10 Best Cover Songs

Cover songs give artists an outlet to put their own spin on the original classics that inspire them. Every once in a while, an artist reworks a song in a way that's considered better that the original. It's debatable whether the following covers trump the original, although they definitely struck a chord with AOL Radio listeners. As rated on the Rock Cover Songs station, we present the 10 Best Cover Songs.

'Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon'

Urge Overkill

Neil Diamond originally did not want this cover of his song used in Quentin Tarantino's film 'Pulp Fiction,' but he eventually allowed it. The cover not only got Urge Overkill noticed but introduced Diamond to a new generation of fans.

iTunes

Urge Overkill Girl You'll Be a Woman Soon

'Knockin' on Heaven's Door'

Guns N' Roses

Originally by Bob Dylan, Guns N' Roses recorded the cover song for the film 'Days of Thunder' and soon began including it in its concert sets. They also performed it at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

iTunes | Lyrics

'Blinded by the Light'

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Bruce Springsteen's original version failed to chart, but the Manfred Mann version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. On VH1 'Storytellers,' Springsteen said the popularity of the Manfred Mann version was partially because of singer Chris Thompson's enunciation of the lyrics "rewed up like a deuce" instead of the original "cut loose like a deuce."

iTunes | Lyrics

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Blinded by the Light

'Darling Nikki'

Foo Fighters

In February 2007, Prince performed the Foo Fighters' song 'Best of You' at Super Bowl XLI. Many fans see this as retaliation because Prince objected to having 'Darling Nikki' covered by the Foos.

Lyrics

'What a Wonderful World'

Joey Ramone

Originally released by Louis Armstrong in 1968, this recording was released a year after Ramone's death on his only solo album. It was made just weeks before the legend passed away. No. 6 on our best cover songs list was also played over the end credits of Michael Moore's film 'Bowling for Columbine.'

iTunes

'Careless Whisper'

Seether

Seether was approached by their management to contribute to a Valentine's Day album for iTunes. The band decided to take a humorous approach and turned what they believed to be a cheesy '80s ballad (originally by Wham!) into a hard rock song.

iTunes | Lyrics

'Smooth Criminal'

Alien Ant Farm

Alien Ant Farm did not intend for this Michael Jackson cover to be a single. An FM radio station picked it up and began playing it. Instead of taking offense, Alien Ant Farm went with the flow and decided to release it to the public as their very first single.

iTunes

'Turn the Page'

Metallica

Drummer Lars Urlich heard the Bob Seger song while driving home and knew his bandmate James Hetfield could do something magical with it. 'Turn the Page' gave the band its longest-lasting streak on top of the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

iTunes | Lyrics | 10 Best Metallica Songs

'All Along the Watchtower'

Jimi Hendrix

Within the booklet of his 'Biograph' album, original song author Bob Dylan said, "I liked Jimi Hendrix's recording of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way... Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

iTunes | Lyrics

'Hurt'

Johnny Cash

Originally by Nine Inch Nails, lead singer Trent Reznor reacted positively to the Johnny Cash version. Reznor said in Alternative Press, "I wrote some words and music in my bedroom as a way of staying sane, about a bleak and desperate place I was in, totally isolated and alone. [Somehow] that winds up reinterpreted by a music legend from a radically different era/genre and still retains sincerity and meaning -- different, but every bit as pure."

iTunes | Lyrics

List Your Top 10 Cover Songs

Leave your own list of the 10 best cover songs in the comments. Meanwhile, don't miss these 15 cover songs you may have not known were actually covers!

Listen to Rock Cover Songs Radio

Filed under: Feature, Best Songs, Top 10 Lists

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. Seether's cover of Careless Whisper is just amazing,
Amazing cover of an old amazing tune. Love

Posted at 6:27PM on Jul 13th 2009 by smilinbiggirl

2. OMG-Ya'll got that right...those truly are the top 10 covers I've ever heard!!! Great Job!!!

Posted at 6:39PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Donna

3. Careless Whisper by Seether is my favorite cover EVER!! so glad it made the list!

Posted at 10:30PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Alicia

4. I absolutely LOVE and can't stop playing Seether's cover of "Careless Whisper"! It's simply awesome how great they did on this cover! love it!

Posted at 7:07PM on Jul 13th 2009 by Kristine

5. Foo Fighters cover of Darling Nikki and Seether's cover of Careless whisper are both amazing! Both are better than the originals in my opinion!!!

Posted at 2:37AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Julie

6. Careless Whisper by Seether is a million times better than Wham's!

AND Smooth Crimal is an awesome song I love it as well as Careless Whisper.
~hahahaha~

Posted at 10:53AM on Jul 14th 2009 by McCracken

7. I think... Foo Fighters - Baker Street and Joe Cocker - A Little Help From My Friends... Both shouldve been on this list... But I agree with all... Haha... Top 12 it is then!

Posted at 11:19AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Blake

8. OMG!!! I can not believe that they left of Disturbed's cover of the genesis song Land of Confusion. That is a great cover too.

Posted at 1:33PM on Jul 14th 2009 by vanessa

9. Careless Whisper is definitely awesome and Alien Ant Farm is as close as I'll ever get to liking Michael Jackson. They left off Shinedown's version of Simple Man & Sick Puppies does this hilarious cover of Say My Name by Destiny's Child.

Posted at 3:56PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Tabitha

10. how could they forget jff buckley's cover of hallelujah??

Posted at 7:48PM on Jul 14th 2009 by barbara

11. Seether's cover of "Careless Whisper" is amazing... but I think you guys missed the boat with Metallica. Their cover of "Turn the Page" is not as good as the original Seger classic. However, their cover of "Stone Cold Crazy" destroys the original Queen version.

Posted at 11:40PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Jim

12. Ryan Adams cover of Wonderwall doesn't make the list?!? How is that even possible? He makes the song more heartfelt, even the lead singer of Oasis says so.

Also, Metallica's cover of Turn the Page is flat out awful. If you like the original version you cannot like the cover version...it is just not possible.

Posted at 12:16AM on Jul 15th 2009 by BillyBob

13. what now love for the Fuggee's and killing me softly?

Posted at 1:00AM on Jul 15th 2009 by refugee

14. Awesome Covers, but I indeed missed Simple man and lanf of confusion in the list :] These were awesome covers! Careless Whisper gave the song a more epic and powerfull aproach and I like it. Way to go Seether, always loved your music!

Posted at 2:11AM on Jul 15th 2009 by Joey

15. Well, everyone is in for a great surprise because Peter Murphy's upcoming album, which is a partial cover album, will have an incredible cover of Bowie's Space Oddity, and others. Just saw his show, and it's just jaw dropping.

Posted at 9:33PM on Jul 15th 2009 by doshia78

16. I completely agree with the Seether & Alien Ant Farm ones! Love both those songs!

Posted at 4:06PM on Jul 16th 2009 by zantow1993

17. G n' R? really? How about Warren Zevon's Knocking? The guy recorded it weeks or months before he died.

Posted at 10:27PM on Jul 16th 2009 by Matt Thompson

18. y isnt their desolation row? my chemical romance did a great job on doin that and no one please dont respond negative coments about mcr

Posted at 10:12AM on Jul 17th 2009 by mcrforeverr

19. Snoop Dog'sGin and Juice as covered by the Gourds should have been on this list.

Posted at 12:02PM on Jul 17th 2009 by B

20. Seether can do no wrong! They are simply one of the best rock bands to come along in a long while!

Posted at 4:04PM on Jul 17th 2009 by Lin

21. Seether can do no wrong! They are simply one of the best rock bands to come along in a long while!

Posted at 4:06PM on Jul 17th 2009 by Lin

22. What? Where are the covers Nirvana did?

Don't tell me they couldn't squeeze in Lake of Fire, or Man who Sold the World

Posted at 7:04PM on Jul 17th 2009 by Willfrey

23. i love seether's cover of careless whisper. i listen to it almost every day.
i

Posted at 12:38AM on Jul 18th 2009 by islhnmw

24. Seether's cover is fairly typical emo pap... It only sounds like the best thing they've ever done because they're using music and lyrics that were composed by someone besides Seether; Someone with a decent grasp of music composition. It's probably the first song they've performed that wasn't trite and formulaic, like all their other stuff.

Foo Fighters ruined Darling Nikki.

Alien Ant Farm's cover pales next to the original. It becomes typically discordant, grinding guitar rock, with none of the style that made the original such a hit.

All this really proves is that Gen Y and later are pleasantly surprised and shocked when newer, less talented artists cover music from earlier artists who actually had songwriting talent, because they're finally being exposed to something decent.

It's no coincidence that so many of these groups get popular on the music of 80s artists; The 80s was the last time the music industry recruited people with as much composing talent.

Posted at 10:27PM on Jul 18th 2009 by ZeroCorpse

25. Ryan Adams' cover of Wonderwall

Posted at 1:44AM on Jul 20th 2009 by dclyde

26. Wicked Game by HIM (Original by Chris Isaak) is missing!!!

Posted at 8:10AM on Jul 21st 2009 by Lenny.it

27. Wicked Game by HIM (Original by Chris Isaak) is missing!!!

Posted at 8:09AM on Jul 21st 2009 by Lenny.it

28. Careless whisper really suprised me, I didn't expect something like this from seether. It only makes them better! lots of love!

Posted at 3:16PM on Jul 22nd 2009 by Sabine

29. Let's see...To Qualify... The cover artist should come to mind first when the song is mentioned( Bye Bye anybody covering Turn The Page ). The song should also be recognizable when mentioned, but maybe i'm just getting old.
Cocaine by Clapton
Take Me To The River by The Talking Heads
I agree with Watchtower by Hendrix, But would also throw in Hey Joe.
Gloria by Patti Smith, though there are other excellent covers.
Me and Bobby McGee by Janis.
The Passenger by Siouxie Sioux.
Stormy Monday by The Allmans.
City of New Orleans by Arlo Guthrie.
Gov't Mule doing Going Out West ( I don't think it is commercially available, but if you go to MuleTracks and download a show...)

Posted at 11:20PM on Jul 24th 2009 by wryman

30. I'm a bit mystified by some of these-- Seether is (sorry, guys) a comically bad band. And some of the exclusions from the list are just silly-- The Sundays' cover of Wild Horses, Jeff Buckley's cover of Hallelujah, Built To Spill's cover of Cortez The Killer (and maybe even Built To Spill's cover of Some Things Last A Long Time), Cat Power's cover of I Found A Reason... these are just off the top of my head.

I know we've all got different tastes, but this list was seriously lacking.

PS-- Cornershop's cover of Norwegian Wood! Seriously!

Posted at 11:03PM on Jul 26th 2009 by D.

31. I absolutely love Careless Whisper by Seether. I was around for the Wham version, which i did like in the 80's. BUT Shaun Morgan's voice is amazing and the band plays it so awesome. My fav part is where the music changes and he says now who is going to dance w/ me and then it says Please stay! ok it send chills everytime I hear it. I crank this out daily in my car. I love all the rock and roll in this song.

Posted at 11:27PM on Jul 28th 2009 by vikkilwislon

32. It is great and you guys rock.(Seether, Careless whisper) I heard it live and loved it.

Posted at 10:07PM on Jul 29th 2009 by Sheila

33. we think Seether should cover I Love You by Climax Blues Band....It would be as big as Careless Whisper.

Posted at 9:53PM on Jul 31st 2009 by chucktonya

34. wow, joey ramone took what a wonderful world to the next level

Posted at 3:16AM on Aug 6th 2009 by alexisbern

35. nice list but i would add megadeths paranoid or no more mister nice guy.

Posted at 12:20PM on Aug 6th 2009 by angeladeguia4u

36. OMG! I love Seether! they are my most favorite band! As soon as I heard they did this song I search for the album until I found it! I already had it like I have every other of their albums but I wanted the song so badly! I love it! they did an amazing job! I love this version WAY better than I liked Wham!'s version.... I love Shaun's voice and their work! This is one of the first bands in a while that I have REALLY gotten into. And that's not like me because I love all music... Keep it up Seether! Shaun, you are SO hott!

Posted at 2:57PM on Aug 6th 2009 by artandmusic15

37. omg. . seether cover song of careless wisper is so great. shawn as the best vocals i,ve ever heard from a rock band. i love seether there the best. that is a corny song. but not how shawn sings it. i million billion better then george. seether just so real with there songs.

Posted at 6:34PM on Aug 11th 2009 by laura22

38. CCR-Heard it thru the grapevine

Posted at 8:12PM on Aug 12th 2009 by Tom

39. No "In the Air Tonight" By. Nonpoint makes this list bad.

Posted at 3:35AM on Aug 13th 2009 by Matthew Wyld

40. thaaaaaaaaaaanks for all

Posted at 5:12PM on Aug 14th 2009 by anouar

41. the ten up there are actually ok i would like to add - G&R Smypathy For the Devil and Plant & Page
kamsmir

Posted at 9:28PM on Aug 15th 2009 by old fat man

42. Highway 61 Revisited Johnny Winters

Posted at 7:22PM on Aug 17th 2009 by Dave

43. Seether!!!!!!! Best Band Ever!!!!!!

Posted at 1:58PM on Aug 26th 2009 by Thorsten

44. wheres desolation row? covered by my chemical romance and under pressure? my chemical romance and the used

Posted at 2:55PM on Aug 27th 2009 by mcrforeverr

45. 1)ONE LESS REASON "WHEN DOVES CRY" is the BEST Cover ;^)CHECK IT :)

Posted at 2:41PM on Sep 23rd 2009 by cRaZyRaY

46. QUIET RIOT and VAN HALEN had some hit covers also

Posted at 2:45PM on Sep 23rd 2009 by cRaZyRaY

47. Terrible... How can you leave Simple Man by Shinedown off this list? I'm not a huge Shinedown nut... but that might just be the best cover I've EVER heard.

Posted at 7:47PM on Sep 24th 2009 by Zac

48. How can you not put the chili peppers cover of higher ground? seriously one of the best covers of a song ever! i love careless whisper to amazing cover and i agree with anyone who says shinedowns cover of simple man it gives me chills to hear it done live! theres godsmacks cover of good times bad times, megadeths cover of paranoid and no more mr nice guy like someone sad before and there cover of these boots, also someone said nirvanas unplugged covers are sick, panteras cat scratch fever and planet caravan, Rush has a whole cover album of great songs, black stone cherrys got a sick cover of shapes of things, and anything aaron lewis has covered such as sober is way better than cashs cover of hurt which i think is one of the worst covers ever. but thats my opinion. i do like the list besides cash bein 1 also all metallicas covers are good. in the end really all i can say is theres a really good amount of good covers that could make this list.

Posted at 10:28AM on Oct 2nd 2009 by nitrodklown

49. Seether's version of Careless Whisper is totally deserving of being on that list! What an awesome rendition of a formerly boring song! But I think Def Leppard should be up there somewhere with their version of David Essex's "Rock On" and Metallica with "Whiskey in a Jar". Not so crazy about Metallica's version of "Turn the Page", but great list!

Posted at 8:54AM on Oct 19th 2009 by Penny

50. Chris Cornell version of Billie Jean
Phish - Gin N Juice
Dave Matthewsband - All along the watchtower

Posted at 12:38PM on Oct 20th 2009 by Greg Candido

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