Monday Music Spotlight: Mega Covers

Every now and then, a band can manage to make a song sound so much like their own work that you just assume that they created it. 

And with me being the uneducated philistine that I am, I often make such assumptions without double-checking. I barely know that something's a cover version unless some helpful soul has caringly written 'Beatles cover' somewhere in the tracklist. 

Muse - Sign o' the Times

On a few occasions, the prog-rock monsters have done some pretty top covers, most notably Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', but not forgetting tunes like 'Prague' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You', originally by Mega City Four and Frankie Valli respectively. If only Matt Bellamy and friends could dig out their old vinyl collections and go on a covering spree...

If you compare this version to Prince's original, you may just be a fan of the heavier guitars and mental falsetto. You may not be too, I mean, it's hard to improve on Prince. 

Oasis - Cum on Feel the Noize

Oasis have done countless covers. They also came a long way from their early days as a Beatles cover band. I mean, you could probably write an article like this purely on Oasis covers, and I'm pretty sure someone already has. 

But anyway, this is one of those songs which seems to have accidentally become classic, utilising the guise of Britpop. Slade, and this particular track, was always a big part of the Gallagher brother's childhood, and you can tell; the synchronised vocals and Noel's screeching fills set this apart as one of the better Oasis tunes.

Extra points are awarded if you're all about the live version at Maine Road, of course. 

The Last Shadow Puppets - Moonage Daydream

Depending on who you ask, Alex Turner is either the North's greatest contribution to modern music, or an absolute dickhead. While these judgement often depend on the age of the person you ask, you can witness both of these paradoxical features in this lovely cover of the Bowie classic.

I mean to start with, it's a cracking rendition, with Miles Kane even bringing out a saxophone presumably just because he can. You get the feeling that everyone at Glasto witnessing this is really into it. But, you can also tell that by a seemingly pissed Turner doing his best alcohol-fuelled karaoke version of the now sacred song. 

Regardless of which side you're on, it's a wonderful sentiment nonetheless. Although a haircut would probably do you wonders, Alex. 

Honorary mentions for this list include the numerous Oasis covers by Ryan Adams, (although he somehow managed to balls-up the lyrics, Noel Gallagher doing a cracking job at covering The Smiths, and even Royal Blood paying homage to Pharrell, (yeah, that happened). 

There's plenty of covers going around, so I may just play it safe and do a little spotlight on three more top cover songs. I may not. It's a mystery.