What is the worse sin when it comes to covers of songs?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. A cover of the original song which is done in a totally different style than the original but by virtue of that change in style comes off sounding horribly? (i.e. John Mayer covering "Free Fallin'", Korn covering "Another Brick in the Wall")

OR

2. A cover of the original song that sounds virtually identical to the original other than the change in artist, thus redering it needless and redundant and possibly an excuse for lack of creativity/originality by the covering artist?

[unpossibles]

1. I picked B although there are covers I hate

But that said, "worse" is in the eye of the beholder.

[LWolf]

2. Either can be well done or a sin.

If it sounds TOO different, it loses what I liked about the song to begin with. If it is TOO close to the original, I'm going to stick with the original.

If it is well done, it can be different or similar, and it's good. If it is poorly done, it doesn't matter.

[TZ]

3. I think both can ruin a cover.

I remember a few years ago when Dwight Yokum was doing a cover of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen that it was going to be horrid...Turns out, although it was similar sounding to the original it still had its own rockabilly flair that made it fun and original..I now like both. I think a good cover can both sound similar and yet not be exactly alike. A bad cover can also be that way.
Some songs just translate better than others to different covers too...John Denver's Country Roads has a really nice cover done by Toots and the Maytals (reggae)

[SteppingRazor]

4. I went with option B, a cover that sounds exactly like the original.

Say want you want about bands that do option A. At least they're trying to make the cover their own. If they fail, at least they fail while trying something new. Bands that go with option B never even try.

[Forkboy]

5. For me, option 2 is the bigger travesty.

I'd rather see someone try and fail than not even try.

[MiddleFingerMom]

6. Some covers are FAR better than the originals...

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...if you're going to make it sound like the original -- just lay the
original track down on your recording and save yourself time and money.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
What would be the point?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
WWBRD?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
What Would Brother Ray Do?
.
.