All covers albums are generally mistakes.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

The Dirtbombs - Ultraglide in Black: Arguably the best band out of Detroit since the Stooges rips through a collection of 60s and 70s r&b and soul numbers, both well-known and obscure. An absolute blast of an album. Fuck what you think you know about modern day garage rock and check this out.

 

Dump - That Skinny Motherfucker with the High Voice: Lo-fi, 4-track recordings of moderately known (in indie circles) James McNew (bassist for Yo La Tengo and sole member of Dump) spins his own versions of a random selection of Prince songs. A plus for McNew, he sings all the songs straight, which often gets at the heartache at the center of Prince's compositions, but without Prince's sneer. (Most notably on "When You Were Mine" and "Pop Life," both of which are borderline tragic tales in the hands of Dump, whereas Prince's originals were snide putdowns.)

 

Bryan Ferry - These Foolish Things: The same year that his contemporary David Bowie released his dreadful covers collection, Pin-Ups, Ferry took advantage of a bit of downtime in Roxy Music's schedule to record and release an album's worth songs he, too, loved growing up. Whereas Bowie was interested in merely imitating his idols, Ferry threw his inhibitions out the window and went as gloriously over the top whenever he could. "Sympathy for the Devil" turns into a big and brassy Vegas revue showcase; "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" features proto-disco beats and unapologetically cheesey female backing vocals. Ferry goes all out here, taking on Leslie Gore's "It's My Party"—with narrative gender unchanged—completely straight, somehow transcending its novelty roots.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Nick Cave's Kicking Against The Pricks and the Dump album are pretty much the only covers albums I enjoy.

[Epic Reine 0]

Renegades and Garage Inc. say "No".

[Red Baron 0]

While I can't agree with Inc because I've never listen to those albums, I can not agree with you either Epic.

[cd213 0]

Iced Earth's Tribute to the Gods is pretty fucking badass.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Renegades and Garage Inc. say "No".

Fucking vomit, dude.

 

Tori Amos' covers album. Yes, I'm kidding.

[justsoyouknow 0]

I'm stoked for Dylanesque, myself.

[godthedog 0]

twilight singers - 'she loves you'. a little wanky with the coltrane stuff, but by & large very good and original work on excellent song choices. "summertime" and "too tough to die" are especially awesome.

[Black Lushus 0]

Garage Inc. was about as big a letdown as it gets.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Does Run Devil Run or Coltrane's My Favorite Things count as a covers album?

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

I think what I like most about Coltrane (late period specifically) is how he took the old standards like "My Favorite Things" and continued to adapt them to the styles he was exploring. It's like a cross section of his entire creative process. Fuckin' brilliant. Going from just 62-67 alone, there's at least a dozen versions of "My Favorite Things" committed to disc, each with its own subtleties, and some with stark differences.

[Black Lushus 0]

other than Hair of the Dog, GNR's cover album was an absolute mess....Duff should NEVER be allowed to sing songs.

[BUTT 0]

Man, I'll defend the Spaghetti Incident 'til the fucking end...though I definitely understand why so many people hate it.

[Epic Reine 0]

Eh, I liked The Misfits cover on that album, everything else is pretty much meh...

[UZI Suicide 0]

My favorite song off of that album is actually Down on the Farm.

[Black Lushus 0]

My favorite song off of that album is actually Down on the Farm.

 

nooooooooooooooooo

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I'm stoked for Dylanesque, myself.

Ferry's first two solo albums contain a Dylan cover a piece, both of which I like a good deal. But that was over 30 years ago. Can he still bring it?

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

Nah. Just indulgent.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Aside from viewing some concert footage from Roxy Music's 2001 reunion, I haven't given any attention to Ferry's work post-1985.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I really like the Dump album, but the sneer that Prince brings is what makes him great. I would say that the Dump album is great on its own terms and represents what a cover is really supposed to be; taking a completely different spin on a great song and still keeping it great.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I wasn't saying Prince wasn't great.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

It just came off like you were saying Prince's sneer was a detriment. Never mind.

 

But yeah, I like the Dump album, the Pop Life track being my favourite.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

The reggae cover album of OK Computer was a fun mistake.

[justsoyouknow 0]

Ferry's first two solo albums contain a Dylan cover a piece, both of which I like a good deal. But that was over 30 years ago. Can he still bring it?

It only took him a week to make it, and he claims most are first takes. So either incredibly emotive or shit.

 

As an aside, The EZ Dub All Stars released "Dub Side of the Moon", and I must tell you it's fantastic.*

 

*while stoned.

[justsoyouknow 0]

Although I suppose they'd be in the vein of "punk" cover bands, so I guess that doesn't count.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I recently bought a CD called "Full Metal Jacket: The Songs that Drove Metallica." It's Garage Inc., mostly (a few songs here and there are missing, and there's some extras) but performed by the original artists.

 

It's a thousand times better.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Ferry's first two solo albums contain a Dylan cover a piece, both of which I like a good deal. But that was over 30 years ago. Can he still bring it?

It only took him a week to make it, and he claims most are first takes. So either incredibly emotive or shit.

 

As an aside, The EZ Dub All Stars released "Dub Side of the Moon", and I must tell you it's fantastic.*

 

*while stoned.

Godamnit, I forgot how awesome that Dub Side of the Moon is.

[Ravenbomb 0]

"Rise Above" had some good stuff on it, and I like "Director's Cut" by Fantomas

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

That Radiodread version of "Airbag" was cute for the first minute or so. That, plus the two minutes that followed, is the sum of my exposure to the dub/reggae covers thing being discussed.