Who Did It Better?

[McFuu]

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.

This can be said for a lot of Dylan songs. Fantastic song writer, but a lot of the songs he wrote, exceeded his particular brand of borderline folk singing.

[gaymer77]

Sinatra or Sid ?

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

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

Sid had an interesting take on the song but Sinatra did it better.

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.

So much this! Yes Dolly and Whitney are very skilled and emotional singers. Dolly sings with a lot of delicate emotion while Whitney would belt out powerful verses.

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

You're welcome. Another one of Dolly's great songs. A couple months ago I made my boyfriend watch that movie for the first time and he absolutely loved it.

[Bathrezz]

Dolly sounds like a sheep

[babalou1]

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

SNIP

Both have a special place in music for me.

Recently there was a "Tribute" for lack of a better word of a few classics done by todays artists.



Absolutely love it.

[gaymer77]

Both have a special place in music for me.

Recently there was a "Tribute" for lack of a better word of a few classics done by todays artists.

Absolutely love it.

I've seen that video before and absolutely love it too. Reba is one of those artists on my bucket list to see. Love her a lot. I even loved her TV show Reba that got canceled after like 3 or 4 seasons. I used to be a hick in high school. I wore boots, was in the FFA, raised pigs for the county fair to show, and listened to country music all the time. I've done a total 180 since then and listen basically to alternative rock but the country from the 90's still holds a place in my heart. The funniest thing is I told my boyfriend that if we ever win the lotto that we're having this kick ass reception with live performers. I want Dolly Parton, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Demi Lovato, and to close the night out Foo Fighters. If this ever happens I'm definitely going to post on here for anyone to attend lol

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So decided to post another mash up. Total Eclipse of the Heart. Recorded first by Bonnie Tyler in 1983 and then re-released by Nikki French in 1995

[Tziva]

Some favourite covers:

Kashmir

Cover by Ofra Haza: https://youtu.be/Fu5Cgb6Yy4Y
Original Led Zeppelin: https://youtu.be/tzVJPgCn-Z8)
Kashmir is one of my favourite Zeppelin songs, so I'm not even really saying I like Haza's version better. They're both so different and I like them both an awful lot.

Inner City Blues

Cover by Gil Scott Heron: https://youtu.be/sh66yhoyc68
Original by Marvin Gaye: https://youtu.be/p_PxgSQ9Vf4

The Man that Sold the World

Cover by Nirvana: https://youtu.be/fregObNcHC8
Original by David Bowie: https://youtu.be/UFvxj_0H8Ws
And I say this as a massive Bowie fan.

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Cover by Post Modern Jukebox (Maiya Sykes): https://youtu.be/riZck9O-kBU
Original by Green Day: https://youtu.be/r5EXKDlf44M

Hurt is another cover people talk about all the time. I see someone mentioned All Along the Watchtower already which is another oft-discussed one.

Not sure if it counts as a cover since she was a singer on the original too, but I love Merry Clayton's version (link: https://youtu.be/AHvXhWJ0oHU) of Gimmie Shelter more than the Stones' version. I love the original too but that's mainly because of her amazing vocals.

House of the Rising Sun is an old song that a million people have covered and I don't know if the original artist is even known, so maybe it doesn't count but I'm also going to list it for Nina Simone's version(s). People tend to like her slow cover (link: https://youtu.be/aCuu5fOEB3Y) best but I like the fast version (link: https://youtu.be/oAJnomVdtyo). The slow one is fantastic too, though.

[Lanrefni]

I think most people prefer the Nirvana cover on a Man that Sold the World. And PMJ consistently creates amazing covers. My favourite recent cover by them is Video Killed the Radio Star which actually managed to get me to think about something other than Cell from DBZ when I hear this song


As for House of the Rising Sun it's a folklore song so the original artist is just not known. And yes, Cash owns Hurt now.

Yup,even Reznor agrees that Cash owns Hurt.

[kitban12]

Whitney Houston

[segara82]

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.

i love all four of them. Thanks to their different styles they work better for different moods. Usually when i'm working in the kitchen i prefer my tried-and-true 80's and 90's songs, so i'll stick with the original Smooth Criminal. At other times i like things with more beat/e-guitars and listen to AAF.
Same goes for Sound of Silence, sometimes i want to hear Disturbeds more powerful vocals, at other times the more relaxed Simon and Garfunkel.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Whitney's version is just a lot of yelling and wailing to me, so... Dolly.

As for Beyonce, her live voice at least does her hype some justice. Unlike SO many other artists.

[PACOX]

I question the taste of anyone who thinks that Dolly's is better. Its generic, dull, and full of that nonsense where you simply make your voice shake - I forget the name of it. Whitney puts true emotion into the song. I can hear the love, the passion, I can feel it.

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Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack



Killing Me Softly With His Song - The Fugees




I love both. Heard the Fugees first but the one from, the original, Roberta Flack is just beautiful.

[Naiyano]

All videos posted here its always the original version. The emotions and the passion put into it is really important for me. It's what good music is all about.

The only exception I can think of is the Johnny Cash version of Hurt (Nine Inch Nails): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc

[VanishingAct]

This can be said for a lot of Dylan songs. Fantastic song writer, but a lot of the songs he wrote, exceeded his particular brand of borderline folk singing.

But at least he was very humble about that fact. Such a great man.

[McFuu]

I question the taste of anyone who thinks that Dolly's is better. Its generic, dull, and full of that nonsense where you simply make your voice shake - I forget the name of it. Whitney puts true emotion into the song. I can hear the love, the passion, I can feel it.

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Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack



Killing Me Softly With His Song - The Fugees




I love both. Heard the Fugees first but the one from, the original, Roberta Flack is just beautiful.

To me the differences between the Killing Me Softly is pretty drastic.
I like the Roberta Flack version, but I assume it suffers from its producer... Or more to say Roberta Flack didn't have Wyclef. The slowing of the song to about 90bpm from... 122, christ that's high. The bpm difference makes a massive difference, the song hits way harder, even with a harder percussion and base line, the voice owns the song due to the speed and lyrics.

Also Flack didn't write this song, it has a bit of a troubled history, which has also led it to be one of the most covered songs ever. Most of the covers suck until you get to Lauren Hill.

[Altrec]

Bad Company's Bad Company
vs
Five Finger Death Punch's Bad Company

I rather enjoy both with no real winner.

[Saphyron]

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?

Whitney for me. Her voice is more clear and sounds better.

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

Alien Ant Farm.

[Cosmic Janitor]

While I agree with one of the first comments that I hate the modern diva shit that everyone and their grandma copies these days, I can't help but prefer the Houston version. The one linked here from Parton was essepcially bad since it seemed to even have the slow up/downs of vinyl records in it. But even without that the Houston version is more likeable to me, because I just can't stand country guitars either. Heck, reducing it purely to the vocals, Houston is just more powerfull, which is generally something I prefer in songs.

[Shadowferal]

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.

*nods*
A lot of good singers either get coached or start in choirs.

[Ausr]

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.

I hate it the most when they do it for the national anthem (Star Spangeled). The song isn't like that. It's supposed to be relatively quick.

[Halicia]

Heck, reducing it purely to the vocals, Houston is just more powerfull, which is generally something I prefer in songs.

While there are definitely covers that get "ruined" imo by people wanting to showboat their power and voice control, Houston's version here is not one of them, and is easily better, imo.

I won't knock someone for trying though, I love covers, and its hard to beat a pro at their own game.