Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

Entertain Us: The 21 Best and Worst Covers of Nirvana's ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’

It’s been 20 years now since the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the Nirvana song that almost single-handedly changed the face of popular music. In those two decades, a dizzying array of artists have covered the song, from “American Idol” contestants to Willie Nelson to Miley Cyrus. Some renditions were haunting and revelatory; others were one step short of rock and roll sacrilege.

In honor of the song’s anniversary, and in anti-honor of Miley’s horrendous cover, I’ve rounded up the 21 best and worst versions of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” ever made, giving each a positive (“Entertain us!”) or negative (“Nevermind.”) ranking. Note: I skipped parodies (“Weird Al’s” “Smells Like Nirvana, Pansy Division’s “Smells Like Queer Spirit”) and omitted an especially painful cover I stumbled upon by Limp Bizkit, which made me die a little inside. Enjoy.

(Photos: Top, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain; Bottom, Getty Images)

By Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

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Here We Are Now,... It’s been 20 years now since the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the Nirvana song that almost single-handedly changed the face of popular music. In those two decades, a dizzying array of artists have covered the song, from “American Idol” contestants to Willie Nelson to Miley Cyrus. Some renditions were haunting and revelatory; others were one step short of rock and roll sacrilege.

In honor of the song’s anniversary, and in anti-honor of Miley’s horrendous cover, I’ve rounded up the 21 best and worst versions of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” ever made, giving each a positive (“Entertain us!”) or negative (“Nevermind.”) ranking. Note: I skipped parodies (“Weird Al’s” “Smells Like Nirvana, Pansy Division’s “Smells Like Queer Spirit”) and omitted an especially painful cover I stumbled upon by Limp Bizkit, which made me die a little inside. Enjoy.

(Photos: Top, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain; Bottom, Getty Images)
By Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Miley Cyrus Miley Cyrus covered “Smells Like Teen Spirit” during a concert in Ecuador as a tribute to “the music that inspired me and made me want to be here on this stage tonight.” The only thing worse than her growly singing was her electrocuted-zombie dance routine, which Entertainment Weekly likened to the “Elaine dance” from “Seinfeld.”

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Christopher Polk, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Tori Amos Tori Amos famously covered the Nirvana classic on her 1992 EP “Crucify.” The gorgeous piano rendition gave fans a chance to actually hear the lyrics, although even Cobain made fun of the way Amos sang “mulatto” and “albino.”

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
The Muppets One pop culture institution takes on another. The Muppets deliver a barbershop quartet rendition of the Nirvana classic on the soundtrack the new “Muppets” movie. It’s great! Or at least I suspect it’s great. Unfortunately, the song is on complete lockdown until the soundtrack gets its official release on November 21. Until then, we’ll have to make do with this video of Muppets playing along to the original track.

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us?

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Walt Disney Records)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Casey Abrams The bearded “American Idol” fave was somehow from the chopping block after bludgeoning audience with this embarrassing take on the Nirvana classic – which hit the radio the year Abrams was born. Between his choppy bass playing and his over-exaggerated James Hetfield growl, Abrams was Kurt Cobain’s karaoke nightmare.

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Paul Anka Nobody knew we needed a swing version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” until Paul Anka covered it on his 2005 album “Rock Swings.” You know a song is good when it can be performed by a septuagenarian in a lounge suit and still rock, sort of.

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
The Melvins The band often referred to as the godfathers of grunge covered “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on their 2000 album “The Crybaby” as a tribute to Kurt Cobain, who used to roadie for the band and once reportedly tried out to be the Melvins’ bassist and was rejected. The cover is a straight reading of the original, but gains a certain je ne sais quoi with the inexplicable addition of 1970s teen idol Leif Garrett on guest vocals.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Ipecac Recordings)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Moog Cookbook Although on paper it looks like a can’t-miss idea, Moog Cookbook whipped up a snoozer with their novelty take on “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” recorded exclusively on analog synthesizers (mostly Moogs). I wanted so badly to like it, but I just couldn’t. It would have been great if it had only been 30 seconds long.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Dokaka Japanese beatboxer and Bjork collaborator Dokaka gives an imaginative, but thoroughly grating rendition of the Nirvana classic, relying heavily on multi-layered tracking, rather than the single-take theatrics I was expecting. I might actually prefer Miley’s version.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Dokaka)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Patti Smith The godmother of punk recorded this sparse version for her 2007 album covers album “Twelve.” The stripped-down take managed to make “Smells Like Teen Spirit” sound like a brand-new song in the middle of a day spent listening to Nirvana cover after Nirvana cover. A revelation.

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Carlos Alvarez, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Ukulele Orchestr... This version is exactly what the name suggest – a troupe of ukulele players covering the grunge classic. The major bummer is that they insisted on singing along as they played. The complete tragedy is that the lead singer got all Casey Abrams with his “rock singer” growl, implying that the cover was never supposed to transcend the humor of the situation. This should have been awesome.

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Scala & Kolacny ... This 200-members Belgian girls’ choir gained massive publicity with its cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” used heavily in the promotion of Facebook movie “Social Network.” This piano-and-vocal arrangement is every bit as haunting, powerful and emotive – a Nirvana cover fitting for both a funeral march and a church mass. Absolutely cinematic.

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Karl Walter, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Kathleen Hanna Former Bikini Kill and Le Tigre singer (and wife of Beastie Boy Ad-Rock) Kathleen Hanna is the person who coined the phrase “Smells like Teen Spirit,” drunkenly scrawling “Kurt smells like Teen Spirit” across Kurt Cobain’s bedroom wall with a Sharpie. Cobain took the phrase and made it part of the rock and roll lexicon. In this clip, Hanna tells the full story in between verses of the song, redefining the phrase “telling rendition.”

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Fernando Leon, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Western Branch F... Recorded by the Western Branch High School orchestra in Chesapeake, Va., this fully orchestrated cover is genuinely stirring, sloppiness aside. The sheer manpower of the orchestra channels something important from the original that is often lacking in covers, and actually manages to rise above the novelty of “orchestra covering a rock song.” A professional recording would be even better.

See it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Flyleaf Post-grunge band delivers a paint-by-numbers cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” separated from the original only by the cutely angsty vocals of diminutive singer Lacey Mosely. This version is duplicated nightly by your uncle’s cover band, which is most likely called “NRG” or “Wylde Boyz.”

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Bryan Bedder, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Take That What was supposed to be a moving tribute to Kurt Cobain by the British boy band turned out to be a posthumous slap in the face. A shirtless posthumous slap in the face. Wrote one YouTube viewer, “I seriously expected to get rick rolled here but what I got was even worse...” Just … awful.

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
The Bad Plus I can’t even tell you how ready I was to hate all over a jazz version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But this off-kilter, deconstructed take feels like it owes as much to Radiohead as it does to Dave Brubeck. This avant-garde trio goes on a wild ride, skittering off the every few measures, only touching down on the original song’s motifs long enough to stay honest. Fantastic.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Cameron Wittig)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Willie Nelson This spooky, lonely take on the song manages to outlive the novelty of Willie Nelson coverage a grunge song. Nelson’s gravelly voice manages to give gravity to lyrics that might otherwise have seemed silly in such a bluesy context. Still, not great.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Jamie Squire, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Ragnar Bjarnason The polar opposite of the Moog Cookbook version, this rendition looks terrible on paper, but ends up being totally camp-tastic. On vocals is Icelandic lounge singer Ragnar Bjarnason (aka Raggi Bjarna), backed by The Millioners, who lay down a slinky Latin groove under his schmaltzy crooning. Aces.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
David Garrett Pop-classical violinist David Garrett is the closest thing the classical world has to a rock star right now. Here, however, he strays into Trans-Siberian Orchestra territory, weighing down his aching virtuoso playing with a wall of compressed guitars and a backing symphony that doesn’t seem to know if the song is supposed to be a tribute or a parody.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Florian Seefried, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
The Flying Picke... This British vocal group gives Nirvana the Rockapella treatment, which, needless to say, Nirvana did not need. The a capella cover toes the line between cloying and clever, utilizing all the trappings one would expect (right down to the “gadang, gadang” rhythm tracks). Ultimately, its top-notch composition and chord arrangements make it a winner. A cheesy winner, but a winner nonetheless.

Hear it here.

Verdict: Entertain us!

—Jeff Royer

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
Kelis “Milkshake” singer Kelis gets major points for bridging the rock and hip-hop divide without delving into rap-rock. She instead delivers what wants to be a very imaginative version complete with music box piano. I want to love this, because I really like Kelis. But I can’t, because it’s kind of terrible.

See it here.

Verdict: Nevermind.

—Jeff Royer

(Photo: Brendon Thorne, Getty Images)

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.
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