A good cover...

I like a good cover of a song. I think that, if you're going to put the studio time in and record it, a cover has the responsibility of not sounding like the original. The original already sounds like that, so what the hell could we possibly need a cover that sounds like that for? I'm not saying that it has to be significantly divergent, but it shouldn't just be a the same performance by different people.

Again, this is only if you're bothering to record it. Cover bands have a lovely place in my heart and their job is kinda to sound just like the original. Sometimes even eerily so. And if I regular band should want to fit a decent cover or two in there as well it can be a fun surprise in the middle of their set list. But that's not my point.

Mostly a cover should remind you that there is an original version out there waiting to be listened to.