Cover tune catastrophe: Landslide

Smashing Pumpkins "Landslide" (Fleetwood Mac)

This gorgeous Fleetwood Mac song has been covered by many, but one of the most abrasive to my ears is the version by Smashing Pumpkins. It's really no secret that Billy Corgan can't sing well. Corgan can get by when he's shouting and surrounded by a lot of noise, but when he's naked in a sparse acoustic song like this...yikes. It would have been interesting to hear them do a rocking version of this tune instead of trying to mirror it so faithfully.

Cover tune catastrophe: You Give Love A Bad Name

I'm not sure what is worse: having your hit rock song sampled by rappers or having it performed this way.

Miracles of Modern Science "You Give Love A Bad Name" (Bon Jovi)

Cover tune catastrophe: "Stairway to Heaven"

Far Corporation "Stairway to Heaven" (Led Zeppelin)

If you ever wondered what the epic "Stairway to Heaven" would sound like filtered through the cheesy stylings of the 80s, wonder no more. Far Corporation was the brainchild of record producer Frank Farian, who recruited some 80s hot shots like vocalist Robin McAuley (who recently departed from Survivor) and some boys from Toto (including Bobby Kimball, who recently did a duets album with Jimi Jamison, who just reclaimed his position as lead vocalist in Survivor). At any rate, this tune polluted the airwaves in 1985 and marked the first time the legendary song entered the music charts since Led Zeppelin never released it as a single. Frank Farian would go on to injure our ears even more with his creation of Milli Vanilli a few years later.

Cover tune catastrophe: Raspberry Beret

Hindu Love Gods "Raspberry Beret" (Prince)

The Hindu Love Gods is basically R.E.M. fronted by Warren Zevon. They teamed up in 1990 for a one-off album that flopped. Their attempt to cover Prince's big 1985 hit "Raspberry Beret" sounds awful to my ears, extracting all of the joy out of this song and making it sound more like an Americal Idol audition gone horribly wrong. See what you think...

Cover tune catastrophe: Welcome To The Jungle

One of the most intriguing cover concepts I've heard in sometime: the great jazz artist Etta Jones does her interpretation of a classic rock anthem. The reworking just doesn't work for me, nor does it provide a chance to let Etta shine, so what's the point? It's gonna bring you down...huh!

Etta James "Welcome To The Jungle" (Guns-N-Roses)

Cover tune catastrophe: Imagine

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.

Cee Lo Green - "Imagine" (John Lennon)

In this live performance from New Year's Eve, Cee Lo Green covered John Lennon's masterpiece, "Imagine". I don't know what is more horrific - the way he absolutely butchered the singing of this song or his immensely disrespectful changing of the lyrics (he sang "all religion is true" instead of "and no religion too").

Cover tune catastrophe: Bringin' On The Heartbreak

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.

Mariah Carey "Bringin' On The Heartbreak" (Def Leppard)

Oil and water. 'Nuff said. There's guitar players in the video, but damned if I can hear them!

Cover tune catastrophe: It Ain't Me Babe

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.


New Found Glory "It Ain't Me Babe" (Bob Dylan)

Modern punk band New Found Glory included this excruciating cover of Bob Dylan's classic in a number of live shows. The biting lyrics and understated beauty of Dylan's original is undetectable under the layers of soulless noise. I trust the band was trying to rev up the energy to make the music fit the theme of the lyrics, but it fails on every level.

Cover tune catastrophe: I Believe I Can Fly

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.



William Hung – “I Believe I Can Fly” (R. Kelly)

William Hung is unequivocally the most catastrophic thing to come out of American Idol, other than Ryan Seacrest’s radio show. William Hung is exceptional in that he landed a record deal for NOT being able to sing…oh wait, isn’t that the rule these days? Hung’s entire album, “Inspiration” (2004), is atrocious, but I’ll only torture your ears with this one song. Take the Hung challenge…see if you can perform an entire song without singing a single note in key!

Cover tune catastrophe: When A Man Loves A Woman

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.


Michael Bolton – “When A Man Loves A Woman” (Percy Sledge)

When a man loves a woman, is he supposed to appeal to her as if he is in the middle of a proctology exam that has gone horribly wrong? When a man loves a woman, is he to have more fabulous hair than she? When a man loves a woman, is the best way to her heart to utterly ruin classic R&B? Check out this video of his live duet with Percy Sledge: the side by side comparison makes my point and then some.

Cover tune catastrophe: I Want To Rock And Roll All Night

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.


Toad the Wet Sprocket – “I Want To Rock And Roll All Night” (Kiss)

For the record, Toad the Wet Sprocket is one of my favorite bands of all time…but what were they thinking when they did a slow-as-the postal-service acoustic cover of the greatest rock and roll anthem of all time? They play and sing this Kiss classic as if they were hung-over. “You drive us wild, we’ll drive you crazy” never sounded more insincere.



So what do you think is one of the worst cover tunes? Leave a comment and tell us - if it is bad enough, we might just write it up!

Cover tune catastrophe: One

In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it.

Filter – “One” (Harry Nilsson)

This song was originally written by Nilsson in 1968, but the best known version is the stupendous ‘one’ by Three Dog Night recorded ‘one’ year later. Three decades later the song had a sudden revival. This horrifying cover of “One” by the alternative rock band Filter appeared on the soundtrack to the “X-files” movie in 1998. Also in the 90s, Aimee Mann recorded it for a Nilsson tribute album (her version is much better, though!)



So what do you think is one of the worst cover tunes? Leave a comment and tell us - if it is bad enough, we might just write it up!

Cover tune catastrophe: Eye of the Tiger

Time for a new feature here on BMF! In this ongoing series, I will uncover some of the WORST cover tunes ever recorded. We’ve all encountered that unsettling feeling upon hearing a beloved song redone by another artist. What were they thinking? How dare they try to redo this song! While we are powerless to prevent these clowns from trashing the originals, we can call them out on it. There are loads of lousy cover tunes out there, so let's get started.

Paul Anka – “Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor)

And in this corner…we have what has got to be a joke. Back in his prime, Paul Anka could do no wrong, but oh how things have changed. He is still doing things ‘his way’, but someone needs to tell him to stop. His 2005 album, “Rock Swings”, consists of - you guessed it - swing versions of pop and rock songs. The album should have been subtitled “Rock Swings (and misses)”. There are so many dreadful covers to pick from on this record, but I’m going with the swing version of Survivor’s 1982 classic “Eye Of The Tiger” to top our list. Mostly because he actually purrs at the end!



So what do you think is one of the worst cover tunes? Leave a comment and tell us - if it is bad enough, we might just write it up!