Quote:
Originally Posted by blackflower
The one cover which really bugs me is "Umbrella" because it's part of a trend I really hate - male guitar bands covering great pop tracks by women. It always comes with a whiff of irony and sexism which riles me. There is no way in which the Manics' "Umbrella" is better than Rihanna's original, which is an absolutely perfect pop song. I mean, I enjoy their version, because it's a competent take on a great song, but if I want to listen to "Umbrella" I'm absolutely going to listen to Rihanna, not the Manics.
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I agree with all of this so, so much. And, naturally, female dominated pop music is seen as worthless compared to male dominated rock music. Therefore people automatically say the rock version is way better than the original without so much as a second's thought.
While I'm sure this was not the Manics' intent, it plays into that mindset regardless. Female-sung pop song suddenly becomes culturally acceptable thanks to all male rock band cover version. Yeah ... no!
As for the original question:
Bright Eyes, Pennyroyal Tea, Last Christmas and Take the Skinheads Bowling were all improvements on the originals. Velocity Girl too.