And don’t get cute and do songs people don’t know are covers like I Will Always Love You or Torn
Hurt by Johnny Cash - much better than the NiN version, to the point that Trent Reznor basically said “yea, it’s his song now, he nailed it”.
And then I have some more controversial takes…
-Faith by Limp Bizkit (instead of George Michael). Yes, I know, but seriously, it slaps.
-99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger.
-Gin and Juice by The Gourds.
Faith No More’s cover of War Pigs is so much better than the original Black Sabbath version.
I’d say it’s hard to beat original War Pigs, but T-Pain’s version comes close.
There used to be this guy who would always do these really unique remixes and mashups of different songs that you would never think would work, but they were always really amazing.
He would upload them to his YouTube account during the 2010s, but he seems to have disappeared. I’m pretty sure he went by Tae-K and his account was something like TKRmx?
The most memorable ones for me were a mashup of Wale with the 90’s X-men theme song and Ella Fitzgerald with Wiz Khalifa.
Edit: Oh shit NVM, found it!: X-men+Wale
There was this other guy who made an 8-bit remix of Danger Mouse’s Grey album, but I can’t remember his name. It also seems to have disappeared.
Axel F
That frog lives rent free in my head.
Cradle Of Filth - Sleepless, cover of Anathema - Sleepless.
I am an enjoyer of Cradle Of Filth, but objectivly, their version has more color.
Black Magic Woman – Santana. Original by Fleetwood Mac.
Touch and Go – Emerson Lake and… POWELL. Cover of an old folk song called: Lovely Joan
Blinded by the LIght – Manfred Mann original by Bruce Springsteen.
Alone – Heart… Can’t remember the original artist off hand.
Knocking on heaven’s door by GnR
Heavy metal mania by Gamma Ray
The GnR version is a cover. Originally was some by Bob Dylan.
Yes, I specified which cover since it’s certainly been covered by more people.
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Gimme More (SID) [Machinae Supremacy covering Britney Spears]. MaSu’s vibe strips away the hyperclean polish to deliver something much closer to the raunchy, voyeuristic feel of the song’s lyrics. The fact that they’re a really good band also helps.
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F*ck Tha Police [Dope covering NWA]. I’ll admit, this one is just personal preference. Please don’t crucify me.
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Battle Hymn [Beast in Black covering Manowar].
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Down with the Sickness [Ai Mori & Violet Orlandi covering Disturbed].
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Army of the Night [Amaranthe covering Powerwolf].
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Ballroom Blitz [3TEETH covering The Sweet].
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Got The Time [Anthrax covering Joe Jackson].
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Bring The Noise [Anthrax on the track with Public Enemy]. Going back to the original is like driving a Ford Model T.
It comes close:
- Breaking the Law [Fightstar covering Judas Priest]. Halford is too iconic to beat, but Fightstar’s apocalyptic world-weariness lends itself well to their take on the song, as opposed to the original’s unserious attitude.
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Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal performed by Alien Ant Farm.
Word Up - Korn. Completely shits all over the original sung by Cameo.
Africa - Quietdrive. This one is quite divisive, so I’ll also link Weezer’s more faithful cover.
Midnight At The Oasis - The Brand New Heavies. Don’t get me wrong, Maria Muldaur’s original version was great, but it just works so much better as an acid jazz and funk song.
As for remixes…
One Night Stand (Sunship Remix) - Mis-Teeq. It’s so much better than the original by a mile. Alesha Dixon genuinely drops some fucking bars in the remix.
Selekta (SIDEQUEST Remix) - Kyle Gordon. I don’t understand why this isn’t the official version. The difference is that this version is 45 seconds longer and has an additional verse.
While we’re talking Kyle Gordon, Little V and OBKATIEKAT absolutely killed it with their “Planet of the Bass”
Take me to church metal cover
This is amazing
DragulAPT by DJ Cummerbund
Natalie imbruglia - Torn
Hope I spelled that right
Almost every VOCALOID / vocal synth cover, as long as the tuning / overall quality is good.
