The Best Covers Of All Time

  The best covers don't just make a song better, they elevate it. The artists below exemplify how to take a classic and give it an entirely new life. Taylor Swift's album 1989 is the perfect example of a cover that broke with tradition. Shaped like a Polaroid photo from the '80s, it instantly became an iconic piece of pop culture that has found its way into shirts and mugs worldwide. Blink-182 After a 10-year hiatus, Blink-182 is back with new music and an extensive world tour. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker are all back together as the band. They're also teaming up with All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth to form a new project called Simple Creatures. Blink-182 is a California pop punk group formed in 1992. Their first album Cheshire Cat was released in 1995, followed by Dude Ranch in 1997. They were a popular hit with their immature humour and thrilling concerts. Their fifth studio album Blink-182 (2003) was very successful on the charts, and the band has gone on to release several more albums. They have been known for their lyrical prowess, tackling topics like being a teenager, romance, and general tomfoolery. They have been one of the most influential bands in pop punk, and their lyrical prowess has influenced countless artists throughout the years. The cover to their 1999 album Enema Of The State was quite controversial when it was first released. It featured porn star Janine Lindemulder, who was dressed in a nurse's uniform. Though it had the appearance of an ideal cover for their album, it was later discovered that it violated the Geneva Convention. The band were forced to change the image on their record. When it came to designing the next album, a photograph of subatomic particles in a bubble chamber was chosen for the artwork. However, the band feared that conservative retailers would protest, so they decided to change it. The resulting album cover was something of a landmark, and has become a major part of the band's reputation. But it wasn't the only famous cover that had controversy behind it. Talking Heads The band's unique and genre-bending style was perfectly complemented by their cover art. American painter Robert Rauschenberg, known for his witty and complex paintings of the world, was commissioned to design their first album's cover. He would go on to win a Grammy Award for the artwork. Talking Heads were a New York trio consisting of David Byrne (vocals), Chris Frantz (drums) and Tina Weymouth (bass). They formed when they graduated from college with dreams of bigger and better things, eventually moving to the city's grime-covered CBGB's scene to make music that defied easy categorization. Their early songs owed a debt to punk's early breakthrough year, but the group quickly carved their own path with music that blended funk and pop into something idiosyncratic. Their debut album, Uh-Oh, Lover Comes To Town, opens with a light, swaggering groove and the first hint of what would become the band's trademark sound. Byrne's idiosyncratic lyrics and Eno's intricately layered soundscapes brought actual human resonance to their distorted and robotic rhythms. These sounds, and Byrne's tongue-in-cheek paranoid lyric, helped make Talking Heads one of the most influential bands in history. They were the only rock group ever to be produced by Eno, and while their sonic experiments often leaned toward New Wave-inspired synth funk, Talking Heads' best songs were still abrasive and edgy. Speaking in Tongues is their fifth LP, and it represents the point at which they started to edge into the more commercially appealing territory of their music. The title track, a bouncy anthem that features some of the group's most memorable vocal lines, is an example of their idiosyncratic approach. It begins with a distorted bassline and Byrne's voice is muffled, but soon kicks into high gear as the song reaches its climax, which is when the horns begin to play their patented trippy wah-wah effects. The band also incorporates a clavinet solo by former Parliament-Funkadelic member Bernie Worrell, making this one of the heaviest tracks the group recorded. Tina Turner Tina Turner is one of the most successful American musicians of all time. She is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Kennedy Centre Honors, and has sold more than 200 million albums and singles worldwide. Tina started her career singing with her husband Ike Turner and the Kings of Rhythm in the mid-1950s. Her first hit, "A Fool in Love," quickly catapulted her into stardom. The duo became popular with the likes of Mick Jagger and Janis Joplin, and continued to release hits in the 1960s and early 1970s. By the mid-1970s, Ike's drug abuse was affecting his health and the couple's sales. Their final recording success was their cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," which reached number four in 1971. After her divorce from Ike in 1978, Tina re-established her solo career with the album Private Dancer. It became a hit in Europe, and her next single, "We Don't Need Another Hero," was a big international hit, peaking at number two in the United States. The song was also a hit in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. She performed the song at Live Aid, alongside her friend and long-time fan, Mick Jagger. Her next album, Break Every Rule (1986), was a major success. It was followed by the box-office film What's Love Got To Do with It?, which painted a portrait of her troubled marriage and her triumphant emergence through Buddhist spirituality. She later released a compilation album Simply the Best, featuring the single "Way of the World." It became a European hit and was her final top-twenty single in the United States. Nirvana There's no one on earth that doesn't remember the impact Nirvana had on music. They helped bring grunge to the mainstream, and their albums were hugely influential on a whole host of bands in the years that followed them. It's a testament to the Seattle trio's talent that their songs are timeless and will always sound good, even after 25 years. They were a band who, on the surface, might seem like just a loud, unhinged caterwauling mess but in reality, they are an excellent band whose songs will work in any situation. For instance, their 1991 hit 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was a worldwide smash that shifted over 30 million records and brought them to the mainstream. It was the song that propelled them into the public eye and made them a household name, and the album it came from became a huge success. That same album also featured one of the most infamous music videos of all time. In it, Kurt Cobain filmed himself in a gymnasium with kids that were supposed to be extras - but the adolescent looks on their faces and their disinterested stares meant they were actually made to stay for quite a long time. While the kids in the video might have looked a little too young for the subject matter, their anarchic spirit and uncontrollable excitement perfectly captured the spirit of Nirvana. The video is now a legendary piece of cinematic history that's been recreated for every major movie ever made and countless musicals. In addition to being an icon for the genre, 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is also a great example of a song that has inspired other artists to record their own versions of it. Here are some of the best covers we've found of this classic Nirvana track: Cyndi Lauper Cyndi Lauper is one of the most iconic singers of her generation, thanks to her amazing vocal range and songwriting talents. She is also an active activist for the gay rights movement, and has established the True Colors United Fund to help people fight for equality. Before becoming a superstar, Lauper worked various odd jobs to help support her family and pay her bills. She also sang in bands, including Blue Angel. She released her debut album, She's So Unusual, in 1983, which became a hit and launched her career as a mainstream pop star. Her first singles, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time," went to number one on the Billboard charts. She was also a popular actress, appearing in several films. She continued to release albums throughout her career, including 1989's A Night to Remember and 1993's Hat Full of Stars. She also released a standards album, At Last, in 2003, and a blues and country record, Memphis Blues, in 2010. "Change of Heart" is a 1986 hit by Cyndi Lauper that tells the story of a woman who's struggling with her relationship. It's an uplifting track that features Lauper's powerful vocal range and a catchy melody. A cover of a song originally recorded by The Brains, “Change of Heart” was recorded by Cyndi Lauper on her She's So Unusual album. The song was originally a minor hit, but it soon made a splash on the pop music charts. Since then, Lauper has released a number of albums and performed on TV shows. She has also written songs and a score for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots, which earned 13 Tony nominations in 2013. Her latest album, Detour, is a country record that showcases her sultry voice.