Music Covers that beat the original.

Something i thought of, how many cover versions of songs are actually better than the original? I know this could be quite subjective, but lets go ahead anyway.
The main one that always comes to mind for me is Hurt by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine Inch Nails. But how many others are there?

 

I was actually thinking this morning that the Metallica cover of Smoke on the Water is much better than the Deep Purple version.
But maybe I'm just too much of a fan of thrash metal...

 

I like Joe Cocker's "With a little help from my friends" (from Woodstock) more than the Beatles version
I also like Eric Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff" more than Bob Marley's.

 

Couple more from me, William Shatner's version of Common People, better than the Pulp version?
Clayhills cover of Please, Please, Please by The Smiths (it's at the end of This is England), Deftones version is also quite cool (which is where i heard it first)

 

No chance though metallica's version of whisky in the jar was better than thin lizzy's (I know they didnt do it first but they kinda made it famous). Aside from that disturbed's version of land of confusion is perhaps not as better than the genesis version but it's probably just as good so i'll call that a draw. Korn's version of word up blows cameo's out of the water. And perhaps the best cover ever goes to eric cartmans version of come sail away

 

lol yes!

I agree Joe Cocker's cover is really good. Reminds me of wonder years. Same for Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt.

Jimi Hendrix's cover of All along the Watch Tower by Bob Dylan
The Dan Band cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart as seen in Old school.
Disturbed's cover of Shout by Tears for Fears

I don't know if these are better but I like them just as much:

Pearl Jam and Radiohead covers of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here
Van Morrison's cover of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb
KoRn's cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall
Shinedown's cover of Lynard Skynard's Simple Man
Marylin Manson's cover of Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics

 

Eric Clapton does a brilliant rendition of Classical Gas, I prefer Marilyn Manson's versoin of Tainted Love and pretty much any cover by RATM is excellent.

And of course:

 

Tia Carerra doing Ballroom Blitz from Wayne's World. Wowsa baby!

 

I know I'm going to get stick for this, but what the hell.
I preferred All Saints version of "Under the Bridge" to that of The Red Hot Chili Peppers

 

Nightwish performing Phantom of the Opera, live.

 

Limp Bizkit covering Behind Blue Eyes by The Who

 

Mash theme song suicide is painless by the manic street preachers is better than the original version, I agree with the Johnny cash of "hurt" and the cover he did of the sting song "I hung my head". Also U2 done a good version of all along the watch tower but I'm not its better than the original.

 

Wrong.

 

A lot of people prefer the Johnny Cash version, I certainly do. Was the first that came to mind when I saw the thread title.

 

There's a lot of cases where the OCRemix version of a tune is much better than the original.

But sadly, in many cases where its merely a passable remix and brings nothing particularly new to either the track or the remix community. Let me hear you say it with me now: THERE ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH BLAND TECHNO REMIXERS ON OCREMIX, DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Seriously. The techno on OCR is good, but unless your new and incredible remix is nothing short of the next KRooL Intentions (DK Remix), Icon (ICO Remix), or Ocarina Boogie (Zelda), or even A!bo Hardcore (QBert), just don't post it. Those remixes brought something new to the table. No-one wants your generic happy hardcore tracks, no matter how good the production is.


My Personal Faves on OCR are those above, and a smattering of other stuff. Goat's Castlevania Project is great too, along with Terra in Black (FFIII/VI), Mystery in Red (Lufia 2), And Jeremy Robsons Tetris Type A remix (Classical piano)

Edit: BTW, for whatever reason, Ocarina Boogie is no longer available through normal channels. You have to go to OC Removed. EDIT: This is why, its not actually a cover: OCR00032 - Legend of Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time 'Ocarina Boogie'

* Reason: Original/non-VGM composition + in-game Ocarina instrument as lead. Not from any identifiable in-game music.

www.ocremix.org
http://www.doulifee.com/Storage/OC_Removed/ (Some mixes were removed for sucking and recieving many negative reviews, some for being just a MIDI with soundfonts (E1 M1 remix), and some, just because the remixer has had a disagreement with the OCR staff and had them remove his/her works from their hosting.)

 

Quite liked the Petshop boys version of "always on my mind" originally an Elvis song IIRC.
As much as i loved the Original Ghostbusters theme tune by Ray Parker Jnr, I've always laughed at the cover done by thrash metal band Xentrics. The video just has me in stitches.

 

Actually, yeah, I always thought this too

 

I'll agree on William Shatner's cover of Common People with Joe Jackson. It's great. As far as Comfortably Numb, I prefer the version by Scissor Sisters. They also do a great cover of Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out, although I like the original as well.

Hmm, what else... oh, the Communards remake of Thelma Houston's disco classic Don't Leave Me This Way, Legato doing the Communards' (Jimmy Sommerville) Small Town Boy, Deep Dish's version of Flash Dance and most of all, 10,000 Maniacs' MTV Acoustic cover of Patti Smith's Because the Night.

 

Baker Street by The Foo Fighters is at least as good as the Gerry Raferty version, though it lacks the saxual solo.

 

are you ****ing serious? his cover is a travesty. The original is good because it all builds up to the ending when the tempo changes. Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes just goes on and on and never seems to end. The first time I heard it, I kept expecting the tempo change, but it never came and as such, I was very disappointed.

As to the OP: Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm.