I love cover songs, usually. If done right they can rival the original or,   in some cases exceed them. 

 Here are a few of my favorites from throughout the years.

 Of course, in the usual list fashion, there are some rules I set for  myself: 

 

1 - I have to also really like the original version. This means Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" and Naked Eyes "Always Something There To Remind", two songs I can listen to and never tire of, can not be on the list because I barely know the original Goria Jones or Niel Sedeka versions, Agnostic Front's "Crucified" because I am not really fond of Iron Cross's original. 

2- No songs from the album that were all covers or from tribute albums. There are some I really like Sonic Youth's version of The Carpenter's "Superstar" ( itself a cover of a Delaney and Bonnie song) would be on this list but was usually recorded for the purpose of being on that collection. These were all done because the bands just liked them.

1- 7 Seconds - 99 Red Balloons (NINA)  - Walk Together, Rock Together LP (1985,

BYO Records) - There was a time when I had a 45 of Nena's hit which had the German version on one side and the English on the other side. I used to play one side, flip it over, and repeat.  I'm sure there are many fans of the Reno, Nevada melodic hardcore band 7 Seconds who are not aware this is a cover since they have been playing it for so long. For me it was seeing this on a cassette copy of their Walk Together, Rock Together Ep  (before it was extended to a full album) that brought me to be a fan of the band. 

2 - Botch-  O Fortuna (Orff) - John Birch Conspiracy EP (1997, Excursion Record) - An opera opus turned into a math/metal anthem. Pretty cool that Botch took on such a task so early in their career. 

3 - Breeders  - Happiness is a Warm Gun (The Beatles) -

Pod Album (1990, 4AD Records) - Being a humongous Pixies fan, I, of course, picked up bassist Kim Deal's (now on guitar) side project The Breeders, with Tanya Donnelly (Throwing Muses), bassist Josephine Wiggs (Perfect Disaster), and drummer Shannon Doughton (who was really Britt Walford from Slint, who I would not hear until the next year when Spiderland was released).. A couple songs in, as the producer Steve Albini called them, "The Bangles From Hell" debut album Pod was a cover of The Beatles' darkest song "Happiness is a Warm Gun" (off "The White Album"). Somehow the Breeders version was even darker fitting the mood of the album. Side Note: Kim's sister Kelly would not be a part of the band until 1992's Safari EP

4 -Down By Law - Best Friend (The Outlets) - S/T LP  (1991, Epitaph Records) - On Down, By Law's debut album they were Dave Smally, of course just off a stint fronting my favorite band ALL (as well as Dag Nasty and DYS, but I have to admit I had not heard either of those bands yet), backed by Dave Naz, Ed Urlik, and Chris Bagnozzi of The Chemical People. Two bands are part of what I call "The Big Three of Cruz Records" ( The third being Big Drill Car). Of course, I bought their self-titled debut album on the day it was released. The album has twelve powerful surf-influenced melodic punk songs. Right dab in the middle is "Best Friend", a song the liner notes say was originally by The Outlets. It would be almost 25 years until I would finally hear the Outlets's version when a comp of theirs popped up on Spotify. 

5 - The Futureheads - Hounds of Love (Kate Bush) - The Futureheads LP (2004, Rough Trade

Records) - Kate Bush is such a great and classic singer, with very complex song parts (check out the strings in her original version of this song) I am sure covering her song is not an easy task. The only other ones I've heard are Red Kross doing "Wuthering Heights" (on the Freedom of Choice comp) and Placebo doing "Running Up That Hill" years before Stranger Things gave the song new life. Somehow this XTC meets Stiff Records UK band pulled it off turning it into a fast-paced sing-along tune on their 2004 debut self-titled album. 

6 - Juliana Hatfield - Raisans (Dinosaur Jr) - Forever Baby EP ( 1992, Mammoth Records) - While in her previous band The Blake Babies, Julianna Hatfield had covered "Severed Lips", off Dinosaur Jr's self-titled debut album. That song would have probably made this list if as a seriously deep cut, Juliana hadn't covered a song off of my all-time favorite album Dinosaur Jr's You're Living All Over Me. Probably very hard to find a physical copy so search this song out on Spotify, YouTube, or wherever else you listen to music. While there check out the all-electric version of the song "Nirvana", which was previously recorded acoustic on The Blake Babies Rosy Jack World EP (where the "Severed Lips" cover was also located). 

7 - Helmet - Oven (Melvins) - Smells Like Smoked Sausage 2x7" (1992, Sub Pop Records) - I am

not a big Melvins fan at all. The only two albums I have by them are Gluey Port Treatments and Ozma, because they happen to be on the same CD. I still really listen to them but "Oven" off of Ozma would make it on a lot of my mixtapes. So I was pretty excited when Helmet covered it on one of the releases I received during my one year as a member of the Sub Pop Single club. This song is also Born Annoying, their collection of singles and B-sides 

8 - Killdozer - "I Am I Said" (Neil Diamond) - Little Baby Buntin' ( 1985, Touch and Go Records) - A band that does great cover versions. Each one is sung in bassist Michael Gerld's gravily voice. Even though I love this cover of Neil Diamond's classic tale of "Lost Between Two Shores" I actually like their cover of Coven's "One Tin Soldier" about equally. But that one was on an album of all cover songs entitled This One's For Ladies Only (also previously available on picture disc and 5x7" box set) which excludes it from being considered for this list. 

9 - The Melvins - Goin' Blind (KISS) - Houdini LP (1993, Atlantic Records) - Besides the first

two  Melvins albums are mentioned in the Helmet entry, sometimes I will pull out the 1993 Houdini album. Sometimes to listen to the whole thing but most times is just to blast this awesome version of the Kiss classic. Another cover by the Melvins I can listen to over and over is The Beatles "I Want to Hold Your Hand" but that, like Dinosaur Jr's almost equal version of "Goin' Blind", is on a record of all covers.  

10 - The Damned - Alone Again Or (Love) - Anything LP (1988, MCA Records) - Last but not least is the song that finally brought me to check out the band Love. (You can read about that here: here). Make sure to check out the video where at the end a plane flies by at the exact right moment. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4MfR7z5EfdcX6H28lWAbDI?si=bdce13f710a24498

Numbers 59 - 50 of My Top-100 Favorite Albums of All-Time

Numbers 59 - 50 of My Top-100 Favorite Albums of All-Time

* means I bought the album right when it was released or at the latest a few months

# means I discovered it later 

59) Young Fresh Fellows - Electric Bird Digest

(1991, Frontier) - Young Fresh Fellows were a very good fun band before the Fastbacks' Kurt Bloch joined them on the 1989 album This One's for the Ladies. Kurt’s thick buzzing guitar hooks really brought the band to a new level. On Electric Bird Digest they really hit their mark. Pre-Nirvana thick Butch Vig production really makes the music shine too. (*)

58) Teenage Fanclub - A Catholic Education (1990, Matador)- When A Catholic Education was released Scotland's Teenage Fanclub was compared to Dionsaur Jr. Although I can hear some similarities in Gerard Love's bass player to Lou Barlow's on early Dinosaur jr albums, I think they end there. On this album the band has a lot more sloppy noise and distortion going on with slightly buried vocals then their next album 1991's Bandwagonesue (I like to ignore the 1991 contract filler The King)but you can still hear the melodies emerging through. (*) 

57) The Connells - Fun and Games (1989, TVT)

- North Carolina's Connells were another band I discovered through the College Record Store chart on the last page of Rolling Stone Magazine when Fun and Games was released. On this album the band dropped the post/punk sound and faux British accents of the first album that often had them compared to The Smiths, and the Irish folk influence of the second album for more of a full rock sound. This often got them compared to their fellow southerners R.E.M. I never really heard the resemblance. (*)

56) Jets To Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary (1998, Jade Tree) - I feel bad liking an album that was written out of a struggles drug addiction, and pretty much every on Orange Rhyming Dictionary is. But songs by Ex- Jawbreaker Blake Schwarzenbach's new bands debut are just so good. The vocals are definitely cleaner than with Jawbreaker and the music more rockin' which brought different opinions from fans of Blake's former fans. I loved the album, as well as Jets to Brazil's next two albums, immediately. (*)

55) Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder (1991, Columbia) - A band and album that at the time really sounded like no one else. They may have been the first band I ever heard with two bass players. One playing normal bass parts while the other plays it like a second guitar. Jessica Corcoran's production really adds a nice 3-D sound to the twelve songs. Unlike many people I like their next two albums. Still neither one comes close to the perfection of God Fodder. (*)

54) Helmet - Strap it On (1990, Amphetamine Reptile) - On Helmet's next album 1992's Meantime the band began to become too technical for me. By the time they put out Betty in 1994 I could not really get into them anymore. On  1990's Strap It On the band was at their most primal. So much urgent chaos, noise, and shouted vocals. Even the slower song "Sinatra" is very intense. Producer Wharton Tiers somehow manages to contain just enough of the madness for the band to record a very good debut album. (*)

53) Leatherface - Mush (1991, Roughneck)

- Leatherface singer Frankie Stubb's scratchy voice may be a turn off to some. When I first heard the band when WNYU played “Dead Industrial Atmosphere” I was instantly hooked. A few days later I picked up Mush, then on Seed Records in the States, and found twelve more fast melodic songs with great riffs and hooks. There is even an awesome cover of The Police's "Message in a Bottle" at the end. (*)

52) Big Drill Car - Album/Tape/CD Type Things (1989, Cruz) - All along this list I have used the word "hooks" repeatedly. if for some reason you are not sure exactly that this is make sure to check out this Big Drill Car. Album/Tape/CD Type Thing contains for than any album of my collection. Along with Frank Daly's clean vocals make this one of the most fun punk albums out there.  Like Public Image Ltd.'s 1983 album the actual title depends on which format you own it on. (#)

51) Propagandhi - How To Clean Everything (1993, Fat Wreck) - How to Clean Everything may be the only album I can sing all the way through without it playing. Including the Cheap Trick cover at the end. Twelve fast tracks with sarcastic sociopolitical lyrics, a few self-admittedly stolen riffs and an "anti-ska" ska song in the middle. (*)

50) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (1986, Rough Trade) -If this list was for the band's whole career The

Smiths would be much higher. Possibly even Top - 20. For complete albums, though the Queen is Dead falls right in the middle. So many great classics on this album. It along with the almost equally great and classic albums have all stayed in my rotation for the past 30 plus years. (*)

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