Worst Cover Ever To Ruin A Good Song?

[Plaid Adder]

My vote is Manford Man's execrable cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I Came For You." Why anyone ever let him anywhere near that album is anyone's guess.

Next?

The Plaid Adder

[mac56]

1. Neil Diamond's cover of "Mister Bojangles"

Although, to be fair, the hit version by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was also an execrable cover of the original by Jerry Jeff Walker.

[KamaAina]

55. Betcha can't tell me where Jerry Jeff wrote it!

Okay, Google off... Go!

[mac56]

112. um.. a cell in New Orleans?

Where he was down and out?

[KamaAina]

113. DING DING DING! We have a winner.

Written inside Parish Lockup (Orleans Parish Prison) -- the very one that was not fully evacuated during the storm.

[Atlas Mugged]

2. Grand Funk Railroad - 'Gimme Shelter'

I'll never forget the review in Rolling Stone magazine, "...a bass line cut from the very heart of monotony".

[LeftyMom]

3. Faith Hill's cover of Janis Joplin's Peice of my Heart

Anybody who thinks these lyrics should be perky should not be allowed in a recording studio!

You’re out on the streets, you’re looking good,
Honey, deep down inside I know you know it ain’t never been right,
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never hear me cry at night, oh!
Each time I tell myself that I can’t stand the pain,
But when you hold me in your arms, I’ll sing it once again.

Say come on, come on, yeah, come on, come on and take it!
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby.
Break another little piece of my heart, darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Have another little piece of my heart, baby, baby, baby,
You know you got it, if it makes you feel good.
I want you to feel good now, yeah!!!

[Burma Jones]

4. You Know, this wasn't part of my universe until now

You are a poopie head

B-)

[Atlas Mugged]

5. Oh......*gasp*

I heard that once and was stunned. It reminded me of the time Stephanie, on the old Bob Newhart show, sang 'Old Man River' with a perky bounce.

[Plaid Adder]

6. Oh NO! TELL me she DIDN'T!

I love that song! And I truly don't see how Faith Hill could possibly handle it without doing it grievous violence.

:scared:

The Plaid Adder

[Left Is Write]

71. Many years ago.

[Dave Reynolds]

97. It was bad, very very bad.

She said she never heard the song prior to recording it, and it shows.

[bertha katzenengel]

11. You know who did a KICK-ASS, brought-me-to-tears cover of that?

Melissa Goddess Etheridge. :notworthy:

Her cover negates the evil of Hill's.

[LeftyMom]

14. She's one of the few people who can cover Janis well

:notworthy: indeed! :D

[Common Sense Party]

161. I think Sammy Hagar covered it as well.

I'm not saying he SHOULD have. I think he did, though.

[RevolutionaryActs]

21. Ok, I just HAD to go listen to her version.

Now my ears are bleeding and my heart is crying.

[LostinVA]

48. I actually think she does a decent job

[Left Is Write]

73. I do too, if you consider what she said about it...

She didn't know the Janis Joplin version of the song (given her sheltered upbringing in Star, Mississippi, this does not surprise me, and I have no reason to disbelieve her). The song was pitched to her, a country singer, to put on a country album. I'm pretty sure she didn't do the country arrangement herself, and in that light, I think she did fine.

[Mythsaje]

169. That bugged me too

It was worse than Sammy Hagar's version and I hated that one too.

[cmkramer]

200. The songwriters

Ironically though, the people who wrote the song say that Faith Hill's version was the one that best captured their vision of the song. They thought Janis's version was a complete misinterpretation.

[Burma Jones]

7. Pat Boone - Tutti Fruitti

Complete with finger snapping and white shoes

[HuckleB]

155. Indeed!

All other bad covers are mere imitations by comparison!

[bumblebee1]

164. I second that!!!!!

Little Richard's is soooo much better.

[Initech]

248. Amen to that... horrible!

[patcox2]

8. Madonna, Madonna, Madonna - American Pie

Please, all others are off the table, this one comes in first through one millionth, once for each time it was played.

[Plaid Adder]

10. You gotta be kidding me.

When did Madonna cover "American Pie"?

Thank God I missed it,

The Plaid Adder

[patcox2]

16. 2-3 years ago, I try to forget.

Its worth listening to, if only because it serves as experimental confirmation of the working hypothesis "Madonna sucks ass."

[ProfessorGAC]

176. Oh, That's It

I was thinking of that one amongst others, but when i saw it actually written down by you, that cinched it! It's a truly dreadful remake, devoid of anything original, while still being nothing like the original. That is a monumental task. Take something good, pay no attention to any element of the original (save the words and sort of the melody), add nothing interesting extra, and turn it into musical goo!

Yes, patcox2! You have made my choice for me.
The Professor

[bertha katzenengel]

9. Plaidder!

Been so long. :hi: Hope you're well.

I daresay ANY cover sucks. I truly favor originals. :shrug:

[Frank Cannon]

12. Mariah Carey's "Without You"

It was a good Badfinger song, then it hit the stratosphere with Harry Nilsson's peerless version. Then Mariah had to hack it to pieces with her ridiculous "noodling" pseudo-soul voice.

So what we have here is a hit song that started out good, became great, then became completely sucky.

[Texasgal]

15. WAIT!

That reminds me of another Mariah Carrey BLUNDER!

She did "Love bites" By DEF LEPARD!!! :puke:

[Frank Cannon]

20. You gotta be kidding me

I can't even imagine that song performed outside of Def Leppard. I mean, it pretty much uses and relies on all of the Def Leppard tools.

Please don't tell me she also covered Blue Oyster Cult's "Black Blade".

[Plaid Adder]

22. Didn't Pat Boone do a heavy metal covers album?

Sounds like it would make about the same amount of sense.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[Texasgal]

25. OMG!

PAT BOONE? METAL? :scared: Please, tell me this isn't true!

[Frank Cannon]

33. Oh, it's true, all right

I remember when this travesty came out. In all fairness, though, I think Mr. Boone was actually trying to be funny.

[realisticphish]

120. i dunno

listen to his "enter sandman" cover... i hate pat boone, but the bizarre juxtaposition is one for the ages

[CatholicEdHead]

143. And I have this album

I got it soon after S&M came out. I thought it was similar, boy I was wrong.

[Left Is Write]

78. Yes, and he still managed to sound like a lounge singer.

It was the most bizarre, ill-advised thing I have ever heard.

[Texasgal]

23. Nope... I am not kidding...

Wish I was...

The song is done all in this HIGH voice... Loooove biiiiiiiiites, looooooove bleeeeeeeeeds... it's bringin' it to my knees....

Really BAD...very BAD.

[Left Is Write]

77. It was "Bringing On The Heartbreak."

And her version did, indeed, do just that. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

[Texasgal]

13. Rod Stewart doing Louis Armstrongs

" It's a wonderful world" YACK.

[Plaid Adder]

43. Any time Rod Stewart covers anything

he's opening the door to a world of hurt. I heard a radio review of his album of 'Broadway standards' and it was @#$! PAINFUL.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[Spider Jerusalem]

106. Yeah. His version of Tom Waits' "Downtown Train"...

was atrocious; he managed to make it both bland AND slightly cheesy. I don't think Stewart's done anything decent since 1973 or so.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

69. OMG yes!

:puke:

Rod needs to keep to his OWN songs, and even those should be in moderation. :scared:

[Left Is Write]

79. Rod Stewart doing Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately."

That should have been illegal.

Rod Stewart's other major crime is his American Songbook series. He is NOT A CROONER. I wish he'd stop believing he is.

[bleedingheart]

191. ick....Rod Stewart's rendition of that song is awful....

you are correct someone should tell him he is not a crooner...

[noonwitch]

212. His cover of Dylan's "Forever Young" sucks, too

They used it in those diaper ads, that otherwise were really cool ads, with all the mommy animals and their babies.

[Richardo]

17. Bee Gees cover of "Oh! Darling" in the excreable movie SPLHCB

I ran the gamut of emotions from :scared: :puke: :grr: :nuke:

[GumboYaYa]

29. The whole movie and soundtrack needs to be included.

You simply don't F&*#k with the Beattles.

[hfojvt]

57. there was no song on the radio that I hated more

until "Don't worry, be happy" was aired.

[vikegirl]

18. Any rendition of "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Especially Frente's version. :scared: New Order is not to be covered, period.

[Benfea]

86. I rather liked Frente's version

Of course, I was never a very big New Order fan.

[Plaid Adder]

19. OK, second place: that Counting Crows guy covering "Big Yellow Taxi."

Can't remember his name. Adam something. Reminds you how you don't know what you got till it's gone.

The Plaid Adder

[hfojvt]

58. does that mean, you liked

the Amy Grant version?

[Plaid Adder]

67. I was blissfully unaware of same until you mentioned it. n/t

[hfojvt]

90. and you still have not heard it, but now you know it's out there

so if you accidentally hear it, it will be less of a shock.

Many younger people, OTOH, are unaware of the original. Just like the older I got the more originals I heard of songs I knew as hits in the 1970s. Most of the time, the originals sounded bad to me.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

70. Better'n the Amy Grant version, at least...

:scared:

[warrens]

189. Same guy who wrote one of the worst lines ever

"The smell of hospitals in winter." That just makes no sense on so many levels. The most obvious being that hospitals are entirely climate controlled and smell the same in every season.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

24. Black Eyed Peas' cover of "Don't Fear the Reaper"

Okay, that hasn't happened, but if it ever does, that would get immediate #1 status. :-)

[Richardo]

27. Doesn't count. Plaid Adder said "a *good* song"

[Benfea]

89. If you compare it to other classic rock, it stands up.

I don't like classic rock, but that song is representative of its genre, so I don't think you can call it bad.

[malmapus]

26. Sheryl Crow - Sweet Child of Mine

nuff said heh

[Texasgal]

28. Oh yeah....

Agreed! :puke:

[Plaid Adder]

32. OW!!!

Hurts just thinking about it.

The Plaid Adder

[donheld]

39. Sheryl Crow is my girl

:hug:

[driver8]

128. No -- she's my girl!! My friend works at The Tonight Show and

hooked my wife and I up with tickets when Sheryl was on a few months ago. We were seated right in front of where the bands play -- about ten yards from Sheryl!!

After the show, we are backstage with my friend and Sheryl walked right past me!! I'm pretty sure our shoulders touched.

I'm sure we had "a moment"...

[yellowdogmi]

195. I am completely jealous.

Now that Lance is out of the way can you hook me up?

[driver8]

199. I'll be sure to tell her you are interested when I see her tonight...

(don't I wish!!)

B-)

[WeRQ4U]

223. Oh MAN, did that one piss me off.

G&R's "Appetite" was and still is a guilty pleasure of mine. She destroyed it.

[NoPasaran]

30. Shatner: Mr. Tambourine Man

Possibly the worst recording of anything ever, in any universe.

[Plaid Adder]

31. I disagree.

Shatner's 'cover' of Mr. Tambourine man is SO head-bleedingly awful that it is entertaining. Though it has forever destroyed Shatner's claim to be taken seriously (as an actor, as a 'singer,' as a human being) it can be listened to and enjoyed for its own sake (though not, of course, in the manner in which Shatner intended).

MR. TAMBOURINE KHAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!

The Plaid Adder

[malmapus]

41. KHAAAAAAAAAANN!!!!!!!

lol so true though.

Although I love his use of echo on Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

AND SHE'S GONE-NE-NE-NE-NE-NE-NE

[Montauk6]

144. I actually love the arrangement.

The song is actually a segue from a monologue he recites from Cyrano, the "No, thank you" speech. Smooth transition (yes, it's schlocky golden throats stuff, but it WORKS, DAMMIT IT WORKS!!!)

[mwooldri]

153. He's so bad he's good. Esp. his latest cover of "Common People".

Though with the latest one there was someone else singing as well.

Yikes. Cap'n Kirk knows how to murder a good song. Logically, it's just not called singing. But if it were left to the chief engineer, he jus' cannae make a tune out of it because he cannae work miracles.

[ET Awful]

181. I'd be more inclined to vote for his "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

:puke:

[WeRQ4U]

225. You got Shatner all wrong.

His spoken word/singing covers are hilarious.

Just a side note here........his collaboration with Ben Folds on "In Love" from Fear of Pop is one of my all time favorite songs. It's great. And it would not be worth a shit without him.

[BigMcLargehuge]

34. White Lion's terrible cover of Radar Love

[Richardo]

36. Again. PA specified a *good* song

:hide:

[BigMcLargehuge]

42. Why... YOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!

[Richardo]

45. Don't sell yourself short, Judge.

You're a tremendous slouch.

[rurallib]

35. 40+ years ago - whitebread Pat Boone doing Little Richard's

'Tutti Fruiti'. I think he did it on American Bandstand and sometimes on really latenight TV you can get a glimpse of this out-of-sync white boy trying to pick up some soul. Just plain hilarious.

[Richardo]

38. (see #7)

You're on the same wavelength....

[mikeytherat]

37. William Shatner's interpretation of "Mr. Tambourine Man"

His cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a close second.

AGHGHGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I just entered The 700 Club!

mikey_the_rat

[grace0418]

40. Any remake of Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over.

It's a lovely pop ditty that several people (including Sixpence None the Richer and DONNY OSMOND) have covered.

Leave. It. Alone.

[ksilvas]

44. Eddie Vedders version of "Last Kiss" ,"where oh where can my baby be...."

Last Kiss
J Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers



Absolutly Horrendous! Unlistenable.

[hfojvt]

60. Is that Pearl Jam?

because their version of that really, really, really sucked. Why any radio station would play it I could not understand. Do they get paid to make their listeners suffer?

[Jade Fox]

158. Not to mention.....

Why would anyone want to cover that dreadful song, although the original does have a killer base line in it. The remake doesn't even have that.

One of those remakes that makes you smack your forehead and wonder when the whole world went completely insane.

[WeRQ4U]

209. I whole-heartedly agree with this one.

Eddie's version was just a shitstorm. Plain and simple.

[ghostsofgiants]

220. Yet when I saw them back in September...

They still performed it, and the crowd still loved it. What the fuck?

[WeRQ4U]

221. It's amazing isn't it.

But Pearl Jam fans have a mind of their own. They could cover David Cassidy and their fans would eat it up.

[ghostsofgiants]

224. Yeah..

Though I have to say, Pearl Jam do pretty rockin' covers of "Gimme Some Truth" and "Baba O'Riley".

[WeRQ4U]

226. And...

I'll always have "Ten" in my CD rotation. That album rips.

[Blue-Jay]

46. 3/4 of the Michael Bolton catalog.

[Richardo]

47. Natalie Cole's ghoulish duet with her dead father: "Unforgiveable"

I mean "Unforgettable"

[Blue-Jay]

50. That WAS creepy. The video was even worse.

Hank Junior did something similar with equally ghoulish results.

I've played along with Charlie Parker, but that was a lot different.

[donheld]

54. Oh stop

That's a wonderful cover. IMHO

[donheld]

56. Any cover Rod Stewart has ever done

:puke:

[hfojvt]

61. for me Rod Stewart is torture to listen to

even when he is doing originals.

[Richardo]

63. I hate duets as a matter of couse, so this was easy for me.

Plus I'm a huge Nat King Cole fan and I thought it very inappropriate.

[hippywife]

122. It was her father.

How inappropriate can it be? I thought it was wonderful. Her whole album was wonderful but I'm a sucker for old standards done well. :hi:

[driver8]

129. I saw a guy at karaoke sing both parts -- Natalie's and Nat's. It

was absolutely amazing!!

[azmouse]

49. Uncle Cracker's version of Drift Away

blech :puke:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

72. LOL!

I don't mind that cover so much, but it's still incomparable to the original.

[martymar64]

228. The Stones do a version that's actually quite good

Exceedingly hard to find. Might be found via filesharing . . .

But that would be wrong . . .

[LostinVA]

51. Wilson Phillips' entire last album

Hey, I actually like Wilson Phillips, but their covers of "Go Your Own Way" and "Monday, Monday" especially, are... fucking evil.

[Parrcrow]

52. Madonna --- American Pie

[WritingIsMyReligion]

74. She did "American Pie"?

:wtf:

[Zorro-3]

136. And so did the "Brady Bunch"

:hurts:

[Benfea]

92. She covered that? Mommy, I'm scared! *cringe* -NT

[RubyDuby in GA]

53. U2 covering the Rolling Stones' Paint it Black

It is crap.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

150. that was a b-side, but the 3rd track on that single is worse

the cover of 'fortunate son'

u2 should never do covers. except for that one time thet did a patti smith song

[imperialismispasse]

59. Britney Spears covering "Satisfaction" by the Stones

[Starbucks Anarchist]

68. Ditto.

:puke:

[bertha katzenengel]

62. Amy Grant, "Big Yellow Taxi" -- that was just so wrong.

:eyes:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

75. Fuck yeah, it was.

:scared:

[Strawman]

64. Bullet Boys' For the Love of Money

[Dukkha]

65. Will To Power - Baby, I Love Your Way/Free Bird

:puke:

an amazing feat. two songs butchered hard at once!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

81. How can anyone cover "Free Bird"?

I think that, by definition, a cover of "Free Biord" must automatically suck.

:D

[Crazy Dave]

66. The Dixie Chick's version of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide"

:puke:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

76. Oh my, YES!

I'd forgotten that one. "Landslide" is a beautiful song...In FM's hands.

[leftofthedial]

96. respectfully disagree

that was a great cover

[Crazy Dave]

110. Maybe

For someone who likes the Dixie Chicks. They don't do much for me along with the other Faith Hill types that do that kind of "pop-country" shit music in my opinion. People that can't write their own songs mostly with a little "Whhhoooowwwweeeee!" added to it

Just my opinion. :)

[leftofthedial]

119. that's not an accurate description of the Dixie Chicks

FWIW, about 95% of the indie rock scene is acts that try to write their own songs, but whose songs suck.

When the Chicks signed their first label deal, they turned down mega bucks from Sony/Monument and self=funded the recording in order to use their own band rather than NAshville sidemen. The sisters are accomplished instrumentalists in their own right, in addition to being singers. They have not only written songs, but have consistently recorded great songs, frequently over the objections of the biz insiders, written by Nashville writers who often were not part of the country music sausage factory. Given their long history of putting their money where their mouths are and doing the right thing even when it would be a no brainer to do the easy thing, calling them posers is a bit laughable.

If you don't like country music, that's fine. But at least base your opinions on some knowledge of the facts.

Their cover of "Landslide" is an excellent acoustic version of the song.

:-)

[Crazy Dave]

125. You got your opinion, I got mine and I got no problem with that

Please don't lose any sleep over it. It's just a darn message forum.

BTW- I still think they suck along with just about anything else that has come out of Nashville in the last ten years. Besides, if I told you that bands I like you'd probably :puke:
:hi:

[leftofthedial]

135. you'd probably be surprised

I have, umm, eclectic tastes, having played in about 500 bands over the years, in pretty much every style.

"Mainstream" Nashville Country has been mostly as awful as music can be ever since the beancounters won the war for control of the music industry in the early- to mid-90's. Even so, there still have been nuggets of excellence. Don't be so quick to dismiss all of Nashville's music output based on what little commercial Country you may have heard. There still are some amazing performers making some truly great music there, in all genres. In particular, Nashville is home to some of the most talented songwriters on the planet.

As long as someone loves music, I won't :puke:.

It's the people who don't like music that bug me.

[martymar64]

229. Everyone knows the best Country Music comes from Austin

Willie, Waylon, Jerry Jeff, etc

[leftofthedial]

236. I think you mean Texas,

waylon lived in nashville most of his career

steve earle
walt wilkins (lately)
joe ely
rodney crowell
the list gets real long real quick

[Left Is Write]

245. Raul Malo and the Mavericks.

Perfect examples of "nuggets of excellence."

[Mythsaje]

170. I agree completely

I'm not a HUGE country fan, but I like the Chicks. I know talent when I hear it.

[peekaloo]

131. have you heard the Smashing Pumpkins version?

Billy C's bleating makes me shudder.

[WeRQ4U]

210. Disagree.

This is the only cover of that song that I can listen to. In fact, the Stevie Nicks version actually sounds like shit to me anyway.

[peekaloo]

216. lol....when I saw a reply to my post I thought "Hell the original isn't

all that great come to think of it".

Maybe there should be a Billy C./Stevie N. bleat off?

[Left Is Write]

80. 10,000 Maniacs doing "Because The Night."

Wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG.

Even Bruce Springsteen shouldn't sing "Because The Night."

Patti Smith owns that song with her version.

[HuckleB]

156. Wrong!

The Maniacs version does a body good.

[Common Sense Party]

159. I agree. Natalie did it best. n/t

[Left Is Write]

178. Not this body.

[flamingyouth]

82. Michael Bolton "A Change Is Gonna Come"

Well, anything he came near would qualify, actually.

[donheld]

208. Any cover Michael Bolton ever did

:puke:

[RetroLounge]

83. Nine Inch Nail's cover of Johnny Cash's Hurt

:hide:

RL

[XemaSab]

91. You're absolutely right!

Worst. Cover. Ever.

Trent Reznor must have a giant, giant ego to even THINK he could pull that off.

[RandomKoolzip]

101. Uh....guys.....Reznor wrote the song. Cash covered it.

[XemaSab]

102. No!!!!!

You LIE!!!!! :grr:

I'm putting you on ignore for maligning Johnny Cash!!!!!

[xmas74]

152. Staying out of this one.

Yes, I notice every time "that name" gets mentioned.

[XemaSab]

162. The search feature:

It's a beautiful thing! :D

[xmas74]

186. Didn't even have to search for this one.

I suspected that song would be mentioned.

[DaDeacon]

239. DMB's "All along the Watchtower" BOOOO !

I love DMB and Jimi but the two do not fit together. I've heard GREAT Hendrix covers, Jammie Cullum's "The Wind Cries Mary" comes to mind...buy yeah that DMB cover is bad!

[ghostsofgiants]

103. Bullshit.

Reznor invented a time machine back in 1994, traveled ahead to 2003, got the song, then traveled back to '94 and put it on Downward Spiral.

[Left Is Write]

116. Psst...RKZ...

They knew that. :)

[RandomKoolzip]

118. Sarcasm is so rare in the lounge....

...Even *I* don't recognize it sometimes.:blush:

[lizziegrace]

100. Some songs are sacred

I wish that hadn't been covered at all.

:(

[Benfea]

211. What are you talking about?

Johnny Cash's cover of Hurt is one of the best covers of all time. His interpretation of the song gave me new respect for Trent Reznor as a lyricist and songsmith.

What, exactly, is wrong with this cover?

[Benfea]

84. The Metallica tribute album by Die Krupps

Regardless of whether or not you like Metallica, you have to admit that Die Krupps butchered each and every Metallica song they covered. Ordinarily, I am reasonably eloquent, but I really don't have the words to describe how awful it is, and it's not just a cover of one song, it's an entire album of covers.

You can hear clips of the butchery for yourself right here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000000OCX/103-2350804-9679816

Click at your own risk.

I think this reviewer summed it up best:

Get this album if: 1) you like techno 2) you don't like Metallica in the first place 3) you've never heard any of Die Krupps' albums

I love Metallica and I love Die Krupps, but for some reason combining them was a BAD idea. Picture springy, robotic versions of 'tallica's songs barely recognizable from the originals, and Die Krupps totally selling out in some wierd way, and you get the idea. No matter how much you like Metallica, there's nothing much here worth saving.

[ghostsofgiants]

105. What about Metallica's "Garage Inc." album?

That has to be some kind of cover song crime itself.

[Spider Jerusalem]

107. THeir cover of Nick Cave's "Loverman" was the one that annoyed me the most

some of those actually weren't TOO bad. They did a decent job on "Turn The Page", at least.

[Benfea]

114. Heathen! I loved that album. -NT

[ghostsofgiants]

115. I just don't like Metallica in general, haha, so you know...

[Benfea]

177. That's it, now you must die.

Long live the Metal Militia!

[WeRQ4U]

213. This time I actually have to disagree with you primate1

Usually you're spot on. I was always a big Metallica fan growing up and I bought this album just as I had all the other Metallica albums before it. If nothing else, it made me curious as to the original versions of the songs on the album. And I thought they did good versions of Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy", Budgie's "Breadfan", Diamond Head's "Electric" and Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy". Granted, all of the originals were better, but their covers were AOK.

Now, the covers of Skinnard's "Tuesday's Gone" and Seger's "Turn the Page".....those were shitty.

[ghostsofgiants]

219. Like I said above...

I'm just a little prejudiced against Metallica to begin with.

[WeRQ4U]

222. Point taken

They don't appeal to everyone.

[derby378]

85. Laibach's cover of THE SENSUAL WORLD by Kate Bush

PSYCH!!

That's one for the "Fantasy" category, mind you.

[Left Is Write]

88. But speaking of Kate Bush...

I know plenty of people who think Pat Benatar's version of Wuthering Heights was criminal.

[derby378]

93. Never heard it, but I'll take your word for it (n/t)

[Plaid Adder]

108. It may have been a felony,

but the original is at LEAST a misdemeanor. Boy did I hate that song...and I had to hear it over, and over, and over again.

The Plaid Adder

[Benfea]

95. I love each and every Laibach cover...

…precisely because they're so horrible.

[derby378]

99. Just for you...

Laibach's lead singer, rendered as a South Park character:

[KamaAina]

87. I would say Edward Woodward (The Equalizer)'s "MacArthur Park"

no, really, from his anti-classic album "This Man Alone" -- but I'm not sure "MacArthur Park" qualifies as a good song in the first place.

edit: spacing

[Medium Baby Jesus]

94. Manfred Mann's cover of Blinded by the Light

I would rather go deaf than listed to that again.

:puke:

[Benfea]

98. Styx's cover of "Not Dead Yet"

They changed the music, they changed the lyrics, and not for the better either. They were trying to "give props" to a band most people outside Chicago have never heard of, but instead what they produced was a big insult to Bad Examples fans everywhere.

[yellowdogmi]

196. You speak the truth my friend.

I've seen them more times than I can count and they have started to play more shows lately. I wasn't sure who covered who there and couldn't find the credit online.

[Tom_Foolery]

104. Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis. n/t

[LaraMN]

109. Pat Boone does "Enter Sandman."

Oh yes, he did.

[CatholicEdHead]

140. I have this album, and yes he did

Give me S&M anyday.

[WeRQ4U]

214. You have GOT to be shitting me.

My mortal brain can't handle such a thing.

[Skittles]

111. that insipid wench Gwen Stefani doing IT'S MY LIFE

gawd, that was just sickening

[WildEyedLiberal]

127. "insipid wench"

:rofl:

[Skittles]

165. well, she is

that f***ing littl-girl breathy voice of hers makes me want to poke out my ear drums.

[CatholicEdHead]

141. What about her "If I were a rich girl"

With the slight rip off from Fiddler on the Roof.

:puke:

[Skittles]

168. not familiar with that

although I can say, EdHead, that everything that nasty woman sings makes me feel nauseated; I have left stores rather than be subjected to her piped-in crap.

[B3Nut]

174. Good grief that's an annoying song!

It's one of the many reasons I vehemently detest that bubblegum station here in Madison, Z-104. ARRRGH if I'm called to a cubicle to fix a computer and the radio is vomiting forth that vile irritating station, I kill the volume. And which station was sponsoring American Idol auditioners? Yup, Z-104. I knew there was a reason I hated Idol (though I love watching the bad singers, that show *is* good for some hysterical laughs!) Search the country for the next disposable manufactured pop star, then search again before the last one you found is disposed of by the fickle tasteless masses. Whatever.

Her "It's My Life" is relaxing by comparison to the rich girl tune. I was in a band that covered her cover of It's My Life...our singer walked all over Stefani. I kinda enjoyed playing the keyboard parts...

Todd in Beerbratistan

[Plaid Adder]

183. More a borrowing than a cover, really

Or I dunno what, but apart from the chorus, most of the song bears no relationship to the "Fiddler on the Roof" version.

That doesn't mean it's not annoying as hell, though.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[AngryOldDem]

237. But the video was cool....

<<ducking and covering>>>

[Initech]

117. NOFX covering the Titanic theme

Oops, I'm sorry. That would have required that the Titanic theme was a good song to begin with. :puke:

[tishaLA]

121. Streisand doing Bowie's "Life on Mars" or

Ella doing "Theme to Sanford and Son"

Sarah Vaughan doing an album of Beatles covers. It almost singlehandedly cost her a record contract.

[Orsino]

123. Donny and Marie: "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"

I win.

[gollygee]

124. Tiffany's version of "I Saw Her (or Him) Standing There"

ugh.

[Plaid Adder]

148. FLASHBACK! AAAAAAGH!!!

You're right--that WAS awful. Shudder. Shudder.

:scared:

The Plaid Adder

[martymar64]

232. Or doing "I Think we're Alone Now"

Tommy James must be rolling in his grave. If he's not dead, than I'm surprised that dreck didn't kill him.

[Zorro-3]

126. Moondance

Eddie Trager's cover of Van Morrison's "Moondance."

Apalling. Utterly appalling.

Well worth the dollar on itunes, I've never laughed so hard.

[Zorro-3]

134. David Johansen

Oh yeah, and David Johansen's cover of the Animals's "We've Got to Get Out of This Place/It's My Life"

[driver8]

130. Let us not forget Tori Amos' version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

I like some of her stuff, but she didn't need to cover that song.

[Montauk6]

142. I love her version, it made me rethink the original.

Now her cover of F.Mac's "Landslide," that's another story...

[gollygee]

185. I didn't mind that one, but I hated her cover of REM's

Losing My Religion

[WeRQ4U]

215. I actually liked that one.

But I hate REM, so, whatever.

[mdmc]

132. G&R Knockin on Heavens Door

[CatholicEdHead]

139. I like that version

along with "Live and Let Die"

[mdmc]

172. the horror

peace!

[SmileyBoy]

133. A Perfect Circle ripping off John's "Imagine"

You either play it with a guitar, or a piano. DON'T BE USING FUCKING SYNTHESIZERS!!!

[martymar64]

233. Perfect Circle doing "Let's Have a War"

Lee Ving should go do some ass-kickin'for that one!

[Zorro-3]

137. Neil Sedaka

His own of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do"

[Zorro-3]

138. William Shatner

"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" :evilgrin:

[Montauk6]

145. Pretty much all the R&B singers who do the National Anthem before boxing

matches.

They think they're going to outdo Marvin Gaye or José Feliciano but it ain't happ'nin'.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

146. 311 butchering The Cure's 'Lovesong'

is a good example

[LynneSin]

147. Someone actually did a remake of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody

:cry:

I forget who it was but it was some easy listening girl band and it horribly sucked!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

244. That's TERRIBLE.

"Bo Rhap," as I call it, is too good to be covered!

:cry:

[zone]

149. William Shatner--Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

[Hissyspit]

151. Will To Power's cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love"

Sucked all the humor and life out of it.

[donheld]

154. A Song For You - The Carpenters

IMHO nobody should have ever covered that after the Carpenters.

[HuckleB]

157. Any and all cover(s) by Cake.

[DaDeacon]

238. Not true...

Their cover of slow "Songs and Waltzes" is Great! So is their cover of "Perhaps"!

[Common Sense Party]

160. I would say Tom Jones covering Prince's "Kiss"

except that Prince's "Kiss" is one steaming piece of guano song to begin with.

[radwriter0555]

163. jessica simpson gargling and snorting her way through "Take my Breath Away

".. I was in TEARS after I heard her gutteral belching and destruction of that once great, classic tune.

Terry should be so proud for having done it to perfection.

[NMMNG]

166. Indeed.

After hearing that atrocity I couldn't even listen to the original for several months. x(

[Plaid Adder]

171. You know, "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" isn't great art,

but the original was STILL 100X better than Jessica Simpson's cover. Honey, are you kicking ass, or are you doing a lap dance? Make up your mind!

The Plaid Adder

[aclog]

173. try the operation ivy cover

[hickman1937]

202. I saw her do O Holy Night on PBS one night.

Had no idea who the hell she was. It was something honoring President Clinton right after he left office. I thought she was a producers kid they snuck in because daddy said they had to.

[tuvor]

167. I've heard a pretty lethargic version of Melt With You lately.

Don't know who's doing it, but it's awful.

[ProfessorGAC]

175. Oh Come On, PA

There has to be worse covers than that. I'm not a fan of Bruce or Manfred Mann, but that version was merely tedious, not terrible. I think if you tried, you could come up with something far worse. Meantime, i'm doing some mental voting on my pick.
The Professor

[Moosepoop]

179. Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton -- "We've Got Tonight"

What they did to Bob Seger's song was criminal.

[Plaid Adder]

184. THAT'S who sings that horrible thing!

Thank you, I was wondering who to blame for that. AUGH!

The Plaid Adder

[gollygee]

180. Edie Brickell doing "Where Have You Gone, My Blue Eyed Son"

don't know the specific title but the Dylan song. Her voice annoys me, the way she drops her voice lower at the end of every phrase.

[ET Awful]

182. That would be "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"

And I actually kind of liked her version. I like Dylan's better, but I wouldn't say hers was horrid.

[Dervill Crow]

187. Jack Webb - Try a Little Tenderness

I actually like Three Dog Night's cover as well as Otis R's rendition, but Jack Webb was unbelievable.

William Shatner's dreadfulness doesn't hold a candle to Jack Webb.

[Brewman_Jax]

188. Britney Spears' rendition of "My Prerogative"

[LeftyMom]

190. She did "Satisfaction" too.

:scared: :puke:

[Brewman_Jax]

193. OMG

are you series???2??2 :P

I didn't know she butchered...uh, remade that, too.

P.S. listened to the song sample...

[LeftyMom]

194. It is a horror, isn't it?

If the Rolling Stones Corporation weren't such a joke anymore Mick should have beat her to death with a bat for that one.

[liberalpragmatist]

204. HA! I was going to say just that!

But you beat me to it

[Throd]

192. Korn mutilated Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"

They deserve several swift kicks to the crotch for that abomination

[WeRQ4U]

217. They sure did.

Man was that bad. But they haven't produced anything of quality since "Life is Peachy" in 1996. Their foray into mainstream with "Got the Life" off of the "Follow the Leader" album was the beginning of the end for them.

So much passion in the first two albums, so little since.

[Missy Vixen]

197. Celine Dion's vocal assault on "At Last"

I can't believe she would ever have thought it was a good idea. Etta James owns that song.

Julie

[argyl]

198. Waylon Jennings doing Los Lobos's "Will the Wolf Survive?" He screwed

up "Devil's Right Hand" by Steve Earle pretty good too.Did his own stuff and duets with Willie pretty well but was too bombastic and over the top on these.

[long_green]

201. Stevie Wonder's version of Marley's "Redemption Song"

he makes it sound like the show stopper in a Disney animated movie musical about the Middle Passage.

[Progressive4Life]

203. Wyclef's cover of "Fortunate Son"

And normally I like Wyclef's stuff. What the hell was he thinking?

[liberalpragmatist]

205. Quiet Riot's "Cum on Feel the Noize"

Way to butcher a great rock anthem; shame that Quiet Riot's is the version that everybody remembers and NOBODY remembers the original by Slade.

[Redstone]

206. Manfred (not Manford) Mann should never be let anywhere near a

recording device. Hasn't he caused enough damage already?

But to your original question: the Indigo Girls ruining the perfectly good song "Romeo & Juliet" originally done by Dire Straits.

Redstone

[azurnoir]

207. The Cardigans

cover of Ironman or whoever did Down with the Sickness in Dawn of the Dead

[WeRQ4U]

218. Yellow Card's butchering of "Don't You Forget About Me" at the VMA's.

I couldn't watch as the Simple Minds athem from my upbringing was being torn to shreds by a few punk shitheads. Adding to the torment were Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall looking on with big grins on their faces. Fuckers.

[Alexodin]

227. Elton John doing Pinball Wizard it was a hit!

Hangs head in dismay.

[SKKY]

230. I don't know if this counts, but here goes...

...Although he wrote it originally, Prince's version of "Nothing Compares 2 U" sucks ass. It's the only song of his I can say that about.

[no name no slogan]

231. "Spirit in the Night" is pretty damn good, though

so's his cover of "Blinded by the Light". But I like that kind of cheezy shit. :P

The worst cover has to go to some lame-ass 80s band (can't remember who) who did a crassly crappy version of "Stairway to Heaven". The last half of the song was done in a pseudo-disco-y style that made me wish I had poked out my eardrums with that Q-tip when I got out of the shower.

[dr.strangelove]

234. Wow so manny to chose from

Recently I'll go with Dolly Parton- Stairway to Heaven. There are others that I'll have to think which is the worst. Maybe Madonna - American Pie or Lenny Kravits - American Woman (I like Kravits, but that was a POS, he took all the energy out of a great song). Dave Matthews cover of Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower.

[Elidor]

235. Watchtower is Dylan

Hendrix does indeed seem to "own" that song, but his version was also a cover.

[DaDeacon]

240. DMB's "All along the Watchtower" BOOOO !

I love DMB and Jimi but the two do not fit together. I've heard GREAT Hendrix covers, Jammie Cullum's "The Wind Cries Mary" comes to mind...buy yeah that DMB cover is bad!

[japple]

241. Willie Nelson singing Midnight Rider N/T

[japple]

242. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

It's Dolly's song and she does it best. Whitney's is overly emotional and she sounds like a gasbag.

Also, Willie Nelson singing Tom Waits' Picture in a Frame really sucks. Willie does a good job on his own songs, but I don't like a lot of his intrepretations of songs written by others. Ray Charles has the best rendition of Hoagy Carmichael's Georgia on My Mind. Willie's is passable, I guess.

[Left Is Write]

247. Thank you for saying that...

I've always thought that Whitney Houston's version was an abomination of Dolly's sweetly sad little song. I also never cared for Whitney's attitude that the song was "hers" after Bodyguard.

[Tom_Foolery]

243. Lonestar's Walking In Memphis. N/T

[samdogmom]

246. I can't believe no one has mentioned Paul Anka's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

It came out in 2005!

[Initech]

249. Heard that the other night

I'm taking a music appreciation class and the teacher was playing all these horriffic covers the other night.