Yesterday Johnny delivered something we had been planning to do for awhile: A covers mixtape. It’s a daunting task, picking 10 tracks or so out of the hundreds of great covers there are out there, and I’m sure there will be many many more to come. But there were some crucial ones that I felt absolutely should not be back-burnered. So here’s a follow-up, eleven of my personal favorites.
Buick Makane / Big Dumb Sex
Cover: Guns N’ Roses
Original: T-Rex / Soundgarden
So there’s been a lot of talk about Guns N’ Roses around here lately, and a lot of trash talk directed towards their last ‘real’ album, the covers disc The Spaghetti Incident. Granted, the selection of songs was kinda weird, but sometimes weird can be fucking awesome, such as this strange multiracial siamese twin.
Helter Skelter
Cover: Mötley Crüe
Original: The Beatles
Sacrilege right? Drunken half-witted Sunset Boulevard gutter trash covering the finest, most respected pop group in the history of the universe. Whatever. If you can still stand to listen to the original after hearing this version, pack up your shit, step away from the rock and roll, and go home to mommy and daddy.
Buddy Holly
Cover: Biffy Clyro
Original: Weezer
This is some scottish rock group that seems to be fairly famous everywhere but here in the US. I don’t know a whole lot about them, but this track showed up on some Kerrang! compilation, and I couldn’t help but fall in love.
Toxic
Cover: Local H
Original: Britney Spears
Of all the tongue in cheek ironic covers of megahit pop songs by megaunknown indie bands, this is one of the best. I believe it was posted on the band’s website as a Christmas gift to fans a few years back.
Metro
Cover: System Of A Down
Original: Berlin
I’m not a big fan of System Of A Down, but there are at least two songs that they’ve done amazing covers of: This one, and Snowblind by Black Sabbath.
Valerie
Cover: Mark Ronson w/ Amy Winehouse
Original: The Zutons
Mark Ronson’s latest album, Version, is basically a best-of covers compilation in and of itself. There are tons of great ones on there, all creative and radically different from the originals. This is one of my favorites, and it helped turn me onto The Zutons; particularly their second album, Tired Of Hanging Around, where the original can be found.
Black Steel
Cover: Tricky
Original: Public Enemy
Tricky is a fucking musical genius, and this revision of Public Enemy’s Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos is a fine example. The original recording is close to my heart, as it’s from the first album that I actually managed to piss off my relatively liberal parents with, but I can’t deny the superior musicianship in Tricky’s version.
Killer Queen
Cover: Sum 41
Original: Queen
Despite the fact that Sum 41 sucks, in 2005 they attempted to cover a classic song by one of the hardest bands to cover, and shockingly, they somehow knocked it out of the fucking park. There is no way this recording came to be without some sort of contract with Satan himself, but that’s fine by me: I’ve got an interesting new take on a classic track, and the comfort in knowing that at least one shitty band will burn in hell for all eternity.
Simple Man
Cover: The Deftones
Original: Lynyrd Skynyrd
The Deftones have done a lot of great covers. I had to choose between this, their versions of Sade’s No Ordinary Love, The Smiths’ Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want, Duran Duran’s The Chaffeur (which was basically just more obvious a cover than The Passenger from White Pony), and The Cars’ Drive. This one fit into the mix best.
Easy
Cover: Faith No More
Original: The Commodores
One of my favorite covers of all time: Faith No More’s cover of Easy, from 1993’s Songs To Make Love To EP. If Johnny had fit this onto his covers mix yesterday, I might have considered it complete enough to not immediately warrant a reactionary follow-up. He did get Ministry’s Friend Of The Devil though… That’s another crucial one.
Long Train Runnin’
Cover: Hanson
Original: The Doobie Brothers
Yes, that Hanson. No, seriously. Trust me. I know, last time you checked, Hanson were three 12 year old girls and they had only one song, MMM-Bop, and it sucked balls. Well, they grew up, and they’re fucking talented. They sound like The Black Crowes now, with black Michael Jackson singing, and this cover of Long Train Runnin’ from their appearance on the Howard Stern Show gave me chills when I tuned in- not knowing who it was until afterwards.
About Skwerl
Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill was taught his first computer programming language by his Mother's marijuana dealer at age ten. His first job involved hustling TicketMaster lines on behalf of a New Jersey concert ticket broker at age fourteen, followed by a job in graphic design shortly after graduating high school and trade school simultaneously in 1998. He built his first website in 1996 or so, and continues to do things the way they should be done, rather than the way everyone else does. He's a bit of an asshole, but he's fiercely loyal to his friends, and to fellow fans of good music.Born and raised in Philadelphia, Skwerl now resides in Los Angeles.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:50 PM
Posting a song by Sum 41 means you listen to Sum 41, which means that all credibility is lost forever. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:51 PM
Oh, and Alkaline Trio do The Metro way better.
July 13th, 2008 at 7:51 PM
Oh, and they did it first. Oh and we should be able to edit our comments after they are posted.
July 13th, 2008 at 8:20 PM
i’ll check out the alkaline trio version… never been real big on them.
as for sum 41, that track is on a queen tribute album we promoted when i worked at universal. kinda had to.
but usually i get way more shit for taking hanson seriously.
but you’re right, you don’t make the rules here. we do.
not that we’ve ever been big on following rules…
July 13th, 2008 at 9:09 PM
Children of Bodom - Oops I did it again, should be mentioned.
http://search.playlist.com/tracks/bodom%20oops%20i%20did%20it%20again
July 13th, 2008 at 11:11 PM
I LOVE that you managed to get “Long Train Runnin” on that list. I’ll take credit for finding that little gem. It’s pretty fucking awesome. And yes, I DID just call something by Hanson awesome. Hey Skwerl, didn’t you go to a Hanson show?
July 13th, 2008 at 11:14 PM
hahahaha… yes i did. and chris and i hung out with them backstage and they were totally cool. i almost mentioned it ’cause it’s a great story, but i didn’t want to do the hollywood name drop anecdote thing.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I can’t help but direct you to one that was recently released and hasn’t had enough time to rise up in the ranks as I think (and hope) it will. Tally Hall covering Biz Markie’s “Just A Friend”.
It’s on their Myspace now if you’re up for it. (http://www.myspace.com/tallyhall)
July 14th, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Come on. Song aside, putting Deryck Whibley anywhere on the same planet as Freddie Mercury is pure blasphemy. What’s next? William Hung singing Luciano Pavarotti? Rosanne Barr singing Aretha Franklin?
Oh, but the rest are all great cuts - Faith No More’s Easy is my own personal #1. And that Deftones (a band I’ve never listened to) track has me digging up their other covers.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Sweet merciful Gosh, you can’t imagine my ire.
I’m one of those awful, archetypal Weezer fans. The debut nestles down next to few others, deep in my girl-like soul. Anything after that, meh. Well, not meh, not Pinkerton, but you know what I mean. Half the fanbase gained at the time I expect feel the same.
I also have a strong dislike, venomous possibly, for Biffy Clyro.
Maybe it was sitting through their early Jangle-Angle-thin-rock videos, oh so artsy.
Possibly having a 9-5 with enforced Radio One when they decided that they would butter up their sound to get over, forcing their newly found awkward, still artastically(!) angular, still thin sounding attempts at stadium rock through a funnel into my safe place. The ‘musical’ equivalent of a lecherous drunk uncle.
I’m not like this about any other band, honestly, I like to feel I’m over all that, what with not being 14 anymore. But I’m starting to feel someones playing with me (not like that).
Did any of you rate that ‘Changed for the sake of change’ take on Buddy Holly? I honestly couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
That was like a pretentious talent show band. You take away the inexplicable cred that’s associated with them, and that song would be laughed off as a joke. It wasn’t a style, it wasn’t something new, it wasn’t taking it to a daring new place, it was awful.
I mean that, really, really awful.
Sorry for this, I’m not that sort of person. If it was done well, with a little thought, I would be the first to applaud. But just cutting something that flows and has great pace up onto choppy bits?
Not a talent if it’s all you’re capable of.
Sorry again, but I fucking hate Biffy Clyro.
I hate them like no other.
I can’t just nothing them. I’ve tried, but them and their fans bring out the worst in me.
If one of you can tell me why they are even here with their godawful pretentious mess switched recently to pandering edgey skinny jeans rock, I’d really appreciate it.
Sorry for the run-on sentences, B-C-Ire fucks with my perspective.
July 16th, 2008 at 5:41 AM
Some good choices on there - deftones always do great covers, have you heard their cover of Sade’s “no ordinary love”?. Not so sure about Sum 41 and Mark Ronson though!
If you want to hear a cover of the beatles ‘come together’ done as you’ve never heard it before then check it out on my myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/boywithatoy
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 AM
The Biffy Clyro cover rocks, I don’t think they’ve changed it for the sake of changing it, they’ve done a really interesting rework. Isn’t it far easier to just do a straight up, like for like cover of a song?
I can understand if all you heard of them is their radio singles, you might not think too much especially when played through your work radio, but live and on album Biffy Clyro are a fucking great band. I can understand that no amount of argument is going to convert you but anyone who likes the cover on here should check out ‘Vertigo of Bliss’ and ‘Infinity Land’, 2 classic albums without a bad song on either. I can’t believe that they aren’t big over in the US yet? been doing pretty well here for the last 10 years or so, and I don’t think they have really pandered to those into skinny jeans rock, they’ve been doing their own thing since about ‘97 and as far as I can tell it hasn’t changed too much at all?!
July 24th, 2008 at 2:00 PM
What, no Scarlett Johansson?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:41 PM
so for once in my life
let me
get what i want
lord knows it would be the first time
July 28th, 2008 at 12:28 AM
Its been mentioned already but the fact that you would even begin to place the trash that is that Sum 41 song on a “best of” covers list says a lot. I actually own that particular album and the best cover on it by far is Jason Mraz’s version of Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy. Im not a Mraz fan by any means but vocally he nails it and manages to maintain the integrity and emotion of the song. Deryck’s vocal melodies in Killer Queen are all over the place and his vocals are so drab. No thanks.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:36 AM
yeah, there are tons of great covers on that tribute disc. i picked the most shocking.
i said straight up that sum 41 sucks, and that i’m happy they’re burning in hell for that cover. don’t get your panties in a bunch.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:13 PM
Ok…creating a list like this is bound to create controversy and I disagree with pretty much the whole thing
….but how do you miss Cake’s cover of “I will survive”? aside from changing a song - that causes every drunk female to belt it out no matter what - into something completely different yet making a better version is amazing.
Not to mention the insanely good bass line
July 28th, 2008 at 6:44 PM
Not going to go into the Sum41 thing, I thought their cover wasn’t too bad.
Biffy Clyro, first time I hear of them, they surely have their own style. The Buddy Holly cover was hit and miss for me. Some parts I liked, others were too cut up.
Metro is my favourite of all time. The first time I ever heard it was from SOAD, I didn’t even know it was a cover. Alkaline Trio also does a nice cover of it, but they stick a lot closer to the original than SOAD did. Thanks for putting it up there!
P.S. Long Train ‘Runnin’, good one! (First time I heard that version, not too bad for a bunch of girls! :P)
July 28th, 2008 at 6:45 PM
i love cake. saw ‘em live here in la a little while back. and yeah, that’s a great cover. it was in the first pile, but in the end i left it off ’cause everyone’s heard it. i wanted to go a little deeper than the obvious.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:51 PM
Favorite cover to date; Sia covering Paranoid Android by Radiohead. Amazing.
November 17th, 2008 at 3:23 AM
Made my morning. Knew some of them, was happy to hear SOAD, have been taken by surprise by Hanson and made the plan to listen to Deftones all day long now.
But, sorry, the Mötley Crüe version of “Helter Skelter” does nothing but suck. Gruesome. So I pack up my shit, step away from the rock and roll, and go home to mommy and daddy. Well. I’d like to at least, if I wasn’t at work.