Outside of covers of videogame music, I think Solas'
version of The Ghost of Tom Joad is much better than the Bruce Springsteen original. That said, I still like the Springsteen original. I just like Solas' version better.
I think most of it is to do with their singer; I really lover her voice.
Yes' cover of Simon & Garfunkel's America is also pretty damn good.
YUUGI WANTS YOU FOR DRINKING BUDDYI really prefer Jack Ingram's version of "Lips of an Angel" to Hinder's. The lyrics are actually pretty good, and I don't think they deserve that angry, harsh screaming that Hinder's lead singer did. But Ingram gives a mellower, more country delivery, and reveals that the song actually is kinda country after all.
A lot of Neil Young live, for example Like a Hurricane accompanied by just a tramp organ is just chilling. Also, I feel that See the Sky About to Rain works better with a live piano than studio synthesizer.
edited 30th Aug '13 3:47:36 PM by Gamebreaking
Deep into that darkness, peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.The Self-Titled Album by They Might Be Giants was one of the last ones of theirs I heard, so for a long time I preferred the Severe Tire Damage version of "She's An Angel" just because it was the one I was more used to. Now I think both have their merits - I think the chorus sounds better on Severe Tire Damage, but the original version has that awesome, enormous and lumbering synth-bass in the verses. If I were in a band covering that song, I'd sort of want to find some way to combine my favorite bits of both renditions. Studio
vs. live
.
edited 31st Aug '13 10:17:41 AM by MikeK
My sister sang "Hallelujah" once in choir class and loved it. She asked me for the actual song, but she didn't like Leonard Cohen's voice on the original. I played snippets of a few of the many covers of that song, and she told me she liked Rufus Wainright's voice best.
I also prefer Rosanne Cash's version of "Tennessee Flat Top Box" to her father's for some reason.
I feel odd for actually liking the version of Iced Earth's Something Wicked trilogy of songs released on the Overture of the Wicked EP versus the original versions found on Something Wicked This Way Comes. Don't get me wrong, the originals with Matt Barlow on vocals are godly on their own, but there's something about the versions on the EP that the originals just lack.
edited 30th Aug '13 9:25:51 PM by DemonSharkKisame
So The Strokes' very first release was The Modern Age EP, featuring three songs that would all get re-recorded (and to varying degrees, rearranged) for their first proper album Is This It?. I like two out of the three EP tracks better than their album counterparts: The title track and "Last Nite" just have a little more "live energy" to them, and while I think the original version of "Barely Legal" needed some tightening up, it also has a cool little guitar solo that they cut out of the Is This It? version.
So far as covers go, I have a few versions related to The Beatles - Siouxsie And The Banshees' "Dear Prudence"
kind of out-psychedelics the original, Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude"
just has much more passion to it to the original, and Guns N Roses' "Live And Let Die"
isn't too different from Paul Mc Cartney's, but it just "rocks out" a little more.
edited 31st Aug '13 1:32:53 PM by MikeK
Yes, I've always loved that version of "Dear Prudence"!! Haven't heard that version of "Hey Jude", need to listen to it later.
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Okay, that is pretty great. Never heard that before, but I'm glad I have now.
There are multiple versions of early Black Flag songs, partly because they kept changing singers before Henry Rollins joined, although I'm only aware of three songs that have studio recordings by all four singers: "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie," "Depression," and "Police Story."
I can't put my finger on why, but Keith Morris's versions tend to be my favorite. For example, I like the Henry Rollins version of "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie"
as much as the next guy, but there's just something I can't quite put my finger on about Keith Morris's performance
that makes me prefer it.
That said, I do like to listen to the other versions of "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie" and the other songs I mentioned because none of their vocalists seemed to sing those songs the same way. Some singers changed the order of the verses and they all made their own minor alterations to the lyrics.
edited 31st Aug '13 6:50:12 PM by FingerPuppet
Damn. That kicks ass.
People criticize the song as being anti-feminist? Maybe I'm just dense, but I don't see it. Maybe if one were to interpret it as encouraging staying in an abusive relationship? That's a bit of a stretch if that. Encouraging promiscuity or something? Perhaps, but there are many sex-positive feminists out there. Honestly, I don't see how it'd be anti-feminist. Sure, hippy-dippy free love and all that, but that's hardly something I'd call anti-feminist.
Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.The Elephant 6 Orchestra's version of Sun Ra's song "Enlightenment". I like it a lot better then the actual version of the song.
The Basement Tapes version
of "Black Sabbath" is way spookier and more ominous than the one found on their self-titled debut IMO.
War Pigs
from the same session is really cool too. Note how different the lyrics are!
edited 1st Dec '13 12:41:28 PM by DemonSharkKIsame
In an alternate universe, Les Claypool's bass rendition of "Master of Puppets" is extended to the full song.
As for things that actually exist, I really like 'Frantic Disembowelment' but only the instrumental "studio rehearsal" version.
In general, I think death metal growls lessen the musical complexity by drowning everything under a one-note instrument (aka the atonal vocals) and they also suffer from a massive case of "trying too hard" and becoming Nightmare Retardant. So it makes sense that I like the instrumental version more than the one with the vocals.
The riffs themselves, though? Kickass.
edited 8th Dec '13 5:48:39 PM by Muzozavr
ERROR: Signature not loadedRebecca Black's covers of "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball".
...
Don't look at me like that, she got better since Friday. Especially with Saturday.

Are there any songs where you like a certain alternate version better than the official version? (E.g. a live version, a bootlegged outtake version, a demo, an alternate mix, a cover, etc.)
For me, I love Stephen Stills' song "Love the One You're With", but the version performed as part of Crosby Stills Nash And Young at their infamous concert at Wembley Stadium just kicks all kinds of ass to me. I don't care that the vocals are low in the mix, or that their attempts at harmonizing with each other are horribly off-key at times (because they were all high, of course). I think it might be how the music is being played that makes me love this version more than any other version. Seriously, DAT DRUMBEAT (especially at the "dih do dih do dih do didoo" part), DOSE KEYS, DAT GUITAR RIFF... And, sadly, I doubt this will ever see any official release
(song starts about 1:23 into the video)
edited 30th Aug '13 3:07:35 AM by 0dd1
Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.