Mar 032023
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

Spice Girls covers

In the winter of 1998, the Spice Girls were the biggest pop act in the universe. Their movie Spice World, released on Boxing Day ‘97 in the U.K. and in late January in the U.S, brought in more than $100 million worldwide. On February 24, 25 years ago last week, the group launched its first-ever world tour in Dublin, Ireland.

It was both the best of times and the beginning of the end. Just a few months later, on the eve of their American tour, Geri Halliwell (aka Ginger Spice) would depart the group. Though they continued as a quartet and released Forever in 2000, they would never rule the pop cultural zeitgeist in the same way.

Still, in their short run at the top of the charts, they made a colossal impact on music history. In the U.S., the Spice Girls cut a wedge right through the heart of ‘90s music. Before they hit, pop music was serious business for long-haired dudes with guitars and rappers who felt they were too cool to be parodied by “Weird Al.” But the Spice Girls gave us what we wanted, what we really really wanted, whether we knew it or not. They made it okay for pop music to be brash, fun and unapologetically commercial again. The group opened the door for the countless pop acts who led music into the new millennium, such as Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.

The Spice Girls were never highly regarded by critics or music snobs, who tend to scoff anything that appeals to young girls. Though they’re now eligible for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I can’t imagine they’ll ever get nominated. Yet the Spice Girls’ music, image and legacy have endured surprisingly well in the ensuing decades. The group performed at the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics in London and just the mention of a possible reunion tour is enough to set the press into a frenzy. Not convinced? Try listening to Spice or Spiceworld. From the hits to the deep cuts, the albums are consistent listens throughout, as they both feature brilliantly crafted pop tunes that are catchy and easy to sing along to.

Despite being the best-selling female pop group of all time, the Spice Girls haven’t been covered that extensively. One has to go deeper than the usual suspects to find great covers. Whether it’s an acoustic rendition of “Stop,” a jazzy cover of “Wannabe” or countless takes on their deep cuts, the music has lived on through many different voices, just not in the voices that were used to seeing and hearing. Perhaps it takes an artist with less to lose to take a chance and deliver an original take on such pop classics. More than 25 years after their world dominance, “Girl Power” in all its awesomeness shows no signs of letting up. One just has to know where to look.

– Curtis Zimmermann

25. Zebrahead – Wannabe

Pop-punk covers in the early 2000s were unavoidable. Napster (or Limewire or Kazaa) ballooned music libraries and saturated the market with power chords and nasally vocals. It was glorious. There’s something about this cover that calls back to that time of downloading yet another song to the library; it didn’t matter if it was labeled wrong or it wasn’t the version you expected. It was catchy and would work great on your next burned CD. In their power-punk version of “Wannabe,” Zebrahead find the right mix of goofy and uplifting, just like the original. – Mike Misch

24. Shakey Graves & Begonia – Too Much

This song makes a perhaps surprisingly great duet, and this pair really sells it. Hearing the song played live can also help you really appreciate the soulful guitar lines. The soulfulness continues as they trade off lines, eye to eye, bar for bar. Around the 4:30 mark, they really take the “give it a try” line literally, repeating the refrain over and over in different ways: from monster-mash depths to falsetto heights. As much as they are having fun with this nostalgic cover, they bring back the more somber mood for the closing. – Sara Stoudt

23. The Moon Loungers – Say You’ll Be There

The Moon Loungers specialize in performing acoustic covers of songs from across the pop spectrum. The band has an extensive discography of “unplugged” recordings of tracks ranging from Taylor Swift to Jefferson Starship. The group transformed the Spice Girls’ iconic dance track into a mellow acoustic tune. The track features some heavy guitar strumming and harmonies reminiscent of ‘70s mellow rockers America and Seals & Crofts. No boomerangs or karate kicks are required for this cover. The group lets their voices and guitars do all the work. – Curtis Zimmermann

22. Sitti – 2 Become 1

“2 Become 1” was the Spice Girls’ third straight UK number 1, a romantic ballad that took the time to advocate safe sex (“Be a little bit wiser, baby / Put it on, put it on”). Philippine bossa nova singer Sitti covered it on her 2007 album My Bossa Nova, but you’ll be hard pressed to blame it on that genre. Instead, it’s a jazz sound with none of the original’s flash. That’s not a knock – when you’re in a room with quiet and candlelight, sometimes a soft warm glow is exactly what you need to hear and feel. – Patrick Robbins

21. My Sun and Stars – Wannabe

The opening ukulele might make you think that this cover is all sugar and no spice, but even with the angelic high vocals and that cheery ukulele strum, this “Wannabe” cover still has a little kick. The lyrics are doled out patiently, unrushed, matter-of-factly telling the listener how it is. That snap of the hand on the body of the ukulele and the more clipped strumming changes the tone a bit, signaling some seriousness. There’s no “here’s the story” and no bodies winding all around, but friendship remains never-ending. – Sara Stoudt

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Oct 282021
 

‘The Best Covers Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

metallica covers

It all started forty years ago today. On October 28, 1981, in Los Angeles, a Danish tennis player turned drummer by the name of Lars Ulrich met with guitarist James Hetfield for the first time. The two formed the basis for the band that would become Metallica.

In the ‘80s, the thrash metal quartet released four of arguably the greatest metal albums of all time: Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and …And Justice for All. That was just a warmup.

In 1991, the band released a self-titled album that would change their entire destiny, not to mention the history of metal. Dubbed simply Metallica, but otherwise known as The Black Album, the record became one of the best-selling hard rock albums in history. The record earned the band legions of new fans. It also triggered countless old ones, who were perturbed that the ultimate purveyors of thrash had gone “soft.” The record transformed Metallica into one of the biggest rock bands in the world. It’s a moniker they’ve carried ever since, even if their pace of album releases has slowed considerably.

Over the years, the band’s music has inspired numerous cover songs across multiple genres. Jazz, pop, rock, country, bluegrass, and numerous classical artists (not to mention countless metal bands) have taken on Metallica’s tracks. Adding more fuel to the proverbial cover fire, this year, to mark the 30th anniversary of The Black Album, the band commissioned an extensive tribute record dubbed The Metallica Blacklist. The album features cover songs by the likes of Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Darius Rucker, Miley Cyrus, My Morning Jacket, and Kamasi Washington.

So why has Metallica’s music inspired so many covers? Underneath the layers of distortion, hard-pounding double bass drums, and barbaric yowls, the band’s music and songwriting are strikingly complex. Listening to their original recordings, one can hear classical-style melodies, virtuosic guitar solos, and extended jams, as well as elements of classic, punk, and prog rock.

With the lyrics, one finds the band tapping into a deeper universe as well, exploring the lines between life, death, and spirituality. Their songs are filled with numerous biblical and religious references. Perhaps most famously, on “Enter Sandman,” the band quotes the prayer “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep,” turning a child’s plea for salvation into a rumination on the horrors of the night.

Since their inception, Metallica has always been striving for something more profound. Many artists have heard the bells of inspiration toll. Here’s a list of 40 of the best Metallica covers from the last 40 years. – Curtis Zimmermann

The list begins on Page 2.

Sep 112020
 
Kenton Chen

Even all these years later, “Like a Virgin” remains one of Madonna’s most iconic songs. The lead-off single from the album of the same name, her second, it was her biggest hit to date and sold more copies than any of her songs until “Like a Prayer.” Everyone is familiar with the instantly recognizable synthesized bass line and the chorus that producer Nile Rodgers didn’t think was catchy enough.

Scary Pockets are a funk band who perform covers on YouTube with guest vocalists. For this version they enlisted Kenton Chen, of the a cappella TV competition The Sing Off and Postmodern Jukebox fame.

The band dispenses entirely with the famous bassline, replacing it with a funky bassline that skips a beat. Chen mostly sticks to the original melody in the verses. But the chorus is even less conventional, with both the band and Chen deviating from the original song.

About two minutes in there’s a breakdown and the song turns into an extended funk jam, with the van vamping on the groove and Chen improvising through the song’s famous hook as the song slowly fades out.

This version of “Virgin” is remarkably different. It may take a bit to get into, because of how distinct it is, but the song shortly reveals itself as a pretty great cover.

May 162020
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

britney spears covers

Last year, Rob Sheffield called 1999 “the year music exploded, the year when nothing made any damn sense, the year fans had to throw out any old-school rules for how pop worked.” If that’s true, then 2000 was the year when those new trends became the accepted norm. Back in January, we looked at covers of one of the year’s defining phenomenons – boy bands – and this month was tackle another: Britney, a pop supernova so massive she didn’t need a last name.

Her sophomore album Oops!… I Did It Again came out 20 years ago today, setting the record for the highest debut-week album sales by a female artist (it held for 15 years, until Adele’s 25). Though Spears was primarily a singles artist, her albums sold so much that even the deep cuts wormed their way into millions of teenage brains. When we compiled this list, I was pleasantly surprised it wasn’t just the half-dozen biggest hits being covered. Those songs got covered plenty, and still do (our number-four best cover of 2019 was a “Baby One More Time” – not a bad lifespan for a song written by a Swede whose grasp of English was a little rough), but musicians also dig into the album tracks and the singles that flopped.

Spears has shifted into the Vegas-residency stage of her career in recent years (not to mention Instagram star and cause-celebre hashtag). But even if she doesn’t have any more world-conquering hits in her, other artists are keeping her songs alive. Of the thousands of covers out there, here are the 25 best.

The list begins on Page 2.

Jan 242020
 

‘The Best Ever’ series counts down our favorite covers of great artists.

best boy band covers

2020 marks a number of twenty-year anniversaries in music, but perhaps nothing as much as the extremely turn-of-the-millenium phenomenon of the boy band. At the start of the year, NSYNC set a first-week sales record with No Strings Attached. At the end of it, Backstreet Boys set their own sales record with Black & Blue. No one before or since sold CDs like boy bands sold CDs. Even the year’s other huge artists seemed defined in reaction to boy bands; Eminem dissed boy bands in seemingly half of his songs, while Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst was constantly starting feuds with them. It was that kind of year.

Because boy bands had their detractors. Boy oh boy, did they have their detractors. I was a 13-year old in 2000, and I remember the arguments dominating middle school hallways. But whether you were a fanatic or a skeptic, it’s hard to argue that, stripped of the love-it-or-hate-it presentation, the songs were rock solid (melodically, if not always lyrically). I imagine every one of us has gotten some of these stuck in our head – even if we didn’t want them there.

So rather than picking just one artist, we decided to pay tribute to the entire genre. We didn’t limit it to songs from the year 2000, but we did limit it to the phenomenon that 2000 represents. Though you can make a fair argument that The Beatles and Jackson 5 were boy bands, including groups like that would render this list pretty meaningless. Every artist here fits a pretty strict definition of a boy band, even if they came just before the genre’s cultural peak (New Edition) or after it (One Direction).

So everybody, rock your body with the 25 best boy band covers ever.

– Ray Padgett

The list starts on Page 2.