| Cover songs are risky business. Whether motivated by fondness for the originals, a desire for commercial appeal or purely for shits and giggles, they tend to run the gamut from unnecessary to downright depressing. Maybe that’s why they’re so often relegated to b-sides and completist-only compilations.
But just as bad movies have their appeal, there’s an allure to a real train-wreck of a cover song – a kind of "oh my God, what were they thinking?" giddiness that can only come from listening to something you once loved get torn apart piece by piece. And now and then, a genuine gem comes along that actually improves on the original.
Here are some of the more noteworthy covers to emerge in the past few years. Note the absence of punk covers – we get it, Barry Manilow is funnier when you play it fast. Very clever. Moving on.
Song: "In My Life" – The Beatles, from Rubber Soul
Cover: Sean Connery, from In My Life – Various Artists
William Shatner may be the most common punching bag when it comes to actors who really shouldn’t be singing, but at least his covers had a purpose. His The Transformed Man wasn’t so much a covers album as a piece of performance art, drawing somewhat tenuous links between Shakespeare and Sinatra. Connery’s performance is harder to justify. His thick Scottish brogue and laughably wistful delivery are the highlight of Beatles producer George Martin’s legacy-crushing tribute album, which also enlisted rock music legends Goldie Hawn and Robin Williams.
Song: "Sympathy For The Devil" – The Rolling Stones, from Beggars Banquet
Cover: Ozzy Osbourne, from Under Cover
Speaking of legacy-crushing, Ozzy Osbourne’s been doing a fine job of proving his irrelevance these past few years (decades?). Hopefully his butchering of one of the Rolling Stones’ finest moments is the last nail in the coffin. Ozzy replaces the taut rhythm section and demonic howls of the original with sludgy nu-metal guitars, ridiculously inappropriate background vocals and a series of guitar solos that are the absolute antithesis of Keith Richards’s sparse masterpiece. And that’s ignoring Ozzy’s vocals, which have more digital processing than the last three Star Wars movies.
Song: "Relax" – Frankie Goes To Hollywood, from Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Cover: The Dandy Warhols, from the We Used To Be Friends single
OK, so Frankie’s version isn’t exactly a classic, but at least it was catchy, sexually charged and, well, fun. The notoriously hit-or-miss Dandies have been all of those things in the past, but their plodding, hushed take sucks all the life out of this ode to delayed gratification. Sad to say, but even Rob Zombie’s little brother did a better job of this one on the Zoolander soundtrack.
Song: "Hotel California "– The Eagles, from Hotel California
Cover: The Moog Cookbook, from Ye Old Space Band: Plays Classic Rock Hits
The fact that the Moog Cookbook are a joke band should probably disqualify them from this list, but Ye Old Space Band’s kitschy brilliance is impossible to ignore. Their synth-and-vocodor reworkings manage to make songs like "Cat Scratch Fever" and "More Than a Feeling" more irritating and entertaining than you’d believe, but "Hotel California" is their magnum opus. Over almost seven minutes, they take the song from muzak to honky-tonk, through a circus sideshow and into a prog-rock meltdown. Ironic covers are rarely this laugh-out-loud funny.
Song: "Too Drunk To Fuck" – The Dead Kennedies
Cover: Nouvelle Vague, from Nouvelle Vague
Remember that thing about punk covers? Well, for some reason it doesn’t hold true in reverse. French lounge-pop collective Nouvelle Vague’s self-titled release is better than you would expect from a set of bossa nova covers of new wave hits, but singer Camille’s take on Jello Biafra’s anti-drinking rant is the unquestionable standout. Camille’s crazy-pixie vocals are so impossibly cute, you’ll struggle not to fall in love. It should’ve been a novelty, but ends up as so much more.
Song: "Mr. Roboto" – Styx, from Kilroy Was Here
Cover: Dennis DeYoung, from Music of Styx: Live With Symphony Orchestra
This might not actually count as a cover, given that DeYoung was the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for Styx. Still, there’s something endlessly entertaining about the fact that, despite replacing his band with a 40-piece symphony and a children’s choir, DeYoung’s reinterpretation is virtually indistinguishable from the original.
Others worth seeking out:
· Devo, "Head Like A Hole" (Nine Inch Nails) – Trent Reznor has admitted Devo’s influence on his work. Devo repaid him by using the silliest vocal effects possible in their cover of Nine Inch Nail’s first hit.
· Avril Lavigne , "Chop Suey" (System of a Down) – It’s bad enough she covered Dylan’s "Knocking on Heaven’s Door," at least you could pretend that was a Guns and Roses cover. This bootleg recording shows the only thing worse than angsty mall-pop is faux angry mall-pop.
· Ladytron, "Oops(Oh My)" (Tweet) – Everything Ladytron should be on their own songs but aren’t – sexy, trashy and punk as shit. Somehow it took an R&B cover to bring it all out. |
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