Yeah, that actually occured to me right after I hit post. Find a live version. He usually didn’t take the mariachi with him.
I’m not sure who the artist is, but in the movie Spin, someone did a slow acoustic version of Iron Maidens The Number of the Beast, which I thought was great.
I also love the Tori Amos version of Slayers Raining Blood. Fantastic take on it.
Speaking of Tori Amos cover songs…
I was at one of her concerts, many years back, when she started tinkling away this chiming little tune on her piano and singing along to it.
I had NO clue what the heck it was, which surprised me since I was a huge fan of hers at the time (back in the Little Earthquakes/Under the Pink days). I don’t think anyone else in the crowd knew what it was until she got to the chorus, which she continued to sing in her oh-so-melodious, sweet-voiced Tori Amos way,
“With the lights out it’s less dangerous
Here we are now entertain us
I feel stupid and contagious
Here we are now entertain us…”
And suddenly it dawned on me that I was listening to Tori Amos doing Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. Weirdness supreme, but it just… worked.
On a more modern note, The Corrs recently covered Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” on some Fleetwood Mac tribute album and did a really good job of it.
The best version of Smells Like Teen Spirit is the They Might Be Giants version.
And anyone interested in awesomeness needs to listen to The Pillows cover of Video Killed the Radio Star. Right. Now.
Funniest cover was the “Chant” cover of it. It was on some comp of gregorian chat style covers of various songs. It’s great to pull that out in an ambient set where everyone is spacing out until one person in the room busts up laughing when they realize what it is.
It’s available on the “Crucify” EP.
It’s actually a great EP, and the only thing by Tori Amos I own. It has Winter, which is a great song, Crucify, and also covers of Zeppelin’s “Thank You” and the Stones’ “Angie.”
Speaking of “Smells like teen spirit” covers, ever hear it played by a brass orchestra? A student orchestra here played it at a “new-student” reception dinner I attended back in september, and it rocked.
I like the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover of “Search and Destroy.” Not great, but their instruments sound even more outta tune!
Cash’s “Hurt” did nothing for me. I’m not attacking it - it’s all personal taste. But that’s one of my favourite NIN songs, and I think that the Cash version sanded clean a few too many of the edges. Also, I thought by changing the chords from all the angular dissonance of the original to a more traditional minor progression sacrificed an important element of what made that tune great. (What made it great for me, of course.) Ever hear Bowie do it, though? Breathtaking.
Best covers I can recall hearing:
Charlie Hunter f/ Norah Jones: “More Than This” (Roxy Music)
Charlie Hunter: “Come As You Are” (Nirvana)
Men Without Hats: “I Am The Walrus” (The Beatles)
Life of Agony: “Don’t You Forget About Me” (Simple Minds)
No Doubt: “It’s My Life” (Talk Talk)
Glueleg: “Cars” (Gary Numan)
Glueleg: “Red” (King Crimson)
Orgy: “Blue Monday” (New Order)
Jeff Buckley: “Back in NYC” (Genesis)
Living Colour: “Memories Can’t Wait” (Talking Heads)
Nine Inch Nails: “Dead Souls” (Joy Division)
Brian Setzer: “Sleepwalk” (not clear who the original artist is, but he does a solo rendition on guitar that’s absolutely the finest musical performance I’ve ever heard)
Reeves Gabrels: “You’ve Been Around” (David Bowie)
M.A.C.C.: “Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun)” (Jimi Hendrix, from the “Stone Free” tribute album, featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden)
Soundgarden: The Satanoscillatemymetallicsonatas EP, featuring covers of Black Sabbath’s “Into the Void”, Devo’s “Girl U Want”, and the Rolling Stones “Stray Cat Blues”
Michael Andrews/Gary Jules: “Mad World” (Tears for Fears)
And probably a dozen others that will occur to me the very moment I hit ‘submit’.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it “great,” but everybody should listen to the Anal Cunt version of “Stayin’ Alive” at least once, preferably on a shitty car stereo with the volume set to the maximum possible level. Also kudos to whoever mentioned the Residents’ “Man’s World” cover.
I can’t believe I forgot The Residents’ “Land of 1000 Dances”
Best.
Video.
Ever.
I thought I was the only person left who knew of this band let alone that cover. One of my favorite covers.
Orgy: “Blue Monday” (New Order)
What happened to Orgy…great live show.
If it’s wacky, yet danceable covers you want, I refer you immediately to the truly unreal Senor Coconut CD “El Baile Aleman,” which is an entire CD of Kraftwerk covers…as Latin lounge music.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.
whoa an anal cunt reference.
“In my heart, there’s a star named after you.”
There’s one label (it’s Blue Note iirc) that had a series in which artists would cover an entire album. Granted, it would be in hteir own style, of course, but it’s still an interesting experiment. The one that I picked up is Charlie Hunter doing Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread”. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to improve on “No Woman No Cry”, but Hunter and his backing band do a wondeful job of re-imagining that piece, and indeed the entire album.
don’t laugh, but the Fugees had a nice cover of “No Woman No Cry” on their album The Score.
I’m not throwing any stones at The Fugees. Hell, the first time I heard the “Everything’s gonna be all right” hook was in a Naughty By Nature song :D
You can’t get fewer points than that.
My friend made a set of EVIL cd’s that were all versions of “killing me softly” that he could mix back and forth between. He could get an hour and a half of the same song over and over as sung by different people. It was pure evil audio terror!
Imagine what you could do with Yesterday then. Isn’t that still the most covered song?
10,000 Maniacs: “Peace Train” (Cat Stevens)
Boo Radley: “There She Goes” (The La’s) (Someone else did this one too, but I’m drawing a blank…no not Sixpence None the Richer)
Dessau: “Isolation” (Joy Division)
Frente: “Bizarre Love Triangle” New Order
Game Theory: “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles)
Get Up Kids: “Close To Me” (The Cure)
The Housemartins: Any of their covers. Any
Siouxsie and the Banshees: “Dear Prudence” (The Beatles)
Soul Asylum: “Sexual Healing” (Marvin Gaye)
The Sundays: “Wild Horses” (Rolling Stones)
Trash Can Sinatras: “To Sir With Love” (LuLu)
The more I think of, the more I know I’m missing…
Dave’s on the money with the Cowboy Junkies’ “Sweet Jane” cover, though I think it’s a Velvet Underground song, not a Lou Reed solo project.