Cover Songs - A feature by Dave Christy and Susan Harris - Part 1 from Dave

At Melanie's Muses, we love a good cover song! So much so that the Musers had their own Music List!
Today Dave is adding his picks to the list and you can check out Susan's picks next week!

Dave -  ​​​​​​​Dave Christy loves horror, music, documentaries and more.  He is also the co-runner of several fan based groups including Morningstars (THE Lucifer fan group also run by Melanie), and now is a member of the VIPers Spotlight Lounge team for Melanie's Muses.  Other than "In The Spotlight" Features -check out his "31 Days Of Halloween Movies"

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Cover songs can have a negative effect as well as a positive effect. For instance, the first song I heard from Ugly Kid Joe was their cover of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf". I hated it! Didn't like the way it came out. Didn't like the vocals. Didn't like anything about it. Then their hit song "Everything About You" from the same CD was released. I loved that but still won't listen to their cover of "Sweet Leaf". Another hit of theirs was a cover of "Cats in the Cradle". I liked that too but wasn't really familiar with the original. You are more attached if its a cover of a song you already love. Some managed to get it right though. So here are some covers, for better or for worse, that I think got it right even if it took a different turn than the original.

 Alice Cooper "Born This Way" (Lady Gaga)
​Alice took a new approach when performing this song live. He crafted some new lyrics to go with it. 

The Agonist "Take Me to Church" (Hozier)
​The song that got me to like The Agonist. Might have heard something from them before but with more "screamy" vocals. Vicky has such a great voice when she uses the clean vocals. Some of their songs have a mixture, which I prefer to some of their other songs. 

​Paramore "Use Somebody" (Kings of Leon)
​They were always good to throw a cover in here and there to give you something new to listen to.

Def Leppard "Ziggy Stardust" (David Bowie) 
​Def Leppard is band that does things until they get it right. If you listen to some demo versions of their songs, you can tell how much they rework it until they are satisfied. I'm guessing they  do the same with the songs they cover. 

Sick N' Beautiful "The Show Must Go On" (Queen)
​ I know. I know. Its almost a disgrace to put a cover of a Queen on a list but they did a fantastic job on it.

Nirvana "Oh Me" (Meat Puppets)
​ Is this really a cover since a couple members of the original band joined them? I guess so since Kurt is the one singing it. One thing I loved about when Nirvana did Unplugged, they played 6 cover songs that they didn't have anywhere else. So you didn't just get acoustic versions of songs you knew. It was like you also got 6 new Nirvana songs.

Robyn Adele Anderson "Bawitdaba" (Kid Rock) Robyn takes modern songs and puts a completely different spin on them. Like this song, she made revisions as a 1940's tune. She also redid a couple Eminem songs.

30 Seconds to Mars "Message in a Bottle"
​(The Police) Stripping songs down to acoustic guitars can show just how great it is. No overproduction, no burying tracks under multiple layers or sound effects. Just a guitar and a voice.

Twiggy Ramirez and Twiggy Lawson "I Only Want to be With You" (Dusty Springfield)
​From the soundtrack to "Dead Man on Campus". Such an odd combination. This song took me by surprise at how well it works.

And now for something completely different:
Daniel Radcliffe "Alphabet Aerobics" (Blackalicious) This video was trending after he did it and its not my type of music but I was just amazed at the result.

Skid Row "I Remember You Two" (Skid Row)
​Yes, you read that right. They covered their own song. New singer but a completely different sound. They made this tender ballad into a rock song. I was skeptical at first. As much as I loved Sebastain's vocals, I wasn't sure about them getting a new singer and especially not remaking this great ballad into a rock song. 

Within Temptation "Skyfall" (Adele)
​Sharon's vocal's are so powerful on this unexpected cover of the James Bond theme song.

Vicky Psarakis (singer from The Agonist) "Teardrops" (Bring Me the Horizon)
​Vicky has been using the pandemic to record cover songs to keep herself busy and giving fans something new to listen to. There's been Halloween themed ones like "Vampira", "Sally's Song" and even "Ghostbusters" but this is one of my faves.

Disturbed "Land of Confusion" (Genesis)
​One of the most artistic, classic videos of the early MTV age but it got redone with just a little hmmph to put the pep into its step.

The Animal in Me "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" (The Proclaimers)
​This band has always put up covers to keep fans entertained. There are over 50 of them from rock, pop, alternative, rap, etc.

Dee Snider "Cabaret" (from the Broadway show)
​Did you know that Dee Snider from Twisted Sister did a CD of Broadway cover songs? Definitely a different take on these songs.

Halestorm "Bad Romance" (Lady Gaga)
​A pop song turned into a rocker is always a strange journey but usually a good one.

My Chemical Romance "Desolation Row" (Bob Dylan)
​MCR did quite a take on this track. The song is epically long so they cut a lot of it out to trim it down.

Soul Asylum with Lulu "To Sir With Love" (Lulu) Taken from Soul Asylum Unplugged on MTV, they wanted to perform the song and made a call to see if Lulu would come on with them. Playing it as an acoustic rock song puts a different spin on it. Plus Dave's duet with Lulu adds another element as well.

Eve's Plum "I Will Survive" (Gloria Gaynor)
90's alternative rock band covering a disco song. All you need to know.

BONUS: Metallica and Lady Gaga "Moth Into Flame" (Metallica) OK, so its still Metallica but with Lady Gaga so its different than what is on the CD so its kinda like she is covering it. The actual show was a mess since the mics were working for half the song but luckily this dress rehearsal was captured.

Melanie Here - The Code Word For This Article Is Covers! ​

Part Two coming next week from Susan
​ ( If she can narrow down her list!)