This is always interesting, as I’ve found there are some cases where a band comes along that does a cover that was better than the original. Are there any you can think of? Here’s some off the top of my head
“In The Air Tonight” (Phil Collins) - Nonpoint
“Shout” (Tears For Fears) - Disturbed
“Careless Whisper” (Wham!) - Seether
“The Boys of Summer” (Don Henley) - The Ataris
“Cat Scratch Fever” (Ted Nugent) - Pantera
“Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” (Eurythmics) - Marilyn Manson
“You Spin Me Round” (Dead or Alive) - Dope
“Crazy” (Seal) - Mushroomhead
“99 Luftballoons” (Nena) - Goldfinger
“Blue Monday” (New Order) - Orgy
“Enjoy the Silence” (Depeche Mode) - Lacuna Coil
“The Chain” (Fleetwood Mac) - Tantric
“Whiskey in the Jar” (The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy) - Metallica
“Summer Breeze” (Seals & Crofts) - Type O Negative
“Cars” (Gary Newman) - Fear Factory
“Metro” (Berlin) - (tie) The Alkaline Trio and System of a Down
“Under Pressure” (Queen & David Bowie) - The Used and My Chemical Romance
Edit - didn’t initially have this quote from Chris in here, but when I saw it, since he beat me to the punch, I felt it necessary to include it.
The ultimate example of this phenomenon is
Knocking on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan) - Guns N’ Roses
Most people today probably don’t even realize Dylan wrote that song (heck I didn’t until probably 6 or 7 years ago), because the only version you (or at least I) ever hear on rock radio is the GNR version. But it is legitimately better than Dylans, if for no other reason because you can actually understand what Rose is saying instead of “Nuh Nuh Nuhin-na henvs daaaaaarrrrr”.
Edit - another to add to this list
All along the Watch Tower (Bob Dylan) - Jimi Hendrix
I’m not afraid to admit that I did NOT know Dylan wrote that until just now while poking around trying to find other examples. You learn something new every day.
Actually if you ever saw BSG, you find out that the Cylons wrote it! lol
Yeah, no fooling. In the show they explain it was some sort of code or something. It was one of those WTF moments. And it was at that point I remember that pretty much I threw up my hands and said, “Okay, I’m done with this show now!” That’s when I knew it had gotten way too pretentious for its own good. That, and that they seemed to have chosen five characters completely at random to be Cylons. And I was even more disappointed later to learn that this turned out to be true. (It’s #5 on the list).
I’m glad I didn’t stick around for the series finale, else I probably would have been really disappointed. The Cylons may have had a plan. But Ron Moore? Apparently not so much.
I’m not really into mainstream music. But from the random things I enjoy online I came across Masaki Endo’s cover for various anime. His covers for the OP’s of Bokurano, Gurren Lagann and Digimon are superior to the originals. He just add this sense of manly epicness to anything he sings. Lol.
