Original vs Cover

[Agent Minivann]

This idea occurred to me while driving last night. A cover song came on the radio, and I started thinking about various covers and originals. I was thinking about how I liked some of the covers better than the originals, but mostly it was the originals that shine. Then I thought it would be interesting to post a song and its cover version and have votes tallied for which one heroscapers prefer. Then I thought about a bunch of threads like that with binary polls, and I thought I should do it differently if I do it at all. So this is what I came up with. There will be one thread with all of them. I'll post a song and a cover version and open the thread to comments/votes. After a couple weeks I'll tally the votes and post the results. I'll update this post with links to each match up, and the results of which one is "better".

1. Come Together the Beatles original beats out the Aerosmith cover 14-2 (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=1297847#post1297847)
2. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) Jimi Hendrix original beats Stevie Ray Vaughn cover 3-2 (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=1302653#post1302653)
3. Behind Blue Eyes The Who vs Limp Bizkit (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?p=1307392#post1307392)

[Taeblewalker]

I tend to like Van Halen's covers, and Judas Priest's covers. But I'm partial to metal, and that might make all the difference for me.

On a side note, I thought this was a thread about Agent Skahen. :runaway:

[Agent Minivann]

First up:
A The Beatles - Come Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEo9Bh679wM)
B Aerosmith - Come Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDtoZ8M3Q50)

When voting on one of the songs, please post your vote in bold. Put A/B and/or original/cover when voting for simplicity in tallying the votes. I'll leave it open for voting for about 2 weeks. If that is too much time I might drop it down to 1 week.

[RabSheila]

Here's mine:

A - Original

[A_Train]

A - Original.

I usually tend to prefer originals if the song styles are sort of the same. But I really enjoy covers when something like a metal song is done acoustically, or a pop song is done by a heavy rock song, etc.

[jschild]

My favorite cover where the cover blows the original away is Johnny Cash's version of "I Hurt Myself Today" - the pain in his singing is so palpable compared to the original. Overall, most of the time the cover is not as good though.

[Agent Minivann]

My favorite cover where the cover blows the original away is Johnny Cash's version of "I Hurt Myself Today" - the pain in his singing is so palpable compared to the original. Overall, most of the time the cover is not as good though.
Maybe I'll put that one up next. I had no idea Johnny Cash did the cover. I thought he did the original (that just goes to show how much I paid attention to both Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash).

[jschild]

My favorite cover where the cover blows the original away is Johnny Cash's version of "I Hurt Myself Today" - the pain in his singing is so palpable compared to the original. Overall, most of the time the cover is not as good though.
Maybe I'll put that one up next. I had no idea Johnny Cash did the cover. I thought he did the original (that just goes to show how much I paid attention to both Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash).

He did it shortly after his wife died (and he followed very shortly after). Few songs can match the pain you can hear in that song.

[Einar's puppy]

C- Joe Cocker's version is better than both of those.

Though out of the two, A.

[lefton4ya]

First up:
A The Beatles - Come Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEo9Bh679wM)
B Aerosmith - Come Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDtoZ8M3Q50)

When voting on one of the songs, please post your vote in bold. Put A/B and/or original/cover when voting for simplicity in tallying the votes. I'll leave it open for voting for about 2 weeks. If that is too much time I might drop it down to 1 week.

A- Original

As for covers, anything off Johnny Cash's American IV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_IV:_The_Man_Comes_Around) is better than the original in my opinion.

[Balantai]

A - Original

My favorite cover: I Will Survive by Cake.

[Lord Pyre]

A, nothing beats original Beatles.

[KRUG!]

I'll have to say A. Not that the Aerosmith cover is bad, the original is just better. The Joe Cocker version is pretty good too, better than Aerosmiths version as well.

[BassistofDoom]

Aerosmith's version was good, but I have to go with the classic for this.
A

[Manatee]

One of my least favorite Beatles songs, but I still have to go with

A -- original

Aerosmith is OK by my, just not on this song.

[Rÿchean]

A - original

nominations:
You Really Got Me (Kinks orig; VH cover)
Dancing Days (LZ orig; cover STP*)

[Rich10]

A - Original

nominations:
You Really Got Me (Kinks orig; VH cover)

For You Really Got Me, I have to go with B - Cover

[clancampbell]

A Original



How about Smooth Criminal. The cover by Alien Ant Farm was great, but can anyone beat the "king of pop" at his own game?

[Agent Minivann]

Only one at a time. I was thinking of the Kinks/Van Halen one for the first, but decided to do it later.

Am I the only one that likes B - Cover better on Come Together?

[The Deadliest Warrior]

You Really Got Me (Kinks orig; VH cover)
Dancing Days (LZ orig; cover STP*)

Van Halen messed that song up. Buthchered it. :puke:

A - Original

Istanbul, not Constantinople (Four Lads, original; They Might Be Giants, cover)I like the cover better, meself.

[Einar's puppy]

My favorite cover: I Will Survive by Cake.
Too weird, my favorite cover is War Pigs (the Sabbath song) by Cake.

[Dad_Scaper]

C- Joe Cocker's version is better than both of those.

Though out of the two, A.

This.

While we're spitting out unofficial comparisons, one of the world's great songs is Bob Marley's Redemption Song. As good as the original is, I prefer Joe Strummer's cover.

[dok]

A - Original

My favorite cover: I Will Survive by Cake.Better than all along the watchtower?

[dok]

Too weird, my favorite cover is War Pigs (the Sabbath song) by Cake.I prefer the Faith No More cover of War Pigs, personally. Cake is one of my favorite bands, though.

[Rich10]

I always thought that Devo's version of Satisfaction was the most creative cover. I still prefer the original.

[cmgames]

A - Beatles' original of Come Together

I can think of two Linda Ronstadt covers that might not be so one-sided in the voting as this one seems to be:

Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me (Warren Zevon - original)
Tumbling Dice (Rolling Stones - original)

~Z

[Codeman]

I like Areosmith, but it has to be "A"

[Jexik]

My favorite cover: I Will Survive by Cake.

I was just going to mention that one.

[DrAwsm]

B - Cover

Since we're throwing suggestions out there....

I always thought that Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover of "Blinded by the Light" was better than Springsteen's original.

['Scaper94]

What about Maggie's Farm originally by Bob Dylan and the cover by Rage Against the Machine?

[nate the dawg]

While there are lots of covers out there which I enjoy as much as/more than the original, this is not one of them. Steven Tyler's awesome and all, but Come Together will always be the Fab Four to me.

[ParaGoomba Slayer]

A

I like some of Apocalyptica's Metallica covers more than the originals.

[Taeblewalker]

I don't remember how the covers of Come Together sound, so I have to say A.

I would also go with Van Halen's version of You Really Got Me.

When do we start voting on a new song?

[whitestuff]

A - you can't beat the Beatles...

[Agent Minivann]

I don't remember how the covers of Come Together sound, so I have to say A.

That's why I put a link to the songs in question.

I'm being generous here (a few votes weren't in bold and got lost in the rest of the post), but so far I'm counting 14 to 2 in favor of the original. I think I'm going to let it run for one week instead of two. Then I'll put up a new pairing.

[kolakoski]

Wind Beneath My Wings - Gary Morris or Bette Midler?

I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton or Whitney Houston?

[A_Train]

Wind Beneath My Wings - Gary Morris or Bette Midler or Sonata Arctica?



Added another option.

[whitestuff]

Wind Beneath My Wings - Gary Morris or Bette Midler?

I Will Always Love You - Dolly Parton or Whitney Houston?
These are easy ones... None of them.

[Agent Minivann]

The original wins 14-2. Next up is Voodoo Child (Slight Return). This one is like choosing between my kids. I went with a couple live videos rather than the studio recordings.

A Jimi Hendrix Voodoo - Child (Slight Return) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYySyEDr-8)
B Stevie Ray Vaughn - Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GSpbuFSr2o&feature=related)

[Taeblewalker]

Diamonds and Rust - Joan Baez. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGMHSbcd_qI


Diamonds and Rust - Judas Priest. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIC7KQPDuDc&feature=related

The Priest version I linked to is not the first iteration of the cover, but a version that evolved over years of performance.

Here's their traditional cover of the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4rNgXS850o&feature=related

[nate the dawg]

Stevie Ray is the man, but Hendrix wins this one, no-contest.

[Einar's puppy]

I love Stevie, but Hendrix's is better.

A

[Balantai]

Gotta go with Jimi Hendrix.

[whitestuff]

Stevie was heavily influenced by Jimi... so it has to be Jimi.

Hendrix was such an innovator; just amazing.

A

[Agent Minivann]

So one vote so far for the original :twisted:

The idea is not to look at it as an innovator and copier. The idea is who did the song better. Please make votes a bold A/B or original/cover to count.

[Uprising]

SRV - Hands down. Jimi did it first, SRV did it better.

B

[RabSheila]

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

A

[Agent Minivann]

I think I have to go with Stevie on this one. Jimi is amazing, and he is a very underrated singer, but this song doesn't show off his singing ability. Stevie raises the bar with his playing. It's pretty much note for note the same thing, but Stevie just gives it that extra feeling. That's the blues. B - Cover

[Agent Minivann]

Original wins 3-2.

Next up:
A The Who - Behind Blue Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoHH4fLWpu0)
B Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MSqF_rQ6Mw)

Just a reminder, I'm only counting votes that are A/B and/or Original/Cover with the vote in BOLD.

[whitestuff]

Definitely B.

The breakdown/coda/bit_that_doesn't_fit_in_with_the_rest_of_the_song is dealt with by Limp Bizkit in a much more interesting way.

[lefton4ya]

Original wins 3-2.

Next up:
A The Who - Behind Blue Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoHH4fLWpu0)
B Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MSqF_rQ6Mw)

Just a reminder, I'm only counting votes that are A/B and/or Original/Cover with the vote in BOLD.
Never heard either version before clicking those youtube links - after a once over, I'd say Limp Bizkit's version even though I generally don't like him and I do like The Who.

P.S. for our next round-up can we get any song off Johnny Cash's American IV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_IV:_The_Man_Comes_Around) (besides Hurt - Johnny would win too easily).

[A_Train]

It's funny, because The Who are looked upon as rock legends, and Limp Bizkit sort of gets the 15 minutes are over treatment, but I prefer the Limp Bizkit version. I still hate the pointless interlude, but I like the rest of the song better.

B

[Agent Minivann]

I have to look at the two different versions of the bridge section. The original makes me think of the misunderstood villain that just wants to have companionship/community, the cover just adds some out of left field self promotion and a couple lines that make the song pointlessly depressing. The cover feels almost sterile with the bits of injected emotion misplaced and misapplied. It's a plea to understand the plight of the bad guy vs an attempt to drag me into the singer's wallowing self pity.

A all the way

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't understand the love here for the cover. This is not one of the songs by The Who that I particularly care for, but Mr. Bizkit has a limited voice and musically there is no comparison.

why did they made this cover without the best part of orginal song?

No doubt.

A, the original.

[KRUG!]

Definitely A