10 Cover Songs Much Better Than The Original

4. Pearl Jam - "Last Kiss" (Wayne Cochran)

Once again, there are bound to be a few people who disregard Pearl Jam's minimalist cover of "Last Kiss" to be too similar to the classic J. Frank Wilson version of the 60s for it to be considered "better." I would argue that Vedder's vocals are as on-point with "Last Kiss" than any original PJ jam, and the rocked-up instrumentation gives this story song the weight it lacked in Wilson's.

But REGARDLESS, the debate between who did it better is largely irrelevant once you realize that it was actually the super-couffed Wayne Cochran who originally recored "Last Kiss." His Elvis-lite vocals never really allowed this song to shine the way it should. (Simply reading the story in the lyrics is more likely to tug the heartstrings than Cochran's subdued vocals.) Again, my personal preference would be for Vedder and company's 1999 version, but I understand this isn't as uniformly shared of an opinion as the others on this list.