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With its bass ancestor in blues and rock , it ’s no wonder that compensate songs are as essential a part ofheavy metalmusic as they are . Many service department band make their head start rocking out with their own versions ofclassic metal albumsand developing their own audio from there . After all , not every striation has the ambition to retellJ.R.R. Tolkein ’s mythology in a individual alloy record album .
today , metallic element bands overlay not just the classic , but also song from all sorts of other musical style , often to either heroic or comedic result . Some of these cover might fall flat , but some of them — like these — areso infused by the power and joy of metalthat they exceed their original genres .
Honorable Mention: Alestorm - “You Are A Pirate” (Originally By The Cast Of LazyTown)
Scottish pirate - metal scalawag Alestorm have been rip up sail on Napalm Records for over fifteen year . On the limited release of their 2011 albumBack Through Time , they included a duet of covers as bonus cut , one an sometime Scottish drinking Sung dynasty , and the other a call from Icelandic kids ' TV seriesLazyTown . While the lyrics are changed a bit and wind up up no longer family - favorable , Alestorm ’s version of " You Are A Pirate " isas frisk and rambunctious a drinking song as any folk - metal ring could hope to commemorate .
10Turisas - “Rasputin”
Originally by Boney M
Boney M. ’s original " Rasputin " was an international chart - top disco hit in 1978 , and ironically find significant popularity in Russia even though the song was removed from the Soviet press of the album and the ring was allegedly barred from play it when they toured the USSR .
Finnish folk metal grouping Turisas put their own spin on Russia ’s sterling dearest machine in 2007 , when their blanket of " Rasputin " was included on the director ’s cut of their sophomore albumThe Varangian Way . More uptempo and frenzied than the original but still keeping a similar regular recurrence , Turisas ' cover hassome of the most metal use of violin and accordion you ’ll ever pick up . The medicine video juxtaposes a slick LXX club vibration with some of the bandmembers in blood - slander Viking garb .
9Disturbed - “Land of Confusion”
Originally by Genesis
While the aesthetic of both the song and the video for Disturbed ’s cover of this Genesis classic are wildly different from the original , there ’s no deny the feeling remain the same . Both songs ' picture spoof celebrities and political figures from the era of their spill , namely U.S. presidents , with the original Genesis video focusing more on Ronald Reagan and the Disturbed video skewering George W. Bush and his imperialistic foreign insurance policy .
Although this is n’t the first time Disturbed cover an ' fourscore classic — that was " Shout 2000 " on their debutThe Sickness — it ’s certainly the time they had a flock more fun with it . With vocaliser David Draiman forced to change his tattle flair after tour forThe Sicknessdamaged his outspoken cord , Disturbed ’s speech sound changed from their soph record album onward into something a little more musical , andthat glint through perfectly on " Land of Confusion . "
8Nonpoint - “When Doves Cry”
Originally by Prince
While Nonpoint have been sludging up the Florida nu - metal scene since the ninety , their cover of Prince ’s classic " When dove Cry " was part of 2021’sRuthlessEP , the band ’s first release on their own independent label 361 Degrees Records . Although it failed to graph , the screen is a slick reinterpretation of the original , starting with atmospherical synths and guitar with easy cymbal bowl that help build tenseness through the first verse until the pacing picks up on the chorus .
While the original Prince cartroad notably has no bassline , Nonpoint ’s sea bass clunk with that detuned nu - metal tone thanks to bassist Adam Woloszyn . Whether you like the cabaret view or Hot Topic , this track will make you want to headbang like it ’s 1999 .
7Korn - “Word Up!”
Originally by Cameo
Used as the opening track and moderate single from their 2004Greatest Hits , Vol 1compilation , Korn ’s screen of this ubiquitous funk collision is a surprisingly close recreation , given that the song is transpose down to their detuned seven - chain auditory sensation . While Scottish toilsome rockers Gun had beaten Korn to the poke with a rock cover of " Word Up ! " in ' 94 , their cut pales in comparison to the icky thumping that was the hallmark of Korn bassist Fieldy ’s strait .
Allegedly , Korn ’s screening of the song had its generation in the band ’s live show routine , as they often used the Riffian as part of their sound checks . Also , this was the only Korn single to get sent not only to rock Stations of the Cross but also to Top 40 wireless , giving the set a novel form of photo .
6Alien Ant Farm - “Smooth Criminal”
Originally by Michael Jackson
The second one off their second record album , neither Alien Ant Farm nor the rest of the world was ready for how their cover of this Michael Jackson hittook over the global airwave in 2001 . Topping the chart in both the US and Australia , " Smooth Criminal " was a runaway success for the band that whole eclipsed " film , " their first unmarried fromANThology . With a music television stuff full of Michael Jackson references , " Smooth Criminal " is exactly what you should get when you combine the frenetic vigour of SoCal ’s nascent nu - metal scene with one of Jackson ’s strongest dance hits .
5In This Moment - “In the Air Tonight”
Originally by Phil Collins
" In the Air Tonight , " secrete in 1981 , was Phil Collins ' first solo single , almost topping the single chart at the time and becoming an essential part of rock and peal history , thanks to the iconic use of gate reverb on the drum machine to make one of the most memorable drum partitioning of the 80s . It ’s been cover by numerous bands over the years , let in the aforementioned Nonpoint , butone version stands above the rest period .
In 2017 , daddy - metal quintet In This Moment released their sixth studio album , Ritual , a construct record album about the Salem witch trial . Less camp than their previous fare ( like 2014 ’s gold - certified individual " Sex Metal Barbie " ) , the album also included their cover of " In the Air Tonight , " which uses reverb on vocalist Maria Brink much in the fashion the original Collins version did on the drum , which helps work up up an expansive soundscape that all comes crashing down asthe band puts every bit of fury they have into the classic drum break .
4Rage Against the Machine - “Renegades of Funk”
Originally by Africa Bombaataa & Soulsonic Force
ultra leftist whack - metal god passion Against the Machine in reality broke up two months before the release of 2000’sRenegades , their fourth and final studio apartment album , which consisted entirely of covers of everyone from Bob Dylan to Cypress Hill ; because of this detachment , Rage was n’t around to tour in supporting of the album , and were nowhere to be found a twelvemonth laterwhen 2001 ’s Clear Channel memoranda stripped their music from America ’s airwaves .
Their cover of " Renegades of Funk " takes a classic piece of LXXX hip - hop and frame that furious RATM whirl on it , turn the percussion volume up by try out beats from the Incredible Bongo Band ’s " Apache " and commingle that with Tom Morello ’s eternally brilliant use of guitar distorted shape . Where the Sung really read off is the mantra in the bridge of " destroy all state " ; while Africa Bombaataa ’s version says this once , in the sass of Rage vocalist Zack de la Rochait becomes as much an invocation of anti - nationalist intent as any of RATM ’s original singles .
3Seether - “Careless Whisper”
Originally by George Michael
While the original " Careless Whisper " is mostly a meme at this point thanks to its classic but ham saxophone Riffian , Seether ’s screening from the 2009 reissue of their 2007 releaseFinding Beauty in negatively charged Spacesis a surprisingly earnest take on George Michael ’s regretful lay . With Seether ’s post - grunge fashion being a stark fit for the language ' lamenting nature , the only flaw in this cover is that Seether did n’t indulge the meme just a little and keep the sax .
2GWAR - “Carry On Wayward Son”
Originally by Kansas
GWAR ’s 2013 albumBattle Maximuswas immortalise as a protection for late - kick the bucket guitar player Flattus Maxiums ( Cory Smoot ) , who passed in 2011 ; it was also the last album recorded by original vocalist Oderus Urungus ( Dave Brockie ) , who also go bad in 2014 . The 10th anniversary edition ofBattle Maximuswas released in 2023 , because that ’s how math works , and contain two previously unreleased tracks : the original " Tammy , the Swine Queen , " and their cover of " Carry On Wayward Son . "
While live recordings of " Carry On " from before Urungus ' death exist — notably the above video from 2012 ’s time of year ofA.V. Undercover — this studio apartment rendition is tight and flawless , highlighting GWAR ’s sludgy combination of prog - metal breakdown and gamy - speed thrash riffs . Urungus takes the form of dirty liberty with the lyrics that GWAR fan would expect , effortlessly going from verbally berating hearer to shrieking like the god of metal that he was .
1Anthony Vincent and Mac Glocky - “Spice Up Your Life”
Originally by the Spice Girls
Anthony Vincent , who until 2021 liberate music under his YouTube channel name Ten Second Songs , and Mac Glocky , a SoCal - based metallic element player , have both gained pregnant Internet followings due to their shared skill exercise set of emulating the styles of other metal and hard rock’n’roll artists . While this seems simple on the control surface , Glocky in particular is a genuine musical chameleon , effortlessly emulating both the guitar and outspoken pure tone of on the face of it any stria he want .
Together , the duo have released two Spice Girls traverse , " Wannabe " and " Spice Up Your Life , " both styled after prog - metal legend System of a Down . While " Wannabe " is plenty of fun , especially with the bombastic bridge and its whiplash - nimble transition to a shrieking breakdown , it ’s " Spice Up Your life sentence " that will go forth you breathlesswith how quick and like an expert the duo transform one of the large girl - pop political party songs into a nu - alloy whirlwind of call - and - response " la la la"s . If the existence of this song does n’t zest up your life , you formally do n’t have sex how to have fun .
Custom image by Zahra Huselid.
