Cool picks, both of you. Particularly like 'I Fought the Law','Hurt', and 'Superman'. And good for calling out KD's version of 'Hallelujah' for derision. CBC djs seem to love this recording, out of a misguided loyalty to all things kd, but it completely sucks. And other than Joe Cocker's 'With a Little Help...' surely there cannot be another Beatles song that is done better by another artist? And no tongue-in cheek references to 'Lucy in the Sky' by Captain Kirk.

I also prefer your version of 'Ricki...' Bri. My friend Daniel sang in a band in the late 90s and I enjoyed his version of 'Better Man' by Pearl Jam far better than the original, mostly because his version sounded grittier whereas Eddie V. always seemed lacadaisical on that one.

To the list of better than the original, I'd add Mehldau's cover of Everything in its right place', Coltrane's 'My Favourite Things' (take that Julie Andrews) the Pogues' 'Dirty Old Town', 'Alabama Song' by the Doors (more of a Kurt Veil standard so not sure if this counts), Jimi's version of the Leaves 'Hey Joe', 'Don't Leave Me this Way', the Communards, 'Step On' by Happy Mondays, 'Sweet Jane' by the Cowboy Junkies (sense a fight about to break out), 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell....can't come up with anymore.

Some covers which come close by can't quite top the original include Nouvelle Vague's version of Depeche Mode's 'Just Can't Get Enough', Yo La Tengo's take on William DeVaughn's 'Be Thankful for What You've Got', and Siouxsie's version of 'Dear Prudence' (I said close).

Worst covers ever go to :
-Van Halen's cover of the Kinks' 'You Really Got Me', which takes a song that is brilliant in its original delivery and adds a series of annoying guitar solos and grunts
-Gun's and Roses 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', like most songs sung by Axel Rose, make me want to bash his head in with a rock, if only to shut him up
-Orgy's cover of New Order's 'Blue Monday', which does nothing to distinguish itself from the original--why both?
-Mick Jagger and David Bowie covering 'Dancing in the Streets', the video for which premiered at Live Aid in 1985 and was supposed to help raise $$ for the cause. Don't remember it? I envy you.
-No Doubt's butchery of 'It's My Life' by Talk Talk

See ya'll tomorrow night.

the 'new deluxe' editions are great for people who give a shit about these types of things, which i believe represents a very small percentage of music consumers. all i really care about is the music; the prospect of being able to watch a tiny music video in a windows media player on my computer holds no appeal at all. i'm guessing that most artists are out of the loop on this extra pitch by the record labels, so i wouldn't take it out on them. in the case of the remixes, 90% of which are either complete crap or are designed soley for the dancefloor and don't make for great listening when one is not shaking one's booty, most are still available for download somewhere so again, no great incentive to shell out for a disc that contains them. needless to say, i avoid these like i'd avoid a deluxe edition of, say, the bible.

now if disc had higher-quality file formats....okay, i'll spare you this discussion, of which i'm not particularly all that fond either.

will probably just meet you all at the rex at 8:30 but will email you, stu, if my plans change and i can make it for a pre-jazz meal fix.

now for a more interesting discussion thread, an avclub list of cover songs that are better than the original. to this list, i'd have to add Travis' live version of Britney's 'One More Time' and perhaps the Pixies cover of Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Head On'. Any other glaring examples that i'm overlooking or problems with the onion's list?