Worst Cover Songs - Off-Topic

#1 Posted by fresh2deafbill (797 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

There have been a lot of bad covers of the years, what do you think are some of the worst ever?

The worst ever in my opinion in My Chemical Romance's mutilation of the Bob Dylan epic Desolation Row they did for The Watchmen. That debacle was like taking a great piece of art and taking a steaming shit on it.

#2 Posted by FancySoapsMan (5415 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Original:

Cover:

#3 Posted by KaosAngel (13766 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Annie Are You Okay by Alien Ant Farm.

#4 Posted by GlenTennis (3128 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

#5 Posted by A_Cute_Squirtle (638 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Four Year Strong's collection of 90's covers is easily the worst batch of cover songs I've ever heard. I'll never forgive them for fucking ruining "Semi-Charmed Life."

#6 Posted by Azteck (7330 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

When an artist records the song again 25 years later and hope it will sound as good as it did when they were young.

Hint: It doesn't.

#7 Posted by EvilTwin (3320 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@KaosAngel said:

" Annie Are You Okay by Alien Ant Farm. "

Smooth Criminal? I thought that was a fine cover.

#8 Posted by benpicko (1513 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@KaosAngel said:

" Annie Are You Okay by Alien Ant Farm. "

You mean Smooth Criminal? And yeah, this.

#9 Posted by audiosnag (1605 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

You are all wrong.
THIS

I feel ill.

#10 Posted by IcySandman (473 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Perhaps it's because I'm a Dio fanatic but I'd say Holy Diver by Killswitch engaged sucks compared to the original. Fucked up the feel of it..

#11 Posted by FesteringNeon (2101 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

#12 Posted by Bruce (5263 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@fresh2deafbill:

It's not offensively bad, but Joy Division shouldn't be covered under any circumstances.

#13 Posted by HandsomeDead (11863 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

This is the worst thing, period. Not just worst cover:

#14 Edited by cnlmullen (900 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

I usually don't listen to musicians I don't like, so most the covers I hear I like, but...

...as a guy with a ukulele, I have listened to Amanda Palmer's (of the Dresden Dolls) covers of Radiohead, on her album "Amanda Palmer Performs The Popular Hits Of Radiohead On Her Magical Ukulele".

They weren't pretty... just... dissonance has its place, but I'm personally not a fan.

#15 Posted by oliver (87 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

real boy band cover of we will rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaTLahKb6sA

#16 Posted by oliver (87 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

how do i put youtubes in here

#17 Posted by W0lfbl1tzers (1787 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

#18 Posted by Mechanical_Ape (180 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

This is definitely one of the worst cover songs I can think of off the top of my head. They took a great Specials song and did this to it. Although, I think it would be terrible even if it wasn't a cover.

#19 Posted by Mechanical_Ape (180 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@oliver: You need to embed them. On the Youtube page there should be a button for embedding. Click that and copy that text it gives you. Then, click the Insert button here and select Video, then copy that text into there.

#20 Posted by Famov (768 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Iron Maiden doing "Cross Eyed Mary" is pretty terrible, but thanks to the example provided by @audiosnag, I now know that no examples I could give come even close. Emo bands ruin everything.

#21 Posted by perilator666 (415 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

hmm, that one "21th century schizoid man" cover should have never been made. i forget what the group was called but it had the dude from tool i believe.

#22 Edited by PenguinDust (12103 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

I like quite a few cover songs, but this one is probably the worst in my opinion. I still believe that William Shatner's rendition of Rocket Man is horrendous, but it at least has some kitsch value. This travesty below has no redeemable traits whatsoever.

For the record, my 11 favorites are listed on this old thread from Raven_Sword: Top 11 Best Song Covers. (IMO)

#23 Posted by MysteriousBob (6201 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@KaosAngel said:

" Annie Are You Okay by Alien Ant Farm. "

... lol?
I think you mean Smooth Criminal.

#24 Posted by SuperSambo (2742 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@Mechanical_Ape said:

" This is definitely one of the worst cover songs I can think of off the top of my head. They took a great Specials song and did this to it. Although, I think it would be terrible even if it wasn't a cover.

"

I actually think thats quite good, but then again I dont think ive ever heard of The Specials.

#25 Posted by oatz (1103 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@GlenTennis said:

"

"

I actually prefer this version. Could be because of the truckload of nostalgia I have attached to Limp Bizkit, though.

#26 Edited by xyzygy (8630 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

A Perfect Circle's version of Imagine is probably the worst I've heard. What a piece of shit.

@zoskia said:

" hmm, that one "21th century schizoid man" cover should have never been made. i forget what the group was called but it had the dude from tool i believe. "

Did you know Kanye West sampled a part from that song in one of his own? Pretty terrible.

#27 Edited by Ramone (2439 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@FancySoapsMan: Their cover of Beat It is pretty fucking bad too.

#28 Posted by 02sfraser (847 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

One of my favourite bands had one of there songs covered by the 'X Factor' winner (British American Idol)

Original:

Cover:

#29 Posted by Damodar (732 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

The cover of Queen's Princes Of The Universe in the... 5th??? Highlander movie is simultaneously the best and worst cover ever.

Anybody who has seen the movie might know what I'm talking about. I laughed for about 10 minutes, the first time I saw it.

#30 Edited by skavanker (99 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@SuperSambo said: I actually think thats quite good, but then again I dont think ive ever heard of The Specials. "

#31 Posted by rflx (539 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@IcySandman said:

" Perhaps it's because I'm a Dio fanatic but I'd say Holy Diver by Killswitch engaged sucks compared to the original. Fucked up the feel of it.. "

Isn't that the whole point of covering songs though? Taking an original song, and bringing your own feel to it. I think Killswitch Engage did that pretty well with Holy Diver.

#32 Posted by VilhelmNielsen (1704 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@zoskia said:

" hmm, that one "21th century schizoid man" cover should have never been made. i forget what the group was called but it had the dude from tool i believe. "

This?

That IS pretty terrible!

#33 Edited by ape_dosmil (513 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@PenguinDust: I actually quite like the Britney cover of Satisfaction. Guilty pleasure I guess. I also like the Wino cover of Hey Little Rich Girl (and I like The Specials). I think the worst covers I can think of off the top of my head are Guns n' Roses version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door and Sheryl Crow's cover of Sweet Child o' Mine. G n' R victims and perpetrators of the bad cover.

EDIT: Oh and Limp Bizkit's cover of Faith is bad, but their cover of Behind Blue Eyes is even worse.

#34 Posted by DeF (4175 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

how has nobody mentioned that terrible black eyed peas version of "time of my life"? I mean, they took a song that already was terrible and made it even worse!

#35 Posted by Milkman (14004 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@zoskia: Here's the greatest cover of 21st Century Schizoid Man ever.

Yes, I'm totally serious.

#36 Posted by stinky (1531 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

sorry GB, but the thread asked for it.

#37 Posted by Pibo47 (3165 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@stinky: You just won the game.

#38 Edited by Faint (833 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@KaosAngel: *smooth criminal

@zoskia said:

" hmm, that one "21th century schizoid man" cover should have never been made. i forget what the group was called but it had the dude from tool i believe. "

perhaps it should have never been made, but i wouldn't put it anywhere near a 'worst cover songs' list ever.

beat it - falloutboy comes to mind. basically all cover songs of great artists of the past by bands that are popular these days. where did music go so wrong?

on the other end of the spectrum, i think ghost of tom joad - rage against the machine is one of the best :)

#39 Posted by Marcsman (2313 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Madonna destroying American Pie.
it was the worst..................

#40 Posted by guiseppe (2712 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@stinky:
Haha, I've seen that clip so many times. It's hard to imagine that they even got the chance to perform.

#41 Posted by CandleJakk (750 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

It's a toss up between this:

Or this:

though that could be because I think Axl Rose is possibly the biggest douchebag in music, but they really fucked up Dylan's brilliance here.

Also, Alien Ant Farm's Smooth Criminal was pretty good, I thought.

#42 Posted by BulletproofMonk (2660 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@Milkman: That is indeed a very good cover. Pretty goddamn close to the original King Crimson version, while still sounding like Shining.

#43 Posted by Deeveeus (479 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@CandleJakk: Guns N Roses version of the Dylan cover was pretty bad...but the Avril Lavigne version...WORSE! IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY HOW BAD IT IS!

As a Canadian I ask for forgiveness for unleashing that poser on the world....blech...at least we gave the Tragically Hip, Matt Good, Billy Talent, OLP, I Mother Earth, Wintersleep, etc

#44 Posted by JakeTaylor (307 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

Makes me sad to hear crap like this.

#45 Posted by MikkaQ (9717 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

I think of this thread; the worst posted so far were this one, which was never embedded:

As well as the AFI Ziggy Stardust and Britney Spears Satisfaction.

#46 Posted by Djeffers03 (2545 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

#47 Edited by Slaker117 (4831 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@PenguinDust: I hate you for making me aware of the existence of this.

@ape_dosmil:

Behind Blue Eyes is among my favorite songs of all time. Limp Bizkit completely missed the point of it. I actually don't mind what they did with the instrumentation, but by taking out the hard rock middle and adding their own lyrics they change both the structure and literal meaning. The dynamic of those two elements is what made the song great. It gave it greater musical and symbolic depth. And they just took it the fuck out. It could have just been a simple inoffensive, if unnecessary, cover, but instead they went and made it something it's not. Fuck.

There we go. I feel better now.

#48 Posted by Djeffers03 (2545 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@02sfraser: Biffy Clyro are fucking fantastic and I love the original however I don't think the cover is absolutely terrible, it just pisses me off that they felt the need to change the title of the song. Of course with the song being aimed at unintelligent young girls I suppose they had to because there's no way way in hell that they would be able to figure out the art of good lyrics...

#49 Posted by EuanDewar (4025 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

I feel I would have way more answers to this if it was "Good Covers. Still the one that comes to mind is that My Chemical Romance cover of Desolation Row. I dont hate MCR quite as much as the majority of this forum does but yeah that was really bad.

#50 Posted by MeatBoy (50 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago

@zoskia said:

" hmm, that one "21th century schizoid man" cover should have never been made. i forget what the group was called but it had the dude from tool i believe. "

I haven't heard the one your talking about but provided you can handle the mix of extreme metal and jazz you can try this one instead: (This album was actually on Alex Navarros top 100 albums of 2010)