What is your opinion of music covers like some one re doing a song in their own way? I like it quite a lot sometimes but other people ruin the music. Have you ever heard a cover that is better than the original? I think that Johnny Cash's cover of hurt is better than Nine Inch Nails.

Or this cover is better than the original...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiKPgmN5jTg

I am going to have to disagree with you on "Hurt"... I like Cash's cover but the NIN version is better in my opinion.

Generally I really like cover songs, though I don't think I can really name one that I like better than the original. There are many that I like better than other covers, and a few I don't care for (a few punk versions of 80s songs, and the hip hop version of Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger).

Ok, there is one cover song that I like better than the original... Fear Factory's version of "Cars" is so much cooler than Gary Neuman's original... even if he is also in the cover.

Elara : I am just not much into Nine Inch Nails or the corresponding type of music. I guess I am biased cause I like country so much better.

I really do enjoy covers - in fact I visit quite a number of blogs that keep me up to date on obscure covers from artists I don't know, and recordings of covers that popular artists do on stage, etc. I don't think there's anything that says a song should only be performed once, in one particular way.

billythekidmonster : Yes, disliking the metal genre would tend to let to that, lol

A great band that does covers (of metal songs) that I think anyone could enjoy is Apocalyptica... I have only one word: Cello.

generaly i feel covers usually suck for example lilly allan singing sweet child of mine.

Covers aren't always bad versions of already done songs. There are some times when the covers can be totally new spin on the original song that really improves it.

I think a big reason as to why people says the cover sucks is pure nostalgia: they grew up around a certain version of a song and to hear it cover would be a disgrace to their memory. Obviously you do get a lot of terrible covers, but you get good ones as well. Particularly, I find, in blues guitar the covers are usually good. My favorite covers...hmm I wouldn't be able to say. 

It really depends on who covers who. Dream Theater covered Metallica's Master of Puppets album. I have heard both versions and I think that Dream theater did a very good job, even doing parts better than Metallica. For example, the first solo in Master of Puppets began slower in the cover. Also, Probably my favorite parts of the cover was the song Welcome Home (Sanitarium). The intro and main riff was a little slower thus putting more emotion into the song, and the solo was hands down better than the original. Dream Theater really knew what they were doing when they covered the album. 

I rarely like covers, but some are a lot better than the originals. I feel I need to mention when All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan was covered by Jimi Hendrix, Bob himself admitted it is better then the original!

There are very few covers that I've ever heard that I prefer to the original.

One though would be Travis Tritt's cover of Take it Easy. I prefer it to the Eagles.

Although I tend to like the original more about 95% of the time, I like hearing someone else's interpretation of a song. Some covers are actually really good. For example, I like All Time Low's version of "Umbrella" more than Rihanna's because I love rock music.

Although there ARE loads of covers that I wish didn't exist. I hate the Killer's version of "Hotel California." =/ It just sounded too weird to me. Partly because the style is SO different. The Eagles made it sound dark and mysterious, while the Killer's practically made it a dance remix.

What about covering songs on different instruments? 

I wrote an orchestral setting of Rush's Red Barchetta. It actually sounds great.

Keep in mind, back in the day, most people sang songs written by other people for other artists all the time. Within the span of two years, "Long Tall Sally" was in/famously covered by both Pat Boone and Elvis. I would say that if you compare a cover to the original, then you're just setting yourself up for disappointment in most cases. I love Isaac Hayes's "Walk On By." It's probably one of my top ten favourite songs of all time, and yet, it's a cover. The song was first performed by Dionne Warwick. Her version is about two and a half minute long pop song while Ike transformed it into a twelve minute soul epic. Check these out:

"War Pigs" - Original: Black Sabbath/Cover: Faith No More
"Easy" - Original: Commodores/Cover: Faith No More
"Respect" - Original: Otis Redding/Cover (though reworked): Aretha Franklin
"My Favorite Things" - Original: Mary Martin/Cover: John Coltrane
"Hound Dog" - Original: Big Mama Thornton/Cover: Elvis Presley
"Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" - Original: Public Enemy/Cover: Tricky

For all of these songs, I would argue that I prefer the cover over the original or at least as much as the original. If you really think about it, hip-hop tends to take older songs and give new life to them, almost like a cover. Being a fan of hip-hop (understatement), I tend to prefer these songs over the songs that are sampled. There is an art to giving new life to that which has aged.