The most audacious cover versions

Lacuna Coil did a fair rendition of REM's Losing My Religion

 

But the best ever was Disturbed's massive rework of The Sounds of Silence. The way this one builds is truly goosebump inducing and breathes a paradoxically appropriate new fire ino the old song. This is how the song was meant tobe sung!

 

A flamenco-tinged “Don’t Fear the Reaper” from Strawberry Switchblade’s lead vocalist. Stunning.

 

Brilliant Patti Smith interpretation

 

Love how Paul Simon enjoyed this cover. He supposedly dislikes The Bangles’ “Hazy Shade of Winter”

 

Shouldn’t work.

Does.

Flaming Lips - Can’t Get You Out of My Head

 

I’ll second this re: “Chimes of Freedom.”

 

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I love this one. Powerful stuff.

 

Esp. I Want You more than Chimes Of Freedom IMO.
He also did a brilliant reworking of Spanish Harlem, in '74,
and his remake of Trapped is brilliant too (best versions - 1981).
(there's others from the '70s but I can't think of them offhand at the moment)

 

Stairway To Heaven By Little Roger And The Goosebumps.
They RULED!

 

Not good, but certainly audacious

 

XTC - All Along the Watchtower.

A new wave classic.

 

George Harrison did a great job with Dylan's If Not For You. It's just so... so .... so George that you'd swear he wrote it himself.

 

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This is an amazing album. I found it in a thrift store in Fargo last year. Best $1.00 I’d spent in ages.

 

Love the Indigo Girls' Tangled up in Blue

 

Senor Coconut’s done a lot of great ones. “Sweet Dreams” is probably my favourite.

 

It doesn’t get any more audacious than Jonathon Round’s “Sympathy for the Devil.” I can’t even tell you how much I love this.

 

Isaac Hayes had several.

 

The Slits- I Heard It Through The Grapevine.