Who Did It Better?

[gaymer77]

There was this clip of Dolly Parton that showed up on my Facebook feed tonight of her on the Wendy Williams show. During the interview Wendy talked about Whitney Houston recording I Will Always Love You and it got me to thinking about how many artists have recorded covers of other artist's songs. Some covers turn out better than the original and some flop terribly. So I turn to you good people of MMO-Champion to ask your opinion on various covers. I'd like to keep this thread to take one song & link both artist's version and then discuss who you think did a better job.

First up is the Dolly vs Whitney with I Will Always Love You





To me it is a no-brainer. Dolly's version is hands down better than Whitney's version. Dolly brought such a delicate and soft innocence to the song. You can hear the pain and torment in her voice as she sings about leaving someone that she'd always love. She didn't have to go belt out long drawn out high notes to bring the emotion to the song. I've had the pleasure of being able to have seen both Dolly (1995) and Whitney (1994) perform that song live in my life. Whitney did a good job in her own right with the song but I still preferred Dolly's version.

So who do you guys think did a better job with the song & what songs would you like to discuss who did better at recording it?

[Babadoo]

Whitney Houston started this stupid trend for female singers which consists of shouting at the top of your lungs whener you sing. I fuckin hate that. It's been like that for the past 20 years now. Every new female singer just fuckin shouts. I prefer delicate Dolly version as it's much more pleasant to the ear.

[gaymer77]

Whitney Houston started this stupid trend for female singers which consists of shouting at the top of your lungs whener you sing. I fuckin hate that. It's been like that for the past 20 years now. Every new female singer just fuckin shouts. I prefer delicate Dolly version as it's much more pleasant to the ear.

Nah Mariah Carey did that with her ultra high pitched singing back in 1988. I do agree with you though that now it seems like all these pop star wannabe diva new singers can't do anything other than throw out some lame ass rift & high pitched screech. I prefer alternative rock over anything else but I do love me some old school divas like Dolly, Reba McEntire, Aretha, and Dionne Warwick and some of the newer divas like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, and Christina Aguilera and some of the lovely Latin ladies like Thalia, Paulina Rubio, Laura Pausini, and Celia Cruz. As much as I'll get my gay card snatched away from me by the gay mafia for saying this...Beyonce is overrated except for Single Ladies!

EDIT

This is the song I'm talking about that started this whole bullshit. The famous note happens around the 2:44 mark.

[ohiostate124]

Whitney is goat

[Kaibhan]

Easily Dolly. Whitney was awful in this one.

[Tyranastus]

I'd like to see people's opinions on two different songs with covers:

Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson/Alien Ant Farm
MJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8w1d01Y2vY
AAF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDl9ZMfj6aE

Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel/Disturbed
S&G: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLfCnGVeL4
D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

[gaymer77]

I'd like to see people's opinions on two different songs with covers:

Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson/Alien Ant Farm
MJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8w1d01Y2vY
AAF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDl9ZMfj6aE

Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel/Disturbed
S&G: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLfCnGVeL4
D: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

Those are good choices. I really love the Disturbed version of it because it has that more modern and eerie sound to it more than the S&G one. As talented as Michael was, Alien Antfarm nailed it on their release. It is hard to take a classic like Smooth Criminal and make it your own but they did just that.

[Sting]

Who did it better?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvgZkm1xWPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pcg...ctr=1546852874

[FuxieDK]

Dolly, of course..

Originals are ALWAYS better than covers..

- - - Updated - - -

Whitney’s version is much more powerful. One of the weirdest covers, imo, is Torn. It was basically re-released by a different band every couple of years until it finally hit. There are ton that people are pretty oblivious to, though.

Torn was utterly destroyed by Natalie Imbruglia..

I value Ednaswap because it's the original, but I do prefer Lis Sørensen - Brændt, simply because it's in Danish AND predates Natalie Imbruglia..

[deepr]

I don't care much for the Whitney version of this specific song, but I do think Whitney Houston was a great pop singer and performer in her prime, which is the late 80s. Compared to Whitney in her prime, most female popstars are, quite simply, utter shite.

At the top of her abilities, she was better LIVE than on record. Here's what I'm talking about.

One Moment In Time, 1989 live at the Grammies (this specific performance is not on YT)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1ac1kw

How Will I Know and other songs (sound quality gets worse)...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfIyRSv8JJ0

[eschatological]

Originals are ALWAYS better than covers..

Incorrect. Jimi Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower was way better than Dylan's original.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

Incorrect. Jimi Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower was way better than Dylan's original.

This. So much so that Dylan started performing it more like the Hendrix version.

[LedZeppelin]

[Halicia]

Sinatra or Sid ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t8kAbUg4t4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDyb_alTkMQ

[Nihilist74]

I think they both sing it nice but I don't care for songs like this. To sing well does not take much skill. You just have to be born with a pretty voice that people want to hear. I have more respect for dolly pardon because she could play guitar and write her own music.

[Hekazi]

Whitney.
What is wrong with you..

Oh you're the...

[Zaktar]

I think they both sing it nice but I don't care for songs like this. To sing well does not take much skill. You just have to be born with a pretty voice that people want to hear. I have more respect for dolly pardon because she could play guitar and write her own music.

No, not really. Training your voice requires a lot of hard work and careful management of your body. You have to work really hard to develop your range so you can sing well, and even if you can achieve that high skill level as a singer, there are a lot of technically skilled by soulless singers. One of the things which make's OP's matchup interesting is that Parton and Houston are both really skilled technically, but are also very emotive singers.

[GrossOnToast]

Yeah, its wild how sometimes an artists entire music career got its start from doing a cover. Was just the other day that i realised "Butterfly" by Crazy Town was based off of a Red Hot Chilipeppers song/riff.

[Spiffums]

Doesn't matter because Dolly made all the money!

[Daedius]

Great, got 9 to 5 stuck in me head now. Hope you're happy, OP!