revivals or original music?

I think it depends on how the artist remakes the song. I used to think Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" couldn't possibly be remade. Then Johnny Cash releases his version. Not only was it completely different from the original but it was equally powerful.

For me, in terms of musicality or which sounds better, it actually depends. If the cover or revival is better than the original then good. But we all know that the message is sometimes lost when the artist doing the cover version doesn't really know or embody the actual "message" of the song.

It really depends. If the revival sounds better than the original then I opt for it. But if the original sounds better to me then I stick to it. Sometimes people listen to revivals because the new artist/s is/are popular at the moment. But when these "revivalists" lose popularity people will again go back to the original. Sometimes though new artists revive old music and alter the tempo and rhythm. That too is another thing to consider. However, I tend to stick to originals most if not all of the time.