Do you love a good remake or does the thought of a copycat make you cringe? Cover songs have been either angering or pleasuring our ears for decades. Most popular artists produce cover songs as a form of artistic expression, a tribute to the original artist, or as perhaps a way of saying, "whatever you can do, I can do better,” showing off their talents.
Whatever the intention, cover songs can have an unpredictable fan reaction because they are not typically judged on their own merit, but judged in comparison with the original song. While some cover tunes may be celebrated as better than the original, others are loathed because loyal listeners may feel that what isn’t broke doesn’t need to be fixed.
I love it when one of my favorite artists performs a cover because it gives me a chance to hear a familiar tune performed in a style that I love. I typically prefer these new revamped versions over the old originals, but if a band I could care less about covers one of my favorites, the song is generally not music to my ears.
Not saying I don’t absolutely LOVE George Michael or Trent Reznor, but here is a list of ten covers that I say are better the second (or perhaps third) time around:
1. “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” by Guns n’ Roses (Original sung by Bob Dylan)
2. “Easy Like Sunday Morning” by Faith No More (Original sung by The Commodores)
3. "Tainted Love" by Marilyn Manson (Original by Gloria Jones)
4. "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin (Original by Kris Kristofferson)
5. "Hurt" by Johnny Cash (Original by Nine Inch Nails)
6. “American Woman” Lenny Kravitz (Original by Guess Who)
7. “Come Together” by Aerosmith (Original by The Beatles)
8. “Wish” by Linkin Park (Original by Nine Inch Nails)
9. “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” by Urge Overkill (Original by Neil Diamond)
10. “Careless Whisper” by Seether (Original by George Michael)
