Tribute albums feature various artists performing the work of a particular artist. These can be hit-or-miss affairs, but among the more successful efforts is "Red, Hot + Blue," a 1990 compilation of artists such as Annie Lennox and U2 performing the songs of Cole Porter. Another popular tribute album is 1994's
"If I Were a Carpenter," in which alternative bands of that era (such as Sonic Youth and Shonen Knife) cover songs made famous by the Carpenters. Other critically acclaimed tribute albums include "I'm Your Fan" (covering the songs of Leonard Cohen), "Stone Free" (Jimi Hendrix), "The Bridge" (Neil Young) and "Deadicated" (The Grateful Dead). The soundtrack to the 2001 film "I Am Sam" also fits the tribute album mold, as it contains various artists (such as Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder and the Black Crowes) performing songs made famous by the Beatles.
Beyond tribute albums, a band or solo artist will occasionally attempt to recreate an album in its entirety. Among the more interesting are "The Smithereens Play Tommy," in which alt-rockers the Smithereens recreate "Tommy," the Who's 1969 rock opera. More recently, in 2009 the Flaming Lips teamed up with Stardeath, White Dwarfs and Henry Rollins to recreate Pink Floyd's 1973 classic "The Dark Side of the Moon." That same year, Cheap Trick released "Sgt. Pepper Live," featuring a live in-studio recreation of the Beatles' iconic "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
Another type of cover album features one artist performing the songs of a different artist. One of the more unusual is the self-titled debut album by Dread Zeppelin, which featured a portly Elvis impersonator singing reggae versions of Led Zeppelin hits. More conventional albums include Steve Earle's "Townes," devoted to the songs of Townes Van Zandt and Bryan Ferry's "Dylanesque," in which Ferry puts his Roxy Music-style spin on the songs of Bob Dylan. One of 2010's most interesting cover albums was "Grapefruit Moon," a jazz-infused compilation of the songs of Tom Waits performed by Southside Johnny and La Bamba's Big Band.
In 2010, a number of artists went into the studio to record new studio versions of their own music, essentially covering themselves. Recent examples include Alice Cooper's "Alice Does Alice," a five-song EP of re-recorded versions of hits such as "School's Out" and "Welcome to My Nightmare." Squeeze released a greatest hits album called "Spot the Difference," featuring note-for-note recreations of their best-known songs. Canadian band Cowboy Junkies re-recorded all the songs on their "Trinity Sessions" album as "Trinity: Revisited." The Black Crowes re-recorded acoustic studio versions of a number of their hits on "Croweology."