They kinda did it better

This thread begins and ends with Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower" (although Neil Young's version is a personal favorite and there's an Irish folk-rock version by Tom Landa and the Paperboys that kills).

I'm a cover song whore, so I'll have to think about this.

I'm under the belief that Pearl Jam is the best cover band out there. All of their covers sound great and i specially love their Rocking in the Free World and their Versions of Ramones songs. But i'm biased as hell.

Ra Ra Riot taught Kate Bush what "Suspended in Gaffa" was supposed to sound like.

Also - anyone who has ever covered anything by Leonard Cohen. Ever.

Wow, that's a bold assertion, man (re: the Tool/Zeppelin thing).

These are comparatively obscure picks, but I always thought that Jawbox's version of "Cornflake Girl" pummeled the original, and while I'm not entirely sure I'd go so far as to say he did it better, Peter Murphy's 'Final Solution' is moodier and more interesting if less caustic than Pere Ubu's version.

Lastly, I'd argue that Brendan Perry's (Dead Can Dance) 'I Must Have Been Blind' just kills the original. Just an achingly beautiful cover.

Yeah, Hendrix is the most obvious choice there. It's to the point where people think Dylan was covering Hendrix.

Really? I love a lot of the covers of his songs (the two that spring to mind are Peter Gabriel's version of "Suzanne" and Rufus Wainwright's "Everybody Knows"), but even then, I would put Cohen's version of those -- and, of course, "Hallelujah" -- over the covers. Yes, even Jeff Buckley's.*

*Although I blame television's insistence on running this into the ground by using it on every season-ending dramatic moment of every TV show for a good three years.

A few off the top of my head:

"You Really Got A Hold On Me". John Lennon just shreds Smokey Robinson on this one. Same with "Rock and Roll Music," actually. Oh, and "Money." And "Twist and Shout..." Hmmm...

"Heartbreak Hotel." OK, no one can really top Elvis, but John Cale's reimagining of the song is, in its own way, untouchable.

"California Sun." Joey Ramone makes it clear that he truly believes that everyone in California is out there having fun. The Rivieras didn't seem all that persuaded.

Richard Thompson reworks Conway Twitty's version of "Danny Boy" into the ultimate Celtic surf-rock fantasy.

I really loved The Decemberists' live "Crazy On You."

And, then, of course, there's Bruce Springsteen...

I'd argue the most obvious choice is "House of the Rising Sun." The first three times it was recorded, the fan base of the most recent artist accused the predecessors of covering that version of the song.

And I'd go with John Cale's version for choice, anyway.

It's sort of incestuous, but Sting's solo version of "Shadows in the Rain" mud stomps all over the Police version.

Joe Cocker's version A Little Help From My Friends is definitely the preferred version for me.

Good call on Decemberists "Crazy On You" cover....totally superior to the original.

One more to add: absolutely love Hanoi Rock's version of "Up Around The Bend". Very hesitant to call it flat-out superior, but man, they did such a killer job with it.

The Stones and The Beatles own this thread. Both bands improved any cover song they did.

Can we start a flip-side "They Kinda Need to Be Punched in the Face" thread for artists who create covers so bad they bend the original over the ole' pinball machine? I nominate Madonna for "American Pie" and Guns'n'Roses for "Sympathy for the Devil" and, well, anything off of "The Spaghetti Incident".

Ahem, sorry for the derail. Please proceed.

I don't want or need to hear another version of Suzanne by anyone other than Leonard Cohen (and I LOVE Peter Gabriel).

As for the rest of this thread; isn't this basically going to boil down to "I don't like the sound/style/look of the original artist as much as I like the sound/style/look of the covering artist?"

But fuck it, I'll play.

I mean, you can't really argue with Hendrix covering Dylan, but nobody ever mentions his other covers...including "Hey Joe."

Speaking of Ra Ra Riot (big ups, Syracuse) covering Kate Bush: I'd take the cover of Bush's Hounds of Love by The Futureheads any day of the week.

And "Baby It's You" by the Shirelles was covered both by The Beatles and Smith. The Smith version hands down blows all of them away.

I prefer the Clash's version of "I Fought the Law." But not John Melloncamp's. Oh no, none of this fighting the law and winning nonsense.

Sinead O'Connor owns Nothing Compared To U. I love prince, but its still hard for me to even hear the original version without wanting to hear O'Connor's.

Ike and Tina OWN Proud Mary, despite CCR being all around awesome.

This is probably blaspheme, but I prefer Big Star's Femme Fatal over the Velvet Underground's...mostly for its bluesy style and (better) singing/production values.

Finally...Respect was an Otis Redding song that Aretha Franklin pretty much transformed into "the song" that almost everybody in the world knows.

With all due respect, I'm inclined to argue that if there was any 'improving' to be done upon Howlin' Wolf, Solomon Burke, Marvin Gaye, Muddy Waters, Wilson Pickett, or (more often than not) Chuck Berry tunes, I'm not sure if the Stones were always quite up to the task.

Not disputing their ability at choosing great soul/r&b songs and making them more palatable for rock n' roll fans, much in the same way Zeppelin did, but improving upon them? Hmm.....there's a can of worms.

Most of Nirvana's covers on 'Unplugged' are better than the originals.

Since I derailed with some bad covers, I'll toss out what I consider to be a superior one: Save Ferris' cover of "Come On, Eileen". Firstly, I'm a sucker for Monique Powell's voice. Secondly, I think the horn section gives the cover a propulsive and absolutely infectious momentum. I have yet to put this on a party mix and not have the party goers go absolutely bonkers, singing and jumping along.

And, yes, I realize I will be taken to task for mentioning a ska-punk song.

What a disappointing statement! joeypants has already caused my brain to do a Scanners explosion, but the divine Miss Z should know better.

Eyeball, just wondering, have you heard Meat Puppets II? Granted, "Unplugged"'s tossed off, truncated versions of the MP's songs are certainly really damn fun/cool, and Cobain had indisputably great taste in cover choices, but you really consider those versions to be better?? Really??

I just don't have the spare couple of hours to listen to it.

Yeah, that song (and the relentless cymbal crashing in the coda) just goes on seemingly forever. Love CCR, but this song ain't really my thing.

Johnny Cash covers are often better. His version of One kicks ass all over U2. And his version of Redemption Song, while certainly not better, ends up being way less awful than you might imagine.

off the top of my head:

Iron Maiden: 'I've got the fire', originally by Montrose
Van Halen: 'You've Really Got Me', originally by the Kinks
Dream Theater: 'Take Your Fingers From My Hair', originally by Zebra
Orgy: 'Blue Monday', originally by New Order

Judas, I'll give you "You Really Got Me" because, frankly, the Van Halen version is all kinds of awesome.

But this? This? No! I can't accept. Why? WHY? What's so wrong with the original version? The last thing that scene needs is "more guitars!" Some songs, maybe. Not this song.

Nick Cave et al's cover of Death is Not the End for the win.

"Respect"-Aretha (Sorry, Otis. And Dre)

"Que Sera, Sera" Sly & the Family Stone

"Walk This Way" RUN DMC

A special mention of "Tutti Frutti". Uncoverable. Song belongs to Little Richard. Everybody who's ever covered it--including Elvis-sounds like a dork.

Judas, did you hear the Orgy version before you heard the original or something? I totally can relate to having a bias towards a cover version if you heard it prior to hearing the original......otherwise, yeah, that one's troubling, man!

You know, I disagree, but am delighted that someone else even knows Smith.

That cover is great! When I got a record player, my dad gave me a stack of his 45s. This was one of them (he had one of their full LPs too, but it was too scratched to listen to). A few months after that, it popped up on the Death Proof soundtrack, which was really weird. I'm sure more people around these parts know Smith then you'd realize, thanks in large part to that movie.

While they are kinda social pariahs around here, Foo Fighters have done some good covers.

One I do think is better than the original is "Darling Nikki". Something about the rawness Dave Grohl put into it really works for me over Prince's version.

Commence scathing rebukes...

Hell, I HAD that damn album. More money than sense when I was a teenager, I guess...

And despite my abiding love for The Stones, I think I would only give them "Around and Around", "You Better Move On", and "It's All Over Now" as clear wins, with "Oh Carol" and "Time Is On My Side" among the close-but-not-quites.

And while they eventually did right by "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "Just My Imagination," their cover of "My Girl" takes a LOT of living down.

While Come Together by The Beatles has its charm, Michael Jackson's cover really, really does it for me.

Oh, speaking of covers, Drive-By Truckers' latest is an odds-and-sods collection called The Fine Print that includes a few covers, including a blistering "Play It All Night Long."

I almost prefer Mott the Hoople's version of "Sweet Jane". (Es. live)

"Hey Jude" is untoppable, but both Wilson Pickett and Elvis have interesting interpretations.

Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Bros. have the definitive versions of "Love Hurts" and "Wild Horses" imho.

Stevie steals "We Can work It Out"

Sex Pistols. "My Way".

Personally, I'd put that up there with "Hurt" as a possible disqualifying nomination, but to each their own. I don't care that much for Frank's version, anyway.

I do quite like the Pistols' cover of "No Fun."

It's probably because I had heard the song so long before a) realized it was actually a cover and b) I ever heard the song, but The Black Crowe's version of Otis Redding's 'Hard to Handle' is a more enjoyable experience to me. It has a down in the dirt swagger that Redding's was going for, but couldn't quite achieve. Sleazy cockiness, something the song needs. Plus, I love that opening riff.

NIN: Their version of 'Dead Souls' is superior to the original.

Then you have to hear them perform it on the "Live at Winterland Ballroom" disc. It was the band's final performance (screw the "Filthy Lucre" tour) and Rotten's vocals are ragged with exhaustion. When he sings, "No fun!", you believe every word of it.

Cowboy Junkies' "Sweet Jane" is, for me, the definitive version.
Same with The Bangles' "Hazy Shade of Winter."

A few more that come to mind:

Almost anytime The Byrds took on Bob Dylan.

The Dream Syndicate: "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" (another one that's more a great piece of reimagining, rather than a superior performance).

Bryan Ferry's "The 'In' Crowd" (though I may be unduly influenced by Davy O'List's guitar solo).

And the Ultimate Sacrilege (but I'm not kidding): Los Straitjackets' "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

My (future) wife was at that show. Sadly, I was living in L.A. at the time, and they didn't make it that far.