Appalling Cover Version by A list Artists

Dominic

Any pub band or even function band can be forgiven for a bad or sad attempt at a cover.
When it's a great song it's a shame.
When a top Artist does a dreadful Cover of a great song it's SHAMEFUL.
  Just heard Elton John and the Pet Shop Boys on Graham Norton Radio Show destroy Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again"
Fantastic bit of songwriting and lyric that was so right destroyed by people who should know better and do better.
In fact ,if you can't do considerably better then leave well alone. But this was just woeful.
 I'm still trying to get over Johnny Depp daring to better Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka ..............(never)

TheMarlin

Ronan Keatings version of ’Fairytale of New York’ was appalling. Sets my teeth on edge!

Dominic

Another example of when to know that it would be impossible to better the original.

ICBM

Bryan Ferry doing Song To The Siren. (On the album Olympia.) Some of his other covers over the years have been a bit questionable, but that one is shockingly bad - he even changes the lyrics and ruins the meaning of the song.

Scissor Sisters doing Comfortably Numb is another one for the same reason - it's not because it's a 'sacred' song or anything, it's because they appear to have no idea what it's actually about.

Amy Winehouse doing Valerie - it's a man's song to a woman. She sings it with no reference to that or apparently any feeling for the song at all. It may be Mark Ronson's fault though, to be fair.

Dominic

None of those are as bad as what those two have done to Gilbert..........I'm amazed that high profile artists would have put that out .

Emp_Fab

I'm getting my copyright lawyers onto you.

stimpsonslostson

Sugarbabes Vs Girls Aloud covering Walk This Way springs to mind. (Though "A list" might be stretching it a bit). 
It was a charity single for Comic Relief... A song that's about a boy losing his virginity as a children's charity single? That's before you even get to listening to it. 



Apparently they claimed not to know what it was about! 
"Backstroke lover always hidin' 'neath the cover
'Till I talked to my daddy he say
He said, you ain't seen noting
'Till you're down on a muffin
Then you're sure to be a-changin' your ways"

scrumhalf

I have no idea who it was but I remember seeing a video for a cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit by some vacuous female, it was set to a dance beat. I'm not that fond of the original but this was just appalling.

TheMarlin

Also Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera’s ‘Lady Marmalade’ covet was bloody awful

......but I quite like William Shatners version of Lucy in the sky with diamonds 

Cols

Metallica covering When Doves Cry by Prince.  I honestly can’t tell whether or not they’re massively taking the piss.

https://youtu.be/FgQ57Gv7W7k

LastMantra

ICBM said:

Bryan Ferry doing Song To The Siren. (On the album Olympia.) Some of his other covers over the years have been a bit questionable, but that one is shockingly bad - he even changes the lyrics and ruins the meaning of the song.

I like John Froo's version. 

LastMantra

I don't like it when people do a version of their own song but try to make it sound different and "interesting" and just loose the drive of the song. Love Bowie but he was bad for it. 

DannyP

joeyowen

Cols said:

Metallica covering When Doves Cry by Prince.  I honestly can’t tell whether or not they’re massively taking the piss.

https://youtu.be/FgQ57Gv7W7k

I came here to post this, what the fuck are they thinking

ICBM

DannyP said:

[t.A.T.u - How Soon Is Now]

Yes, that's dreadful. I've got the album and there's actually some very good stuff on it, but that track really spikes it.

Trevor Horn though - often a genius, but it remains to be seen what his new 'reinventing the 80s' album is like... I've heard the Robbie Williams cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World from it, and although not quite as bad it's still pretty poor.

Octafish

Cols said:

Metallica covering When Doves Cry by Prince.  I honestly can’t tell whether or not they’re massively taking the piss.

https://youtu.be/FgQ57Gv7W7k

Add to that their horrific cover of Thin Lizzy's version of 'Whisky in the Jar', none more shitter....

Cols

joeyowen said:

Cols said:

Metallica covering When Doves Cry by Prince.  I honestly can’t tell whether or not they’re massively taking the piss.

https://youtu.be/FgQ57Gv7W7k

I came here to post this, what the fuck are they thinking

“Dude!  Maybe we can get booed off the stage and finish work early!”

breakstuff

DannyP said:

Shudder!!!!!

I can't even bring myself to watch that.

ICBM

breakstuff said:

I can't even bring myself to watch that.

It's one of those things that's probably better watched with the sound off .

Kilgore

A complete travesty or vast improvement on the original.

You choose. 

Rocker

Metallica covering Whiskey in the Jar. Sad.