Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

[Hornbein]

 

[Hornbein]

Keith Richards and Jimmy Fallon

 

[Hornbein]

Original



Cover

 

[robphy]

Original



Cover

Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone

 

[morrobay]

 

[PeroK]

Here's a one-man cover of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One, originally by King Crimson. Extraordinary:

 

[PeroK]

Here's a cover of a cover, which is probably better than either of the originals. Virtual ELP doing The Barbarian, originally by the real Emerson Lake & Palmer - which itself is an arrangement of Bela Bartok's piano piece Allegro Barbaro.

 

[robphy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_in_the_Name
https://www.ratm.com/track/killing-in-the-name/
See also [Rock & Roll Hall of Fame] 2023 Inductee Insights: Rage Against The Machine
Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Inducts - RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Rage Against The Machine - Killing In the Name (Official HD Video)

See also Rage Against the Machine - Live on BBC Radio + No.1 Announcement

---

(2020) Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine / Cover by Yoyoka & Yoyoka's mom (Yoyoka is 10 here.)
(2021 cover)
Her Drum cover: (2020) Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine / Cover by Yoyoka, 10 year old
See also her cover with a band of kids (ages: 9, 9, 15, and 12Yoyoka): [Yoyoka] Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name / Live Cover

[Voice of Baceprot] COVER RATM KILLING IN THE NAME OFF BY VOB DI WACKEN GERMANY 2022

See also VOB meets Tom Morello!

(2018) [audrey123talks] Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine - cover


(2020) Rage Against the Machine - Killing In the Name - Halocene Cover


(2017) Brass Against - Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine Cover) Ft. Sophia Urista

 

[Hornbein]

Go! Go! Maniac. Original by Ho Kago Tea Time Band.

Theme song of an anime that was popular about twelve years ago. Recorded by session men with almost superhuman skill. Supposedly the Ho Kago Tea Time Band learned to play like this in one year.



Girls decided that they wanted to do that too. They grew up with this goal so today there are a number of young women who can play with that almost superhuman skill.

Cover by Platina Jazz. They are Russians who live in Tokyo.



I can't resist this spectacular strumming. Someone found a use for the Fender Jazzmaster. It's about time

 

[Hornbein]

Dream Theater - The Dance of Eternity (Violin Cover) by Unlucky Morpheus​

As far as rock violin goes Emilie Autumn was the queen, but she never covered anything.

 

[Hornbein]

Dream Theater - The Dance of Eternity (Violin Cover) by Unlucky Morpheus​

As far as rock violin goes Emilie Autumn was the queen, but she never covered anything.

Here's a live version that's even better. Dang.

 

[pinball1970]

Original



Cover

I thought hanging on the Telephone was fantastic, pure Blondie and it's not the original!
As much as a shock as "Alone" Heart.

 

[pinball1970]

 

[Hornbein]

Cover of Taste of Honey's Boogie Oogie Oogie

 

[rcgldr]

On A Good Day - OceanLab

Orchestral version:

On A Good Day - Above & Beyond

 

[Hornbein]

The Jacksons Blame It On The Boogie by Rita Nishikawa.

The ebass solo is the high point for me.

 

[pinball1970]

The Jacksons Blame It On The Boogie by Rita Nishikawa.

The ebass solo is the high point for me.

Five string too. I am not keen on slap. I like the playing other than that though.

 

[Hornbein]

Iggy Pop covers Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus.

 

[strangerep]

[Sweet Child O' Mine Cover] goes right into the "better than original" category. Brilliant.

Seriously? I thought it was totally lame.

 

[pinball1970]

Seriously? I thought it was totally lame.

Which number post was it? I will see what I put that comment. I know part of the reason without seeing it but need to listen to add the context.

 

[Ibix]

Which number post was it? I will see what I put that comment. I know part of the reason without seeing it but need to listen to add the context.

You can click on the "whoever said" in the title of a quote to jump to the quoted post.

 

[pinball1970]

Seriously? I thought it was totally lame.

First of all the sound is great, even the intro sounds nice.

Secondly, she is playing All the parts including the drums! Impressive?

Thirdly you get to hear it without Axels’s voice, not keen on it.

Knocking on Heavens door and Live and Let Die, were awful covers.

 

[Hornbein]

Buddy Guy ; Mary Had A LIttle Lamb

I didn't know he could sing that well.

 

[PeroK]

Since I listened to a few covers, YouTube has been serving me up a steady diet. It seems I could spend the rest of my life listening to covers of King Crimson tracks alone. The number of covers of Starless is extraordinary. One group of what looked like college kids had even roped in the late John Wetton to sing the lyrics. There is everything from full-on prog-rock versions (although perhaps Starless is so prog it's not rock anymore), a zany avant garde version, a folk version played in the woods and a solo acoustic guitar version played in a cathedral.

It's extraordinary that young people are playing this music. How do they even know about this material? By the early 1990's I was ridiculed for still listening to 1970's prog rock. Perhaps it's ultimately the quality and originality of the music that has helped it survive. It shows that that with music perhaps you can't tell what will endure the test of time. I must admit I feel somewhat vindicated.

I always felt the 1980s were mostly style over substance and I never really understood the point of the music video. If the music is good enough, what is the need for a video? The best videos, for me, are just the band playing the music. I saw an interview with Keith Richards where he said something like this - that the eyes eventually dominate the ears.

Anyway, here's the latest cover of Starless. @pinball1970 I particularly like the percussion on this one (and the two guitars):

 

[strangerep]

It's extraordinary that young people are playing this music. How do they even know about this material? By the early 1990's I was ridiculed for still listening to 1970's prog rock.

On a related theme,... lately I've become a tad fascinated with reaction videos where young(er) people first watch a video of ) Deep Purple doing Child in Time, and other old classics. The look on their faces at the moment Ian Gillan lets it rip is priceless, and then even more when he goes up again to that high-A.

Pink Floyd at the Pulse concert doing Comfortably Numb also gets their attention.

(But sheesh, some of these youtubers/twitchers who do nothing but reaction videos are unbelievably duuuuuumb.)

 

[PeroK]

On a related theme,... lately I've become a tad fascinated with reaction videos where young(er) people first watch a video of ) Deep Purple doing Child in Time, and other old classics. The look on their faces at the moment Ian Gillan lets it rip is priceless, and then even more when he goes up again to that high-A.

I remember overhearing my mum talking to my aunt about the music that my brother and I were listening to. Her verdict on Child in Time was "and there's one where this fool just stands there and screams"! My aunt's response that she "wouldn't allow it"!

 

[pinball1970]

Since I listened to a few covers, YouTube has been serving me up a steady diet. It seems I could spend the rest of my life listening to covers of King Crimson tracks alone. The number of covers of Starless is extraordinary. One group of what looked like college kids had even roped in the late John Wetton to sing the lyrics. There is everything from full-on prog-rock versions (although perhaps Starless is so prog it's not rock anymore), a zany avant garde version, a folk version played in the woods and a solo acoustic guitar version played in a cathedral.

It's extraordinary that young people are playing this music. How do they even know about this material? By the early 1990's I was ridiculed for still listening to 1970's prog rock. Perhaps it's ultimately the quality and originality of the music that has helped it survive. It shows that that with music perhaps you can't tell what will endure the test of time. I must admit I feel somewhat vindicated.

I always felt the 1980s were mostly style over substance and I never really understood the point of the music video. If the music is good enough, what is the need for a video? The best videos, for me, are just the band playing the music. I saw an interview with Keith Richards where he said something like this - that the eyes eventually dominate the ears.

Anyway, here's the latest cover of Starless. @pinball1970 I particularly like the percussion on this one (and the two guitars):

The 1960s to the 1970s was such a creative special time, the 1980s once we get past 1981 ish was on the whole abysmal.

Yes the videos were truly awful, just the icing on the cake.This sums it up, I can laugh now (it took 40 years of pain though!) Kate Bush saved me from musical despair in the 1980s an unparalleled genius.

 

[pinball1970]

I remember overhearing my mum talking to my aunt about the music that my brother and I were listening to. Her verdict on Child in Time was "and there's one where this fool just stands there and screams"! My aunt's response that she "wouldn't allow it"!

Probably my favourite song of all time (off Made in Japan). Deep purple in the studio were one thing but live they were a different animal.

Gillan hated the live recordings, they had to deal with 1970s Pas and half the time they could not hear each other “Can I have everything louder than everything else.”

“Scandinavian nights” Fire ball was one encore and Gillan comes a full semi tone flat and completely goes out of time in Magic woman scream it is hilarious but brilliant, even when they messed up they were amazing.

 

[PeroK]

Kate Bush saved me from musical despair in the 1980s an unparalleled genius.

I discovered Bob Dylan in the 1980s. It's a sad story. I was a student in a rented room in Edinburgh. This guy called Gordon moved in to one of the other rooms. He'd lost his wife in a car crash, been in hospital himself, his daughter was with the in-laws and he'd become an alcoholic. He was/had been an architect. He came back blind drunk one evening, and threw this tape onto my bed. I asked him the next day whether he wanted it back, but he had no recollection of it. So, I decided to listen to it.

The first track was The Weight, by the Band, featuring the Staple Singers (although I didn't know that at the time). That was interesting. Then there was Dylan's version of Mr Bojangles. I'd never heard anything like that before. Then Mr Tambourine Man; followed by A Hard Rain's a'Gonna Fall. I had definitely never heard anything like that before! My prior impression of Dylan was of an old folk singer who couldn't sing. This was a revelation. The rest were various Dylan songs, including Maggie's Farm, Just Like a Woman and Lay Lady Lay. The tape is long gone and a full track listing escapes me.

And that's how I got into Bob Dylan.

 

[Hornbein]

Kate Bush saved me from musical despair in the 1980s an unparalleled genius.

Kate Bush -- Under Ice cover by symphony orchestra.

 

[Hornbein]

Kate Bush Dream of Sheep covered on ebass.

 

[jack action]

I always felt the 1980s were mostly style over substance and I never really understood the point of the music video. If the music is good enough, what is the need for a video? The best videos, for me, are just the band playing the music. I saw an interview with Keith Richards where he said something like this - that the eyes eventually dominate the ears.

I'm not a musician at all. When I tried to play music, I was trying to reproduce what I saw; where should I put my fingers, that sort of thing. It's nearly impossible for me to reproduce a sound by ear. Musicians tend to say "Don't you hear the note?" and I just don't, not like them anyway. Visual cues make me appreciate the music on another level.

The best example I encountered is "Shadow Moses" by Bring Me the Horizon. Warning: it's metalcore with some crude language, so not to the taste of everyone.

Just listening to that song, it's loud and chaotic with lots of shouting. Not necessarily my cup of tea. Watching the official video (which was my first introduction to the song), I liked it. Still, the video does not focus on the musicians, just the singer, a heavily tattooed guy who looks like a troubled teen; not my usual cup of tea either. All I can hear are the vocals, some guitar riffs, a little rhythm from the drums, and a lot of background noises.

I love drums. After watching the video, I didn't really notice it that much in that song. This is the official video:

​

But looking for the song on YouTube, I found some drum covers. Great for me! The following one is from a very popular girl on YouTube for her metal song covers. Looking at it makes me appreciate the pedal work which I didn't really notice in the official video. Now I hear the drum better and appreciate the song more.

​

Then I watched the next video. A drum cover from another popular guy on YouTube. He sets the song to a whole other level for me. I realized the cymbals were just background noise in the two previous versions. He uses 3 different cymbals - which make 3 distinct sounds - and uses them a lot more to make his rhythmic beats. I could only realize this by watching him. I hear the cymbals now and the melody they're supposed to bring to the song. It sounds a lot more like music made with percussion than someone hitting a pot with a spoon repeatedly.

The way he plays the drum is like he's dancing, with every movement carefully thought and placed. I can see the flow in the music and it makes it much much less chaotic than my first impression of the song. Even listening to the video without looking at it, I cannot distinguish and appreciate the different sounds as much; chaos comes back. Now it is one of my favorite songs, just because I was "shown" the music. It really is the images of this drummer I see in my head and appreciate while listening to the song.

This is how you sell music to a visual person.

​

 

[strangerep]

I remember overhearing my mum talking to my aunt about the music that my brother and I were listening to. Her verdict on Child in Time was "and there's one where this fool just stands there and screams"! My aunt's response that she "wouldn't allow it"!

They don't realize that he's not screaming, but actually singing -- usually hitting the high notes perfectly. A couple of the reaction videos are by vocal coaches and they're invariably wide-eyed, open-mouthed as soon as they see what Ian Gillan could do.

 

[pinball1970]

They don't realize that he's not screaming, but actually singing -- usually hitting the high notes perfectly. A couple of the reaction videos are by vocal coaches and they're invariably wide-eyed, open-mouthed as soon as they see what Ian Gillan could do.

Man, I could post all day on Gillan.

From my listening experience it is very rare to get a singer with such unbelievable power and range to also have the beautiful tone he had.

This is why I always mention Paul McCartney in the same breath as Gillan.

“I only want to say” Is a great example of what Gillan could do



“You never give me your money”



Around 3.06 he hits an A5 (same as child in time) but listen to the quality, there is some gravel but not a lot and it sounds like there is another note in there!

An A4? I have heard it 100 times and I still cannot tell. Take 36 (also on YT) he hits the same note but it is a clean A5 no gravel, less power and no spooky other note.

A man of 1000 voices, beauty of Yesterday, almost talking on she’s leaving home/paper back writer, metal rock Helter-skelter, soft folk Black bird.

Could Gillan do all that? I think so but once Purple hit big he was rock and nothing else, just the odd bits and pieces where he able to show the other side.

Jesus Christ Superstar, Hallelujah, Concerto for group (What shall I do?) Child in time (verses) Woman From Tokyo (middle section) When I blind Man cries, Anyone’s daughter.

Pretty much everything else 1969-1973 was blood and guts.

 

[pinball1970]

They don't realize that he's not screaming, but actually singing -- usually hitting the high notes perfectly. A couple of the reaction videos are by vocal coaches and they're invariably wide-eyed, open-mouthed as soon as they see what Ian Gillan could do.

They both had wide vibrato too, Gillan is oscillating on that Child in time A5 between A and C according to one YT analysis.

My ear cannot pick it out but it has to be at least a B, a Bb would stand out, discordant as would a Db, so C makes sense being the minor third (its in Am)