[CaptainCrunch]

I haven't done one of these in a while because I didn't want you guys getting sick of me. But I thought I would fire one off during the Christmas Season.

I want to do a list based on cover songs. Great Songs that were made better by bands, that maybe gave a new look and feel to a already great song. Some you might agree with, some you won't. But here we go in no particular order, best covers.

1) Ariane Grande and Miley Cyrus - Don't dream its over. Now I normally wouldn't cross the street to listen to Miley Cyrus, but a friend pointed me to her Happy Hippie project a foundation founded by Cyrus to help homeless LGBTQ youth. This lead to a release of a bunch of strong covers by Cyrus. Jolene, 50 ways to meet your lover etc. But to me one of the strongest ones that shows a lot of talent by Cyrus is her duet with Ariana Grande. This song showcases Cyrus' strong vocal talent as her somewhat smokey rough voice really makes this song come alive. This song was probably the best known song by Crowded House, but the cover really improves on it





2) Johnny Cash - Hurt

This is one of the saddest and toughest songs ever made to me. Originally performed by Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash took this song at the end of his life and made it a death bed confession that he had hurt a lot of people during his life. The raw emotion from Cash and the feeling of the pain rattling your bones is amazing. To add on, there was an amazing cover done by Kermit the Frog that was incredibly twisted.






3) Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

This was a complete re-invention of Bob Dylan's song and it became Jim Hendrix's signature song. While Dylan's version really focused on the lyrics and the singer, Hendrix's song focused both on his amazing guitar abilities with one of the strongest song intro's every made, but Hendrix's bluesy power voice.





4) Joe Cocker - With a little help from my friends

The Beatles originally released this song and Joe Cocker improved it through his famous vocal gyrations and a change in tempo, the Guitar work was also a lot more random, making this a song that you're more then likely to play in Cocker style with your garage band or listen to in your bedroom while flailing on your Strato-Air Guitar. The Beatles song would be the one that you put on while smoking grass with your friend and chilling out






5) Bruce Springsteen - Because the Night

Ok, I'm guilty, I'm a big fan of the boss, while his Born in USA was probably the height of his commercial success, his other music is probably stronger because of its working class roots, and nothing really shows the Strength of the Boss and the E Street Band then taking a great Patti Smith song and making it stronger and for a long time a must listen to live. Back in the day, Patti Smith's version was on your "date night" cassette mix tape when you bought a girl home. It was powerful and Raw and Sexual. Bruce's version change that whole vibe and feel, somehow Springsteen created a gruffer more desperate lustiness to the song that Springsteen never thought was a love song.

When you listen to this song, the tempo change when the artists are singing "Take me now" repeatedly are completely different.







6) The Beatles - Twist and Shout

The Beatles took the old Isley Brothers party song and boosted the energy of it behind the vocalizations of John Lennon who's voice by this point in his career was pretty much done. With higher energy they made this song seem like it could fly off of the rails at any time with its frenetic energy. For a long time this was a must play song at weddings and birthday parties and created horrify images of your middle aged parents burning up the carpet.





7) Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee

Originally written and song by Kris Kristofferson, this song became Janis' signature hit after she died. Her raw, rough singing voice really popped this song about desperate love. To be honest, Kris' version was pretty cookie cutter country at the time, long and drawn out and calming.





8) Soft Cell - Tainted Love

For some reason these are completely different songs. Gloria Jones's version is just a little too cheerful, while Soft Cell's one hit wonder 80's tune really conveyed hurt and pain and makes the song seem like a desparate attempt to escape from a toxic relationship