Album of The Week's Favourite Covers

People are unusually vocal about cover songs. It's kind of like the 'chicken before the egg' debate or the 'what was better - the book or the movie' argument. People totally back their opinion and are prepared to fight to the death about it. That's why we're feeling a little bit afraid about posting this list. Look folks: once you get started on thinking about the best or lamest or funniest or favourite cover songs of all time, it's like opening Pandora's box. One minute we were stuck on The White Stripes' cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene", then suddenly they were spilling out of our heads faster than I can type. Here's our Top Twenty-one Covers (limit ourselves to ten - are you serious?). If you don't like the choices, abuse / email us at info@albumoftheweek.com.au and we can organise a time and place to punch each other.
PS The film of The English Patient was better than the book. Bring it…

In no particular order:

1. "Foxy Lady" - The Cure (originally by Jimi Hendrix)

Absurd cover of the Hendrix classic, complete with puppy dog yelps and - what we're fairly certain are lyrics that are being made up on the spot. No idea who is actually singing either - if it is Robert Smith then I'm Batman. It's so badly punk that it's good… Hello, Commissioner Gordon?


2. "Hallelujah" - Jeff Buckley (originally by Leonard Cohen)

That voice. That incredibly angelic voice like something that was too beautiful for the world, so it was taken from us all because it belonged to a better place than earth. We hate to wax poetic, but this is Buckley at his most haunting, trembling, devastating… Hallelujah indeed.


3. "Bizarre Love Triangle" - Frente (originally by New Order)

Truly wrenching, melancholic version of the New Order dance floor favourite. You know you're onto a winner when you hear a cover of one of your favourite tunes of all time and it sounds like an entirely different song - that you love just as much. Angie Hart's sweet voice and the gentle finger-picked guitar line takes you into the terribly awkward love triangle to hear the sadness, the yearning of a love lost.


4. "Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon" - Urge Overkill (originally by Neil Diamond)

Neil is one of the great american songwriters, so when the long haired, metal-lovin' dudes from Urge Overkill took to this song it already had the midas touch attached. But it's the sexy, twanging rock slant that they put onto it that gave this cover its own identity. Hell - have you seen the Pulp Fiction scene where Mrs Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are coolly perambulating around the sexual tension before Mrs Wallace's unfortunate heroin overdose? This song is playing and it's like an aural boner.


5. "Wonderwall" - Ryan Adams (originally by Oasis)

Noel Gallagher was reportedly pissed off about this cover - because he wished he could have made the song this beautiful. Strong words, coming from the music industry's biggest prick. Before they broke up for good, Oasis would play "Wonderwall" as per Adams' arrangement - high praise indeed.


6. "All Along The Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix (originally by Bob Dylan)

The. Greatest. Cover. Ever.


7. "Heartbreak Hotel" - John Cale (Originally by Elvis Presley)

Intensely dark homage to Elvis and possibly one of the greatest tracks Cale recorded sans-Velvet Underground. The arrangement moves along at a snail's pace with terrifying gothic synthesisers and gloomy guitars. The result is both hilarious and horrific - and a damn fine cover.


8. "Wuthering Heights" - The Decemberists (originally by Kate Bush)

The incredibly, incredibly difficult to sing Kate Bush classic - responsible for coining the musical sub-genre 'Lit-rock' - is done very nicely (and with great respect to the original) by The Decemberists featuring Petra Haden (from Nineties band That Dog) attempting Kate's rangy soprano vocal line. For the most part, they stay true to the original, but somehow still manage to sound distinctly 'Decemberists-ish'. Nice.


9. "Hey yah!" - Tilly and The Wall (originally by OutKast)

Tilly and The Wall are off the hook because their percussion comes courtesy of tap-dancing feet. Button-cute gimmick, but their version of the Outkast song that, quite frankly, never gets old is joyous and energetic and makes us want to chuck on the taps and jump upon a hardwood floor.


10. "Insane In The Brain" - Richard Cheese (originally by Cypress Hill)

LA lounge singer Richard Cheese has gained legend status for his swingin covers of songs from every genre of popular music - from rap to rock to hardcore to grunge, but there is something particularly special about his version of the Cypress ode to naughty stoners. With mariachi fanfares and the 'n' word gently crooned, it's so very wrong and at the same time kind of right.


11. "Crazy In Love" - Antony & The Johnsons (originally by Beyonce)

David Byrne also did a great version of Beyonce's deliriously catchy "Crazy In Love", but the haunting, wrenching cover by Antony & The Johnson's turns the song on its head into a desperate orchestral ballad with Antony's gorgeous voice so desperate you can tell he means "crazy in love" in the actually CRAZY needs-to-be-institutionalised sense. Stunning.


12. "Light My Fire" - Jose Feliciano (originally by The Doors)

A fruity blend of Spanish influences, classic flamenco guitar, and pop chords a la Americano. Put this record on and at once girls dance sexier and guys become better conversationalists. It's just a fact.


13. "Get Ur Freak On" - Eels (originally by Missy Elliott)

Absolutely insane nu-metal cover of the awesome Missy track "Get Ur Freak On", complete with heavy riffing, grinding bass and wailing static. This is Eels doing Missy Elliott via Korn. Hilarious.


14. "Halo" by Florence and The Machine (originally by Beyonce)

Flo takes on this insanely difficult vocal track from Captain Talent herself, Beyonce. Does she succeed? Hell yes. It says a lot of the songwriting prowess of the chocolate thighed one and the hefty lungs of the young Florence. Gold.


15. "How Will I Know" - Evan Dando (originally by Whitney Houston)

Mister Dando pouring his heart out, pounding away on a guitar reminds us why chicks dig him so much. The highlight is when he dips down into his Johnny Cash-esque lower register all quiet and naughty... Sexy as hell.


16. "Redemption Song" - Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer (originally by Bob Marley)

Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer covering one of Bob Marley's greatest songs - need we go on?


17. "Ghosts" - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (originally by The Jam)

Ted Leo nails the British new wave rock n roll vibe that Paul Weller pretty much invented. The addictive guitar riff has a timelessness that reminds you what a great songwriter Weller is.


18. "Jolene" - White Stripes (originally by Dolly Parton)

It's been endlessly covered but no one has quite matched Jack White's ballsy, feedback-laden cover wrought with desperate emotion. You can't top the original though - we salute you, Dolly.


19. "Hounds of Love" - The Futureheads (originally by Kate Bush)

Totally addictive singalong version of Kate's love ballad. The excited yelps of frontman Barry Hyde sound as if the words were of his own imaginings. Post-punk fun.


20. "Everybody's Got To Learn Sometimes" - Beck (originally by The Korgis)

Morose, moody and beautiful. Beck made this extraordinary cover for Michel Gondry's "Eternal Sunshine For The Spotless Mind" and perfectly evoked the atmosphere of Gondry's neosurreal study of memory and romantic love. Beck's quiet, reserved vocal performance is breathtaking.


21. "Hurt" - Johnny Cash (originally by Nine Inch Nails)

You were afraid we wouldn't put it in, weren't you? You idiot.



We've thrown down the gauntlet. Let the games begin...


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