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Victorian
I like your example, that cover by Birthday Massacre is indeed good.
I suppose a lot of what goes into a good cover is production. I simply enjoy how these covers use different methods and approaches--but of course, some of it lies in voice, guitar, etc.
Just a few of mine--some more recent than others. I tried to do links instead of embedding because I did not want to overload the thread--but the embedded videos showed up anyway.
All Along the Watchtower- Hendrix (I know it's almost a cliche, but the truth is Hendrix took that song and ran away with it)
Such Great Heights, cover by Iron and Wine, original by Postal Service, could not find video
Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm, originally by Michael Jackson (I loved MJ's version, but AAF takes this song to another level) A lot of Gen Xers think MJ copied AAF. Well, AAF does copy some of MJ's more well-known qualities.
Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, originally by Judy Garland (both these artists conveyed a lot of soul--I really enjoy this production, though)
Hurt by Johnny Cash, originally by Nine Inch Nails (such evocative lyrics, and you can tell that Cash has been where Trent Reznor is coming from)
Poison Idea-Kick Out The Jams
Ebba Grön-Born To Be Wild
Also I think Bob Dylan is better as a songwriter than as a singer.
Two examples are All Along The Watchtower and Like A Rolling Stone.
Johnny Cash also did a couple of great Dylan covers.
Better? To me, not many cover songs are "better" than the originals.
For instance, the Beatles cover of Twist & Shout was good, but not better than the Isley Brothers original!
The Rolling Stones cover of Time is on Your Side is better known, but was it truly better than the way Irma Thomas did it? No!
However...
Perhaps the McCoys 1965 Hang On Sloopy cover was better in many ways than the original by songwriter Bert Berns, which was originally recorded by the R&B group, The Vibrations, as "My Girl Sloopy" in 1964.
Perhaps the Young Rascals cover of Good Lovin' was better than the original by the Olympics.
Still... not many covers are better. That depends on what is meant by "better". In general, its hard for me to think of covers as being better than the originals, because someone actually created the original from scratch.
The cover artist(s) had the original music to work with, and "improve" upon. Even though the original recording or sound may not have been "superior" to the cover, that shouldn't mean that the original song was not the best version.
Last Kiss, originally performed by Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. The original just sounds entirely too peppy to me for being a song about losing your girlfriend in a car crash. I love this song...
I was reminded of two this morning--only I don't know who the original artists were.
The Black Crowes redid "Hard to Handle" but it is a blues standard. As is "You Can't Judge a Book By Looking at its Cover", done both by the Yardbirds and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Richie Havens did a live cover of the Beatles' "Here comes the sun" that I just loved. For me, the only Beatles cover that I liked better than the original.
Paul McCartney thought Vanilla Fudge's version of "Ticket To Ride" was better than the Beatles' original.
And Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude" is arguably better than the original (Can't beat that phenomenal voice!)
Don't know if the Rolling Stones' "I Wanna Be Your Man" counts as it came out before the Beatles' version did even though it was a Lennon/McCartney song.
OTOH there is NO Who cover that is up to the level of the original...
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