For this week's edition of Who Covered It Better I chose the Buffalo Springfield classic For What It's Worth. One of the greatest protest songs of all time, For What It's Worth is a tune that is almost impossible to tire of.
Here is the original in order to judge the covers:
The first contender for best cover comes to us from blues artist Keb Mo:
Next up we have contemporary rockers Rise Against:
And last, but not least, an unexpected version from Ozzy Osbourne:
The Verdict:
Now, it's time to discuss. Keb Mo took a great song and put his own spin on it with a bluesy arrangement that still did justice to the original with out sounding like an exact copy. Rise Against, while trying to make it their own, did not really make any major changes to the arrangement and for some reason every time I hear just the acoustic guitar, all I can think is: "that sounds like Bob Seger's Night Moves." The Winner for best cover is the surprising take on the song by Ozzy Osbourne. The structure remains largely unchanged but with the addition of heavy-riffing guitars and Ozzy's unique vocals the song goes from peaceful protest tune to straight out anthem. Yes, it is a major departure from the original nature of Buffalo Springfield's version, but you can't deny that it still kicks some serious ass.
Here is the original in order to judge the covers:
Now, it's time to discuss. Keb Mo took a great song and put his own spin on it with a bluesy arrangement that still did justice to the original with out sounding like an exact copy. Rise Against, while trying to make it their own, did not really make any major changes to the arrangement and for some reason every time I hear just the acoustic guitar, all I can think is: "that sounds like Bob Seger's Night Moves." The Winner for best cover is the surprising take on the song by Ozzy Osbourne. The structure remains largely unchanged but with the addition of heavy-riffing guitars and Ozzy's unique vocals the song goes from peaceful protest tune to straight out anthem. Yes, it is a major departure from the original nature of Buffalo Springfield's version, but you can't deny that it still kicks some serious ass.
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