Covers ain't easy. I have heard some horrendous covers over the years (Aerosmith's cover of "Come Together" - why cover a great song by doing nothing to it?) and I have heard some really fantastic covers over the years (Johnny Cash's "Hurt"). The first aspect of a great cover is performing a great song, which is why I love A.V. Club's Undercover project, which selects 25 great songs and then gets 25 bands to cover these songs. They practically do half the battle for you. The second aspect of a great cover is actually doing something to the song. I have read a lot of people hate on the following cover, but I couldn't care less. It takes a great song and puts a unique Smith Westerns stamp on it. Changing the tempo of a piece of music is an underutilized aspect of song writing. Meanwhile, Smith Westerns have mastered this concept, which can be seen and heard in the following cover. Check this out!
-- Greg
Smith Westerns cover Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Covers can be bad if the rendition doesn't do justice to the song. It needs to take the music to a new level of atmosphere.
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