Cover songs. what are your thoughts?

Question

I'm so peeved by all the cover albums! rod steward, angelis, that guy from X factor, blonde opera lady, male opera group...
What's the point? i'll gladly allow crappy music on tv, as long as its their own music and not something that someone else wrote or a song that's been out for years or been covered for the umpteenth time. and if i hear one more cover of an english pop song with the lyrics translated to italian when it just being sung by an english group, i'll kick asses.

a cover song here or there, fine. especially if it's an interpretation of an old song. but if theyre going to sing a song in hopes tha it sounds like the original, which frankly, it does, then whats thew point?

i love rufus wainwrights cover of leonard cohens' hellelujah and josh grobans' cover of "starry starry night (vincent)". mcr's cover of "all i want for christmas is you"- i found funny in a humerous way- it sounds slightly stalkerish.

but i still dont like 99.9 of the covers out there. and i especially think that covers shouldnt be released and sold as their own.



Welldone, some great answers. = )

Answer 1

It's hard for me to accept any version of a song other than the one I heard first. If I hear a cover first, sometimes I might like it more than the original. When I find out it's a cover, I feel a little disappointed.

Answer 2

I can't see the point of most cover songs - they are simply poor. That McFly version of a Queen song - what was the point of that?

In order for a cover song to mean anything it has to be different to the original. Like when Marylin Manson covered Tainted Love by Soft Cell That was pretty vaild as he made the song very different to the original. I am not a huge Marylin Manson fan but fair play to him on that one.
Another decent cover as Blackmore's Night doing a ballard version of the Judas Priest song Diamonds and Rust. The song took on a new level with this performance.

I guess songs are like plays. Anyone can remake MacBeth but it is only worth seeing a great performance which portrays the characters in a fresh way. If every version of MacBeth was the same then it would not be worth seeing.

Answer 3

I entirely agree with you. Whats the point of doing a cover of an old song, when it sounds exactly the same as the original. In order to do a cover you need to make it your own. If not, then don;t bother. Westlife are number one with their crappy album of covers, and has beaten Oasis, U2 and even the Beatles !!! How can you justify that ? Its crazy. The problem is that most youngsters have never heard the original, so the record companies can release these records to people who have never heard this stuff before. But frankly I personally think this is pointless, as most of them are killing these songs. My alltime cover of a song is Jeff Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", one of the few songs I feel that has been done justice and even bettered the original.

Answer 4

I think it depends on who the artist / band is,and what they're trying to cover.
I personally don't like cover songs,but,there are some good ones out there.
Some are better than the originals,but a lot of artists / bands have no feeling for the song,the lyrics or tempo.
I think it's quite annoying when you get someone trying to cover a song,say,by Bonnie Tyler,Meatloaf or a very distinct artist,who's voice you can recognise just about anywhere.
Eric Prydz has done a cover of Pink Floyd's,Another Brick In The Wall.
Now there is one brilliant song,as sung by the original that you can kill,as Mr Prydz has done.

Answer 5

I agree that there seems to be loads of rubbish cover versions at the moment - actually not at the moment, for the last 5 years or something. But they are sometimes phenomenal, better than the original. If you want an example, listen to any of Johnny Cash's last recordings, his versions of Hurt, The Mercy Seat, Danny Boy - genius, absolute genius.

So I figure I have to put up with Girls Aloud doing I Think We're Alone Now, so that I can have Arctic Monkeys doing Biology... You see, can't have joy without pain!

Answer 6

I tend to agree. If a song is covered and it sounds exactly the same as the original, then why bother. If it has been tweaked and altered, and sounds different from the original, then I'm happy with that.
For example (I'm going to show my age now) Kate Bush covered Elton John's "Rocket Man", and turned it into a much better song (in my opinion).

Answer 7

I agree, but I would take it even a bit further. I think that most covers that try to interpret things in a different way just plain suck and should not be allowed.

Answer 8

I know what you mean but some covers are very good and i have to say a few ( a hand full if that ). we should give these people a chance as this maybe their only chance....

Answer 9

i agree with you................but radio 1 bringing out an album of the live lounge where artists sing other peoples hits live it should be brill keane singing U2with or with out you outstanding
or artic monkeys singing girls aloud love machine
it has some other interesting tracks look forward to that one

Answer 10

there are very few cover songs i like, and they're mostly when they take an old song and make something entirely different with it, even different genres.