The only one I know off hand is Areknames version of 'Snails' by Gnidrolog.. a contemporary Italian heavy prog doing a very tidy job of a tricky classic..

I'm sure that ive got a Finisterre lp that is very very good except for the 2 covers, 1 Genesis and 1 VDGG (with out digging the lp out I cant remember which tracks) both pretty awful if I remember right..

They've got several nice Robert Wyatt-covers as well (and Nick Drake)

...then there's Wyatt himself covering Anja Garbarek...beautifully 

I really like the version(s) of Spectral Mornings done a few years ago in aid of Parkinsons. It included members of Magenta although Steve Hackett was also involved so it may not strictly count.

I also like Ars Nova's version of Tarkus although a bit of a stretch to say its on the same level of the original.

On the same tribute album (Keyboards Triangle), Gerard did a stonking (not a misspelling lol) version of Catherine Parr. It's on a parr (oh dear) with the original version imo. 

I like the whole Rush "Feedback" album.  Even though I'm a big Rush fan, I thought going in that the band wasn't suited for those songs, and they would be horrible butcher jobs.  I was pleasantly surprised and that's one of the things that even impressed me more about the band; that they had the range do to that playlist.  

richardh wrote: and I also really like Dream Theater's cover of Xanadu on the recent expanded release of A Farewell To Kings. They do covers incredibly well.

 

Just because.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mCpBCSgq6I" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mCpBCSgq6I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZeVkFq85U" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZeVkFq85U

Thanks, those are excellent!! 

I actually think Dream Theater were pretty good at covers. They even did a few full albums of them although that was probably a mistake. :)

Dream Theater and Queensryche doing that WHO song as an encore in their tour.

I saw Cheap Trick do all of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" in concert a few years ago, it was amazing! 

Not exactly a prog band, but they did a hell of a job!  

Phish is a fine band, they seem to be progressive at some level. 

Ides of March - Eleanor Rigby

Yes, as prog-related:  http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1483" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1483

I'm fine with the way in which Cardiacs' Tim Smith sings his own songs but on his tribute album "Leader of the Starry Skies" (buy it to support him!) I like a lot what some good female singers make of some of these songs.

(The second one is originally actually by the Sea Nymphs, not by Cardiacs directly .)

Good old Steve Wilson does a very decent job, too.

(Roxy Music cover - just scroll down)

(Pink Floyd-cover)

Weird ... no mention of "America"? I think it was a Simon and Garfunkel song!

Thanks, good catch!  I was focused more upon the early Marquee Club Yes, when they were just getting going.  I've played in lots of bands, and we always have to do covers to fill in the time!! 

Here, this interview with Pete Banks is must reading! 

http://web.archive.org/web/20160106135712/www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-peter-banks-yes" rel="nofollow - https://web.archive.org/web/20160106135712/http://www.themarqueeclub.net/interview-peter-banks-yes

Love most of Marissa Nadlers covers really, but this is the only "prog-relevant" one she got (well and No Surprises by Radiohead... sort of):

And I have a soft spot for this trance/house version of I Talk to the Wind

Elephant9 "covering" Joe Zawindul:

Glass Hammer - It's All too Much (The Beatles)

Glass Hammer - Hold Your Head Up (Argent)

Chicago - I'm A Man (Stevie Winwood) 

Greenslade - Theme For An Imaginery Western ( Jack Bruce)

Morse, Portnoy and George - Crazy Horses (The Osmonds)

1) Bruce Springsteen ("Blinded by the Light", "Spirit in the Night", and "For You")

2) Bob Dylan ("Quinn the Eskimo/The Mighty Quinn" and "You Angel You")

3) The Brains ("Heart on the Street")

4) Al Stewart ("Eyes of Nostradamus")

5) The Police ("Demolition Man")

6) Bob Marley ("Redemption Song")

7) The Jam ("Going Underground")

8) Joni Mitchell ("Banquet")

9) The Beatles ("Hey Bulldog")

10) Eddie and the Hot Rods ("Do Anything You Wanna Do").

Here's an 10 minute extract from Balanescu Quartet's five excellent Kraftwerk covers* that open their 1992-album Possessed:

 

*01 Robots, 02 Model, 03 Autobahn, 04 Computer Love, 05 Pocket Calculator

Vive la difference!

JLB did The Who, on their tour with Queensryche. And it was magnificent, and I'm not sure many singers could hit that scream as well as he did. It echoed here in Portland, but everyone was here to kiss DT's shoes, and the ignored Fates Warning opening, and then Queensryche, which got a slim down applause compared to DT. 

But DT has done many covers, in their earlier days. 

Comparing JLB to Freddy, RP and/or Dio is kinda strange for me ... I do not compare voices or singers, since their material is always different and the tone with which it is delivered is very different. My thoughts are, however, that JLB would likely do better if he learned the songs and the music WITH THE BAND instead of long distance and then a rehearsal or two ... I think that there is a small amount of chemistry that is missing, and you can see this on any stage of operas with famous singers, they come in the night before have one walk through rehearsal (not complete rehearsal), and then the next night they show off their voice. In the case of rock music, the innate feeling that we like, the raw power, and pure feeling, is often missing, and I sometimes feel that way about some of the stuff that JLB does for the band ... I would like to see them improve that area some more, but this might be EASIER for me to see as a DIRECTOR of theater and film, where the chemistry is the difference between a good show and a great show. Not just a loud guitar!

Stackridge ... not only did a Beatles song, they wrote songs about the Beatles, and their other variation (The Korgis) had a John Lennon take ... Cold Tea!

I kinda thought it was more complimentary than just redoing the song, but their Beatles redo in Mr. Mick is far out! (... now I gotta check to make sure it's the right album!!!)

Hindu band Monsoon (Sheila Chandra early) also did Beatles ... Tomorrow Never Knows

Heck, so did Steve Hillage!!!!

My friend Denny and I play a killer version of "Red" by King Crimson!  That's Dennis on Rickenbacker bass, and I'm playing Charvel Model 6 guitar!  

 yeah they were incredible and in later years Sheila starred at the WOMAD festival in my neck of the woods. Sadly she is no longer able to sing (dry vocal syndrome)

Hi,

MM always said he liked Bob Dylan, and something changed by the time that he started using others, than Bob Dylan, starting with Bruce Springsteen, and then Mike Heron. 

Just about every one of his redo's of Bob's songs, are actually very nice and give you a new perception of Bob's lyrics, something that we ignore when he sings them! I think his voice, and sometimes attitude within it, is too cynical or not with it, for us to enjoy it. But, it is his song, and he has a right to do it in any way he wishes.

reminds me that The Nice covered My Back Pages and Country Pie.

I once purchased a Bob Dylan compilation 2 CD set just to get the MP3 rip of The Hurricane. That is the only thing by him that he recorded that I care about. You are right in suggesting that cover versions of his songs are much more appealing, Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower is the obvious one but there are plenty more examples I'm sure.

Hi,

About 50 years ago, one of the best selling bootlegs around, was named "The Basement Tapes" ... and it was 3 LP's. Later this re-surfaced as 2 LP's. The main thing in some of the songs here was that the lyrics were changed somewhat, and different ... fast forward to the release of this stuff more recently, and you do not hear or see anything of this at all ... making the current purchase not worthy of consideration. The last time I saw the triple bootleg listed, it was over $2K.

A poet (any poet), is often known to change words, depending on their mood and the situation, so adding/subtracting/changing different words is a natural function of a "wordsmith" ... and something that the ROCK MUSIC world has a hard time with since they all fight for the purity and virginal states of any music ... never mind Roger, or Chuck Berry, or Elvis! 

All in all, Bob's rendition of a lot of the songs that became famous elsewhere (MM once joked that Manfred Mann "made" Bob Dylan with the Mighty Quinn!) is of almost no interest or consequence compared to how so many of his songs were done by others and much better, which suggests that Bob himself does not care about how they sound or come out ... he's done with that song the day it is recorded.

But I doubt that anyone has had more songs covered, than Bob Dylan. We probably could start a list of this, but I'm not sure we would ever end it.

According to secondhandsongs.com, 324 of Bob Dylan's compositions have been covered by other artists. His most covered songs are:

1) Blowin' in the Wind: 405 versions

2) Make You Feel My Love: 233 versions

3) Knockin' on Heaven's Door: 211 versions

4) Mr. Tambourine Man: 210 versions

5) I Shall Be Released: 194 versions

6) All Along the Watchtower: 189 versions

7) Like a Rolling Stone: 169 versions

8) The Times They Are A-Changin': 169 versions

This Tim Buckley cover by This Mortal Coil (featuring Elisabeth Fraser on vocals) is stunning. One of the most meaningful reinterpretations of a song ever.

And finally...