary hit at that time. This year I don’t have a similar holiday-of-sorts to inspire this list, but having touched on a non-gaming related subject yesterday, I decided that I’d do the same today. This time instead of TV, we’re talking music and more specifically, cover songs. I combed through my entire music library to give you 15 of my favorite cover songs! I do have mostly punk and metal leanings, so this might not appeal to you all, but I know some of my readers enjoy similar music, and if nothing else it’s something to experiment with. Who knows, maybe I’ll introduce you to a new band. I have a knack for this sort of thing. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Here’s 15 awesome cover songs, in no particular order!
The Song: The Hanging Garden
By: AFI
Originally by: The Cure
The Video:
The Song: War Ensemble
By: As I Lay Dying
Originally by: Slayer
The Video:
The Song: War Pigs
By: Cake
Originally by: Black Sabbath
The Video:
The Song: Take This Job and Shove It
By: Dead Kennedys
Originally by: David Allen Coe
The Video:
The Song: Sail
By: Devildriver
Originally by: AWOL Nation
The Video:
The Song: TNT
By: Dynamite Boy
Originally by: AC/DC
The Video:
The Song: Supertouch/Shitfit
By: Hatebreed
Originally by: Bad Brains
The Video:
The Song: I Turn to You
By: Machinae Supremacy
Originally by: Melanie C
The Video:
The Song: Tainted Love
By: Marilyn Manson
Originally by: Soft Cell
The Video:
The Song: Minor Threat
By: Pennywise
Originally by: Minor Threat
The Video:
The Song: Imagine
By: A Perfect Circle
Originally by: John Lennon
The Video:
The Song: Danger Zone
By: Psychostick
Originally by: Kenny Loggins
The Video:
The Song: In My Eyes
By: Rage Against The Machine
Originally by: Minor Threat
The Video:
The Song: Dyers Eve
By: Revocation
Originally by: Metallica
The Video:
The Song: American Nightmare
By: Tiger Army
Originally by: Misfits
The Video:
What do you guys think about cover songs? Do you think they can improve on the originals, or do they ruin them? Do you think people copy songs because they love them or because they want to make a quick buck on someone else’s hard work? Let me know in the comments.
Me Vs. Myself and I 
I’m just going to cop out and say some cover songs are good and some not so. There’s always room for improvement and I think it’s a little of column a, a little from column b when copying and making a derivative work.
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As someone who has been in a band and performed covers, I think it’s a bit of both as well, though I always felt like covers tend to be better, as music production gets better over the years.
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I love me some good covers! Some of my favorite songs are coveres. I will definitely have to check some of these out.
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I like the Cake cover of War Pigs but5 also listen to the Faith No More cover as well.
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I’m always surprised that some song that I hear and love is a cover. At first it feels like a kind of a betrayal, that they aren’t dedicated enough to write their own music, but I have to admit that there are some great covers out there.
I do tend to like songs or albums that are covered in different music styles, like Easy Star All-Stars covering Pink Floyd or the Beatles.
I used to be a diehard “covers suck!” kind of person, but obviously that has softened a lot. I can think of 4 covers off the top of my head that I absolutely love:
Johnny Cash -> NiN’s “Hurt” – waaaaay better than the original imo
Halestorm -> Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”
The Tea Party -> Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black”
Spiderbait -> Ram Jam’s “Black Betty”
Great post!
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No. Nine Inch Nails’ version is still superior to Cash’s despite loving me some Cash. NiN is a favorite of mine though.
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Cover songs are tricky, sometimes I find them amazing and other times I feel like the original is being butchered. Me First and the Gimme Gimme do some very fun covers, I usually like them. Tori Amos and Voltaire have both done lovely covers as well. I love Rasputina’s cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and “Brand New Key(The Rollerskate Song).” I very much enjoy Metallica’s older covers, and the ones on Garage Inc. I like Peter, Paul, and Mary’s cover of “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”
Other songs aren’t springing to mind, but I know they exist. It’s hardest to convince me if the cover is either too similar or too different from the original. Unless the cover itself is of amazing quality, there’s a balance it needs to strike for me to enjoy it.
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Yeah this is why I only came up with 15 songs out of a library of 6,000. I also only stuck to music I own as opposed to every cover out there. These fit my taste and are fun.
I forgot about Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They have done some great stuff.
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No Muppets’ Bohemian Rhapsody. FAILED LIST!
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Like, I don’t want to be rude and just ignore or delete this comment so I’ll just say
NO.
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