List your favorite cover songs here.

Mine:


Tori Amos - Smells like Teen Spirit (Nirvana cover)

Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats (The Knife cover)

A Static Lullaby - Let Go (Imogen Heap cover)

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower (Bob Dylan cover)

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Crimson and Clover (Tommy James and the Shondells cover)

Led Zeppelin Babe I'm gonna leave you (Joan Baez cover)

The Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane (Velvet Underground cover)

System of a Down - Snowblind (Black Sabbath cover)

Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe (The Leaves cover)

Me First and the Gimme Gimme's - Take me home, Country Roads (John Denver)

The Postal Service - Against all Odds (Phil Collins cover)

Muse - Please Please Please (The Smiths cover)

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (leonard Cohen cover)

The Ataris - Boys of Summer (Don henley cover)

The Birthday Massacre - Neverending story (Limahl cover)

Deftones - Simple man (Lynyrd Skynyrd cover)



And the WORST cover I know: Scissor Sisters - Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd). A travesty.

haha, of course it helps that is has, like, the catchiest refrain of all time...

I thought I'd also recommend people check out Me First and the Gimme Gimmes; a punk band doing only covers.

Some of my favorites (beside the one listed) are:

Don't cry for me Argentina
Uptown Girl
Stairway to heaven
Nothing Compares 2 U



I love covers.

Quoted from The boy who could fly me first and the gimme gimmes version of rainbow connection is awesome as well

They made a cover of that!?

That's like my favorite song of all time!

Great ones too. I'm also kinda like Millencollin's Every breath you take and Rise Against - Any way you want it.

I have such a cheesy taste in music.

Johnny Cash - Hurt (NIN cover)
Faith No More - War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
GWAR - School's Out (Alice Cooper cover)

I'm trying to think if there're any decent Pink Floyd covers but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Maybe there aren't any, LOL. I'll give it a little more thought.

Love Hurts - Nazareth --(original by Everly Brothers)
Hurt - Johnny Cash --(original by NIN)
Tainted Love - Softcell --(original by Gloria Jones)
All along the watch tower - Jimi Hendrix --(original by Bob Dylan)
Sweet Dreams - Marilyn Manson --(original by Eurythmics)

Johnny Cash's rendition of NIN Hurt was the darkest piece of music ever recorded. Ozzy did a collection of covers on his box set, which he re-released as Ozzy Undercover. Sympathy for the Devil by the Stones...Tremendous...Also highly recommend a collection of Ramones Covers put together by Rob Zombie (We're a Happy Family), which features Green Day, u2, Metallica, Eddie Vedder and others. On the more goofy side, Reel Big Fish does a phenomenal accapella version of New York New York (on Cheer Up). Also suggest Eric Johnson's cover of Dylan's My Back Pages on Bloom. Favorite of all time though is Killswitch Engage doing Dio's Holy Diver-Hard to come by, but well worth the effort. Caffiene fueled rant over. Thank you for time.

Metallica's Turn the Page (originally Bob Seger) was pretty good.

And there's always Weird Al's "Bohemian Polka" if you want a really different take on Queen's classic rhapsody.

Here is a list from the NY POST

    01 "Stairway to Heaven" - Dolly Parton (Led Zeppelin)
    02 "Baby Got Back" - Jonathan Coulton (Sir Mix-A-Lot)
    03 "Hazy Shade of Winter" - The Bangles (Simon and Garfunkel)
    04 "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinead O'Connor (Prince)
    05 "Showroom Dummies" - Señor Coconut & His Orchestra (Kraftwerk)
    06 "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm (Michael Jackson)
    07 "Personal Jesus" - Johnny Cash (Depeche Mode)
    08 "Against All Odds" - The Postal Service (Phil Collins)
    09 "Easy (Like Sunday Morning)" - Faith No More (The Commodores)
    10 "Tainted Love" - Soft Cell (Gloria Jones)
    11 "Tainted Love" - Marilyn Manson (Gloria Jones)
    12 "Under Pressure" - My Chemical Romance and the Used (Queen and David Bowie)
    13 "Mah Na Mah Na" - Cake (Piero Umiliani)
    14 "Wicked Game" - H.I.M. (Chris Isaak)
    15 "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" - Muse (The Smiths)
    16 "Blue Monday" - Orgy (New Order)
    17 "Satisfaction" - Devo (The Rolling Stones)
    18 "I Want Candy" - Good Charlotte (The Strangeloves)
    19 "How Soon Is Now" - Love Spit Love (The Smiths)
    20 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Paul Anka (Nirvana)
    21 "Walk" - Avenged Sevenfold (Pantera)
    22 "Let Down" - Radiodread (Radiohead)
    23 "Crazy Train" - Bullet for My Valentine (Ozzy Osbourne)
    24 "All Along the Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)
    25 "Helpless" - k.d. lang (Neil Young)
    26 "Louie Louie" - The Kingsmen (Richard Berry)
    27 "Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)" - The Doors (Weill/Brecht)
    28 "Wonderwall" - Ryan Adams (Oasis)
    29 "Take Me to the River" - Talking Heads (Al Green)
    30 "Walk This Way" - Run DMC (Aerosmith)
    31 "Me and Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin (Kris Kristofferson)
    32 "Gloria" - Patti Smith (Van Morrison's Them)
    33 "I Fought the Law" - The Clash (Bobby Fuller Four)
    34 "Star-Spangled Banner" - Jimi Hendrix (Francis Scott Key)
    35 "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" - Saint Etienne (Neil Young)
    36 "Bring Tha Noize" - Anthrax (Public Enemy)
    37 "Satisfaction" - Cat Power (Rolling Stones)
    38 "You're No Good" - Linda Ronstadt (Betty Everett)
    39 "Another Brick in the Wall Parts 1, 2, 3" - Korn (Pink Floyd)
    40 "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley (Leonard Cohen)
    41 "My Way" - Sid Vicious (Frank Sinatra)
    42 "Always on My Mind" - Pet Shop Boys (Brenda Lee)
    43 "Oh, Pretty Woman" - Van Halen (Roy Orbison)
    44. ". . . Baby One More Time" - Travis (Britney Spears)
    45 "Boys of Summer" - The Ataris (Don Henley)
    46 "Eight Miles High" - Roxy Music (The Byrds)
    47 "Superstar" - Sonic Youth (The Carpenters)
    48 "John the Revelator" - Depeche Mode (Spiritual)
    49 "My Favorite Things" - John Coltrane (Mary Martin)
    50 "If You Leave" - Nada Surf (OMD)
    51 "Everybody's Talking" - Harry Nilsson (Fred Neil)
    52 "Respect" - Aretha Franklin (Otis Redding)
    53 "Crazy Mary" - Pearl Jam (Victoria Williams)
    54 "Working Class Hero" - Green Day (John Lennon)
    55 "Comfortably Numb" - Scissor Sisters (Pink Floyd)
    56 "Jolene" - The White Stripes (Dolly Parton)
    57 "Darling Nikki" - Foo Fighters (Prince)
    58 "Spider-Man" - The Ramones (for 1967 TV cartoon series)
    59 "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston (Dolly Parton)
    60 "It Was A Very Good Year" - William Shatner (Frank Sinatra)
    61 "Sweet Child O' Mine" - Luna (Guns N' Roses)
    62 "Landslide" - Dixie Chicks (Fleetwood Mac)
    63 "King of the Road" - R.E.M. (Roger Miller)
    64 "Nobody Does It Better" - Radiohead (Carly Simon)
    65. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding" - Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Nick Lowe)
    66 "Stop Your Sobbing" - The Pretenders (The Kinks)
    67 "I Shall Be Released" - The Band (Bob Dylan)
    68 "Chelsea Hotel" - Lloyd Cole (Leonard Cohen)
    69 "Proud Mary" - Ike and Tina Turner (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
    70 "Just" - Mark Ronson with Alex Greenwald (Radiohead)
    71 "Jimmy Loves MaryAnn" - Josie Cotton (Looking Glass)
    72 "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" - Elton John (The Beatles)
    73 "Venus" - Bananarama (Shocking Blue)
    74 "Jackie Blue" - Smashing Pumpkins (Ozark Mountain Daredevils)
    75 "Love Hurts" - Nazareth (The Everly Brothers)
    76 "Blinded by the Light" - Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Bruce Springsteen)
    77 "Baker Street" - Foo Fighters (Gerry Rafferty)
    78 "Ain't That a Shame" - Cheap Trick (Fats Domino)
    79 "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" - Isaac Hayes (Glen Campbell)
    80 "Dear Prudence" - Siouxsie and the Banshees (The Beatles)
    81 "Twist and Shout" - The Beatles (The Isley Brothers)
    82 "Helter Skelter" - U2 (The Beatles)
    83 "Imagine" - A Perfect Circle (John Lennon) 84 "Eleanor Rigby" - Thrice (The Beatles)
    85 "Live and Let Die" - Guns N' Roses (Wings)
    86 "With a Little Help From My Friends" - Joe Cocker (The Beatles)
    87 "Hurt" - Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails)
    88 "Enjoy the Silence" - Lacuna Coil (Depeche Mode)
    89 "I Will Survive" - Cake (Gloria Gaynor)
    90 "Rock el Casbah" - Rachid Taha (The Clash)
    91 "Sex (I'm A)" - Peaches (Berlin)
    92 "Caldonia" - Mos Def (Cab Calloway)
    93 "Wasted" - Camper Van Beethoven (Black Flag)
    94 "Low Rider" - Drunken Boat (War)
    95 "Turn, Turn, Turn" - The Byrds (Pete Seeger)
    96 "Don't Give Up" - Willie Nelson & Sinead O'Connor (Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush)
    97 "Glamorous Life" - The Fever (Sheila E.)
    98 "Stairway to Heaven" - Rodrigo y Gabriela (Led Zeppelin)
    99 "Since U Been Gone" - Ted Leo (Kelly Clarkson)
    100 "Star Wars Theme" - Bill Murray (John Williams)

Here are few of my favorites:

THIS ONE IS BY IAN BROWN WHO USED TO BE IN THE STONE ROSES:








THIS IS TWO COVERS BY JANES ADDICTION. I LOVE THEIR VERSION OF SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL:








AND OF COURSE IF YOU ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT COVER SONGS YOU HAVE TO INCLUDE THE GRANDDADDY OF ALL COVER BANDS DREAD ZEPPELIN:

I almost forgot this outstanding cover of the Gnarls Barkley song Crazy by Ray Lamontagne

Speaking of good cover bands, if your in the LA/Las Vegas area, check out the Atomic Punks, a tribute to Dave Era Van Halen!

A few which immediately come to mind:

Sabbra Cadabra  - Black Sabbath, covered by Metallica
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty, covered by Foo Fighters
Land of Confusion - Phil Collins, covered by Disturbed
Easy - The Commodores, covered by Faith No More
Summer Breeze - forget who sang it originally (oops!), covered by Type O Negative
Paranoid - Black Sabbath, covered by Megadeth

Some of the WORST:

Bringing on the Heartbreak - Def Leppard, covered by Mariah Carey
Feel Like Makin' Love - Bad Company, covered by Kid Rock
Kiss - Prince, covered by Tom Jones

Ummm.. I am the Walrus, covered by Jim Carrey. It's fairly decent due to his amazingly animated voice. My favourite Me First and the Gimme Gimmes cover is I Believe I Can Fly. The ukulele does the song wonders.

I never knew heartbeats was a cover.

Last great cover is Zeps, "When the Levee Breaks".

Worst of all time no doubt goes to ....
Pat Boone "In a Metal Mood." I kid you not. Crazy Train. Paradise City. Panama.
All done (expertly) in a jazz piano lounge style.
Truly cringeworthy, way worse than Sheryl Crow's rendiition of Sweet Child of Mine.

Also fun is Hayseed Dixie, who do AC/DC in a redneck bluegrass style.

Better is Apocalyptica, who do cello arrangements of Metallica.

Most of my favourates have been covered here, goldfinger 99 red balloons is a good one already mentioned.  I agree with Me First and the gimme gimmes covers are great too.  What about Machineheads cover of Message in a Bottle, I like this cover.  I also admit Johnny Cash's Hurt cover is very moving.

Quoted from alffy Most of my favourates have been covered here, goldfinger 99 red balloons is a good one already mentioned.  I agree with Me First and the gimme gimmes covers are great too.  What about Machineheads cover of Message in a Bottle, I like this cover.  I also admit Johnny Cash's Hurt cover is very moving.

I almost forgot about Machinehead's Message in a bottle. I loved that song. Haven't heard it since I was 15 though.

I've been hearing a lot of outstanding covers lately, so picking a list would be pretty difficult at this point.  I'll list a few that come to mind, and then I'll edit and add later.

Jeff Buckley - Halleleujah
Ray LaMontagne - Crazy
Tool - No Quarter (Led Zeppelin)
Placebo - Running up That Hill (I forget who this is a cover of)
Ben Folds - Tiny Dancer
The Postal Service - Such Great Heights
The Foo Fighters - Darling Nicky
Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (one of my favorite Zep songs that I didn't know was a cover until recently)
Metallica - Turn the Page


I really don't know if this should count, but I'm listening to a pretty good cover of Weezer's "Say it Ain't So" by Mozella.  Also, Between the Buried and Me doesn't do an awful version of Colorblind by the Counting Crowes either.

Guns N' Roses - Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
Guns N' Roses - Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney)
Guns N' Roses - Cat's in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)
System of a Down - Shame on a Nigga (Wu-Tang Clan)
Bonnie Tyler - Have You Ever Seen the Rain (CCR)
This is Halloween - Marilyn Manson (Danny Elfman)
Sean Connery - In My Life (Beatles)
Peter Sellers - A Hard Day's Night (Beatles)

Oh and for a rather comprehensive list of Beatles covers, you can go here.

I dig.....

Hurt - Johnny Cash --(NIN)
All Along The WatchTower - Jimi Hendrix --(Bob Dylan)
Darling Nikki - Foo Fighters --(Prince)
Gin & Juice - Richard Cheese --(Snoop Dogg)


There are many others but I'm having a brain fart trying to think of them.  

Here are some I really like.

Wicked Game (Chris Isaacs) redone by Giant Drag
I dunno, I like her voice. The original puts me to sleep but Giant Drag gives it an indie sound that I dig.  

Bring the Pain (Wu Tang Clan) redone by Mindless Self Indulgence
This is the song that got me hooked on MSI. It's insane, a hyperbole of what MSI is. In your face and out there. They took a not so heavy rap and made it wacky. I love it

Fuck tha Police (NWA) redone by Rage Against the Machine
What can I say, Rage is amazing. I love the agressive sound of Rage's singer and the energy they bring.

Boyz-n-the-Hood ( Eazy E) redone by Dynamite hack.
Ok, this song is hilarious. It's so laid back it just makes you smile.

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay - Justin Nozuka (Otis Redding cover)

I was really impressed with godsmacks cover of Good Times, Bad Times.

Tainted Love - Marilyn Manson (Gloria Jones)

Manic Street Preachers - 'Suicide is Painless  (aka: The Theme Song from M*A*S*H')  - original by Unknown (But if anybody can find it, please let me know.)

Jeff Buckley - 'Hallelujah' - original by Leonard Cohen

Placebo - 'Where is My Mind' - original by The Pixies

Johnny Cash - 'Hurt' - original by nine inch nails

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - 'Blinded by the Light' - original by Bruce Springstein

Deftones - 'Say It Ain't So' - original by Weezer

Oh yeah, and a few I forgot:

eels - 'Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover' - original by Sophie B. Hawkins

Ugly Kid Joe - 'Cats 'N the Cradle' - original by Harry Chapin

Marilyn Manson - 'Working Class Hero' - original by John Lennon

and, this is a little bit biased and a shameless plug because it's my high school band, but...

rainclowns - 'He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper' - original by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

It was actually descent considering we were hard rock.  Oh yeah... and white.




Now, as for the worst covers:

Marilyn Manson - 'Suicide is Painless (aka: The Theme Song from M*A*S*H)' - original by Unknown.  (But if anybody can find it, please let me know.)

Madonna - 'American Pie' - original by Don McLean

Jessica Simpson - 'These Boots Were Made for Walking' - original by Nancy Sinatra

Jessica Simpson - 'Take My Breath Away' - original by Berlin




And a friend just called me.  Johnny Mandel wrote the music for 'Suicide is Painless' while Mike Altman wrote the lyrics.  Mike Altman was only 14 when he penned the depressing lyrics.  Johnny Mandel originally sang it, also.

Quoted from Matt B I've been hearing a lot of outstanding covers lately, so picking a list would be pretty difficult at this point.  I'll list a few that come to mind, and then I'll edit and add later. Jeff Buckley - Halleleujah Ray LaMontagne - Crazy Tool - No Quarter (Led Zeppelin) Placebo - Running up That Hill (I forget who this is a cover of) Ben Folds - Tiny Dancer The Postal Service - Such Great Heights The Foo Fighters - Darling Nicky Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (one of my favorite Zep songs that I didn't know was a cover until recently) Metallica - Turn the Page I really don't know if this should count, but I'm listening to a pretty good cover of Weezer's "Say it Ain't So" by Mozella.  Also, Between the Buried and Me doesn't do an awful version of Colorblind by the Counting Crowes either.

Running Up That Hill was Kate Bush.
Iron and Wine covered The Postal Service's Such Great Heights.  I actually kind of prefer the cover version.
A lot of Led Zeppelin's catalog is covers... sort of.  They ripped off a lot of American blues musicians over the years, especially early on.  

As for favorite covers...
Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah has to be at the top.
Rufus Wainwright's version is pretty good too.
Johnny Cash, with all due respect Mr. Reznor, owns Hurt.  I cannot listen to that version without getting chills.  The video is one of the only one's I've ever seen that literally brought me to tears.  Of course, Mr. Cash tends to do that.  His cover of Kristofferson's Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down is heartbreaking.
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes is one of my favorite bands.  I've got like six or seven of their albums and if it's at all possible, I want to have them play my daughter's Sweet 16 party.  We're not Jewish, but she loves their version of Hava Nagila.
Another fave is The Recliners' version of I Wanna Be Sedated. Pure silliness.

Quoted from James McClung I'm trying to think if there're any decent Pink Floyd covers but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Maybe there aren't any, LOL. I'll give it a little more thought.

Check out Radiohead's version of "Wish you were here", it is quite brilliant.