(Finished March 18th, 2023) Part 2 of Which Version Is Better?

Hello,

Which version of two songs is better? These are two different versions of the same song. They are usually by different musicians, but not always. Sometimes it’s like the first song, it was an electric version with Derek and the Dominos and then an acoustic version. Sometimes it will be a musician remaking their own song many years later. Then I will make a judgment which is better.

“Layla”:

19) Derek and the Dominos:

20) Eric Clapton:

Almost always I prefer the electric version over an acoustic version of a song. However in this case the acoustic version of this song. By stripping the song down Clapton discovered the true heart of this song. While the electric version is good, the acoustic version is a classic and one of the greatest songs of all-time.

“Cum On Feel The Noize”:

21) Slade:

22) Quiet Riot:

One version sounds like it’s from the early 70s and the other version is much more rocking and butt kicking. Everything is better about Quiet Riot’s “Cum On Feel The Noize”.

“Nothing Compares 2 U”:

23) The Family:

24) Sinead O’ Connor:

The Family’s version of this Prince written song is perfectly fine- at best. However Miss O’Connor’s version is an absolute masterpiece of a song. She and her team took this song not to the next level but to several levels above The Family’s version. Miss O’Connor’s version is even much better than Prince’s own version. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a perfect song but Miss O’Connor’s version comes damn close.

“American Woman”:

25) The Guess Who:

Is that Heather Graham? 26) Lenny Kravitz:

I’m going to have to go with The Guess Who version as the better version. It’s mainly because I’m not a big fan of the Kravitz arrangement. Although I have nothing against a music recording the version they prefer. I’m pretty sure I would have preferred Kravitz’s version if it he recorded it as a straight ahead rock song.

“I Feel The Earth Move”:

27) Carole King:

28) Martika:

Carole King’s version of the song she wrote is perfectly good, both musicians share the joy with this song. However Martika’s version is the best version, but you can’t go wrong with either version.

“Venus”:

29) Shocking Blue:

30 Bananarama:

I’m an 80s kid and I’m probably biased but is there any question of which version is the better version? The 60s and 70s had a ton of both great songs, but the modern sheen of the 80s makes the Bananarama version so much better.

“You’re No Good”:

31) Dee Dee Warwick:

32) Linda Ronstadt

Before listening to Miss Warwick’s delightful version I thought that Miss Ronstadt’s version would be much better. However after listening to both the competition is much closer than I had expected. Honestly I’m going to call this matchup a toss up.

“Without You”:

33) Badfinger

34) Harry Nilsson:

The agony in Harry’s version sets his version above and beyond Badfinger’s version. While their version is decent, you can feel the pain the character is going through in Nilsson’s version. If ever asked for a musical definition of what a truly devastating break up feels like play them this song.

themusicaddict