Have you heard Pearl Jam's "Love Reign O'er Me"? It's an awesome cover. It's pretty faithful to the original, even down to Eddie Vedder's Daltreyesque, guttural screams. It's acceptable to copy-cat in redoing a song, but it's generally bad form to copy-cat every note . Hey, it works here. There's no formula for doing a cover song right. Some find success in deviating from the original, making someone else's song one's own. Johnny Cash resusitated his career by doing this. He breathes new life into Sting's I Hung My Head, U2's One, and Nine Inch Nails' Hurt. It's almost unfair to dub them "cover" songs. Let's call them "interpretations" or "treatments." Guns n Roses' live version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door is--apostasy!--better than the original. So is The Beatles' slightly sped-up, rockin' version of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles You Really Got a Hold on Me. John's scratchy, late-in-the-recording-session voice is in full effect here and it rocks. I love the late Joe Strummer's Redemption Song (and the touching video accompanying it). Tori Amos brings something fresh to Smells Like Teen Spirit and I Don't Like Mondays. Van Halen did some memorable covers, of which Pretty Woman really stands out. But all these songs were great before they hit the recycling bin. Giving an overlooked song recognition, as Quiet Riot's Cum On Feel the Noize, Dropkick Murphys' Shipping Out to Boston, and Tracey Ulmann's They Don't Know certainly did, is perhaps the dream of all would-be cover artists. The worst cover songs of all time? Madonna's American Pie, Guns n Roses' Sympathy for the Devil, and any version of any Beatles' song done by Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees are bad beyond words.

The other day I heard a remake of "Land of Confusion" (Genesis, 1986) by a band named Disturbed. It was pretty bad. Disturbed has a hard rock flavor, and it just didn't mesh with my words that originally came out of Phil Collins's mouth.

I also recently heard a band remake the Cure's Lovesong. It was o.k., but without Robert Smith's unique vocals, it just didn't sound right.

I was going to write "my memory of Phil Collins" so cross out the "my" in front of "words that originally." I don't want to start any rumors that I've writing songs for Genesis. I really didn't care for their music.

i think korn redid the wall. some songs you just dont touch. and ralph i like the cover by disturbed. but my fav. cover has to be metallicas cover of turn the page. man that rocks!

Though I prefer Metallica circa Master of Puppets (I have a friend who refers to them as "the band formerly known as Metallica), I agree that their version of "Turn the Page" is excellent. I think it better than Seger's original.

Reaching back a bit, I think CCR's remake of "Heard it through the Grapevine" is better than Gaye's (though according to Wikipedia, Norman Whitfield first recorded the song in 1967).

Good call on Metallica. They've done a few really good covers. "Turn the Page" being the best. But, they also do a good unplugged version of Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone" and, although a lot of people don't like it, that tune from the old sod "Whiskey in the Jar" is very good as well.

The Pearl Jam version is pretty darn good. But, speaking of "note for note", it sounds like they tracked in a lot of the original WHO licks. If not, they nailed the music to get as close to the original as could be possible.

A few famous cover songs that come to mind . . .

The Byrds - Turn, Turn, Turn.
Written by Pete Seeger, made a hit by the Byrds.

Steppenwolf – The Pusher
Written by unknown Hoyt Axton, made a hit by Steppenwolf and later covered by others.

Bob Dylan – House of the Rising Sun
Old Traditional Blues Song, performed by Dylan and then made a hit by the Animals and covered several times since.

The Byrds – Tambourine Man, and My Back Pages
Written by Dylan, improved by The Byrds.

Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower
Written by Dylan, psychedelically rocked up by Hendrix.

The Band – I Shall Be Released
Written by Dylan, performed by the Band; not sure which version is best.

One can go on with Dylan covers, so I’ll stop here.

John Lennon – Stand by Me
Performed and written by Ben E. King and a writing team, but much improved by Lennon.

The Beatles – Roll over Beethoven
Written and performed by Chuck Berry, but George Harrison does justice to the song.

One cover that never should have been undertaken is Mission of Burma's "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" - Covered by Moby, but the lyrics were changed to say "That's When I Realize It's Over" due to do-gooder political correctness fearing any mention of a gun on the radio or on MTV in the video.

Wow, all these redone songs done in a fresh way. How about "White and Nerdy" by Al Yankovic which is a spoof on "ridin" by Chamillionaire. Believe it or not, Chamillionaire actually enjoyed Yankovic's parody and put it in his myspace site!

Good remake:

Extreme doing Stone Cold Crazy (the out-trashed Metallica's version!)

Worst I've ever heard:

Dennis De Young doing Jimi Hendrix's Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire -- it is flat out atrocious.

Related: Sting's Little Wing was actually a very interesting rendition.

Favorite Covers-

Stevie Ray Vaughn-"Little Wing" By Jimi Hendrix

Rage Against The Machine- "kick Out The Jams" By MC5

Cream- "Crossroads" By Robert Johnson

Metallica- "The Prince" By Diamondhead

Van Halen- "You Really Got Me" By The Kinks

Rare Earth- "Get Ready" By The Temptations

Rod Stewart- "Twistin' The Night Away" By Sam Cooke

The Rolling Stones- "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" By The Temptations

James Taylor- "You've Got A Friend" By Carole King

The Fugees(Lauren Hill)- "killing Me Softly" By Roberta Flack