What goes into making a good cover song? I started to ponder this the other night after hearing Dinosaur Jr.'s shaky cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" on Sirius. Not everyone will agree with me, but "Just Like Heaven" is one of the better songs in the Cure catalog, and yes, I celebrate their entire catalog ($1 to the Bobs). So a half-assed cover of a tune I like tends to be pretty grating.

How come Dinosaur Jr. missed the mark so badly? And how do other acts manage to succeed where others fail so miserably? After some thought, I've come to the conclusion that a cover tune must fit a few very important criteria, the first one being:

It can't sound too much like the original

As obvious as this is for listeners, this isn't always obvious to many artists. Honestly, why bother listening to a cover that sounds just like the original? For example, I dig 60's R&B, mainly because R&B pretty much doesn't exist anymore, gangsta rap killed it dead. One of the better songs from that era was J.J. Jackson's "But It's Alright," which is actually pretty catchy. But then crapmeisters Huey Lewis and the News provided us a cover back in the 80's which sounded, well, pretty much the same as the original. What's the use in that?

Dinosaur Jr. didn't pull a Huey and make an exact cover of "Just Like Heaven," but it misses the mark nonetheless. When tackling a song like that, you might as well take the Katie Melua approach of slowing down the tempo and creating a totally new experience. Her cover of the same song isn't necessarily great, but it doesn't tear down the original. Therefore, the second criteria is:

Interpretation is everything

Reintepretation is a tricky business when covering a tune. There's a fine line between paying homage to the original while putting just enough of a new spin on it to make it your own. One way to achieve this is by taking the song to another genre, and reggae acts are particuarly adept at pulling this off. Chaka Demus and Pliers took "Twist and Shout" and made it their own, while Frankie Paul actually came up with a more listenable version of Starship's crapfest "Sara." So shipping a tune to a new genre can work if done correctly. A lot of folks will disagree, but I thought the end result of the Pet Shop Boys putting U2's "Where The Streets Have No Name" through a techno filter was pretty good.

As I mentioned earlier, slowing down the tempo is always a good way to put a new spin on an old favorite. The Last Town Chorus succeeded on this front with a slower, more somber version of David Bowie's "Modern Love." The New York Dolls did the same with a fantastic cover of Archie Bell's "There's Gonna Be a Showdown ," which to me stands as one of the better rock tunes of the 70's. I actually prefer the Dolls' version, which leads me to the final critera:

You gotta like the cover better than you liked the original

This is probably the most important criteria. Al Green took Kris Kristofferson's "For the Good Times" and made a far superior record. Then again, Janis Joplin (and even the Statler Brothers) did the same to Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee." But what if you really dig the original? That's setting the bar pretty high for any cover artist. That's why in the end, the greatest cover song of all time is...Siouxsie and the Banshees' "Dear Prudence."

The tune takes a different approach to a Beatles' song which I really dig, and the reinterpretation creates a totally new experience which, to me, exceeds the original. I was never president of the Siouxsie and Banshees Fan Club or anything, but in terms of making the perfect cover tune, they nailed it.