We all know cover songs tend to be one musician's unique take on a song. With metal artists covering songs, sometimes they're good, better than the original. Sometimes the original is better than the cover. According to Loudwire.com, here are 55 metal cover songs of classic rock songs.
1. Allegaeon. "Subdivisions" by Rush
-This tech-death band also did a cover of the song "Animate" from Rush's 1993 album Counterparts. But this particular song is a bit hit for Allegaeon. It's still similar to the original, but with a few added quirks. That comes thanks to vocalist Riley McShane, who brings his amazing vocal range and tone. This band even does a cover of the Yes song "Roundabout"
2. Amorphis. "Light My Fire" by The Doors
-An odd combination at best, Swedish death metallers Amorphis covering The Doors "Light My Fire" on their album Tales from The Ten Thousand Lakes. Somehow, it worked. The folk-like keyboard worked perfectly with the band's new emerging sound, along with the deathly growls on the singing, rather than try and replicate Jim Morrison's singing
3. Anthrax. "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas
-Certainly an unusual choice. But, Anthrax managed to pull off a successful cover of the classic Kansas hit. They took this song and made it their own. It's featured on their album Leftoverthrax
4. Armored Saint. "Saturday Night Special" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
-Ever since the dawn of time, bands on major labels have been told they need to do at least one cover song. It might be something they like, it might be something they don't like. And later on, bands might choose to cover songs just for the fun of it. Chrysallis Records asked Armored Saint to cover the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Saturday Night Special" on their album Raising Fear
5. Between the Buried and Me. "Bicycle Race" by Queen
-This band has an album called The Anatomy Of, and it's all covers. The most surprising choice on that album is the quirky "Bicycle Race" by Queen. Who knew that vocalist Tommy Rogers could sing like Freddie Mercury? This song might have had the metalcore fans scratching their heads, wondering what went wrong, but it was just the beginning of what was to come with the band's next album, Colors
6. Black Sabbath. "Evil Woman" by Crow
-Crow originally wrote this song in 1969 for their debut album Black Sabbath. It was a massive hit in the US, but was left off of Black Sabbath's debut album, instead replaced with "Wicked World." The Black Sabbath version of this song is dripping with doom and gloom while the original is upbeat
7. Blessthefall. "Dream On" by Aerosmith
-Released in 2010 on an album called Punk Goes Classic Rock, it found artists covering various classic rock songs. The most interesting track here is the cover of "Dream On" by Blessthefall. Instead of the piano on the original, this band uses an electronic synth and made it unique
8. Body Count. "Hey Joe" by Billy Roberts
-Not what you would expect. On the 1994 Body Count album Born Dead is a cover of the song "Hey Joe." Billy Roberts is credited with writing the original while Jimi Hendrix himself covered the song. In terms of lyrics, this song is good for Body Count because it centers around shooting someone
9. Carnivore. "Manic Depression" by Jimi Hendrix
-The album this is off of, Retaliation, showcased the eclectic taste in music vocalist Peter Steele had. They covered the Jimi Hendrix song "Manic Depression." Despite the overly psychedelic feel to the original, this cover was redone with the maximum amount of distortion and raw-sounding production
10. Celtic Frost. "Heroes" by David Bowie
-This band's version of the David Bowie classic bears little to no similarity to the original. It's featured on the album Vanity / Nemesis. If you want a good cover of David Bowie's "Heroes", check out Motorhead's cover of the song. Lemmy's raspy vocals lend it a metal hand and it's surprisingly good
11. Children of Bodom. "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" by The Ramones
-Joey Ramone had raspy vocals, and on this song, he sounds as if he gargled with gravel. This made it the perfect song for Children of Bodom to cover. This band always seems to put a fun feeling into their songwriting. It's featured on their album Skeletons in the Closet
12. Cirith Ungol. "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
-These progressive / power metallers take on the iconic "Fire" on Paradise Lost
13. Crowbar. "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin
-Led Zeppelin is one of those bands that have a major reputation. And it's hard to successfully cover one of their songs. If a band does choose to cover one of their songs, it must be done without fear and with respect. New Orleans sludge metal band Crowbar successfully covered the song "No Quarter" in 1993. They took the Led Zeppelin song, which was about an army taking no prisoners and showing no mercy, and turned it into a trip into the land of despair
14. Dark Angel. "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
-This was one of the heaviest songs Led Zeppelin had written, telling of the Norse invasion of England. This made it one of the first Viking Metal songs. It was a good choice for Los Angeles thrashers Dark Angel. The original song, running at two minutes, was reduced to one and a half minutes by the impatient hands of the band, starring on Dark Angel's Leave Scars album
15. Death. "God of Thunder" by KISS
-Written originally by Paul Stanley, it was tailor made for Gene Simmons and his raspy vocals. It became the staple by which Gene Simmons would start to spit fake blood on the stage. Death metal band Death and vocalist Chuck Schuldiner gave this mighty Kiss classic a death metal overhaul. It's featured on their album Human
16. Destruction. "My Sharona" by The Knack
-Thrash metal band Destruction took the 1979 song "My Sharona" and gave it a thrash metal makeover on their album Cracked Brain
17. Disturbed. "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel
-Featured on the 2015 album Immortalized, vocalist David Draiman took the classic Simon and Garfunkel hit and made it hauntingly beautiful. Starting out singing slow and rising in pitch to his screaming / singing voice, accompanied by orchestral instruments, it became hauntingly beautiful. The fans quickly embraced the song and so did Paul Simon himself
18. Dream Theater. "Funeral for a Friend" by Elton John
-This band happens to be fans of all things progressive rock, 1970s. When they decided to do songs for their 1995 A Change of Seasons EP, not surprisingly, the prog rock legends they chose to cover included Genesis, Pink Floyd, along with Kansas. Elton John was even in there. The song of choice was "Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding."
19. Exodus. "Low Rider" by War
-Appearing on the album Fabulous Disaster, Exodus covered the classic War hit. Instead of the saxophone parts, the band harmonized together, making for a surprisingly good rendition of the song. It's essentially a thrash metal makeover of a song that appeared on Soul Train
20. Flotsam and Jetsam. "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting" by Elton John
-This band had to work with the loss of their bass player, Jason Newstead, in 1988 when he joined Metallica's ranks. Flotsam and Jetsam, however, had to contend with one request from their label, Elektra Records. To do a cover. The band chose to cover the classic Elton John hit "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting." It's featured on their album No Place for Disgrace
21. Fu Manchu. "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult
-Blue Oyster Cult were a much heavier band than people give them credit for. They were almost heavy metal with out actually being metal. Their song "Godzilla" had a sort of marching along, chugging feel to it, and when stoner metal band Fu Manchu gets to cover it, it gets heavier. They turn the BOC hit into something that sounds like Black Sabbath on their Eatin' Dust album
22. Ghost. "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles
-Most metalheads were in for the shock of their lives when Swedish metal band Ghost chose to cover The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun." It, strangely, worked out. With the band's featured church organ and incredibly clean vocals thanks to Tobias Forge, the song is incredibly good. The song's sunny feeling merges well with the soft-metal sound
23. GWAR. "School's Out" by Alice Cooper
-This band puts extra aggression into their cover of the Alice Cooper song "School's Out." It's a lot more aggressive than the original. It's featured on their album Beyond Hell
24. Helloween. "White Room" by Cream
-When people aspire to play guitar, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple is their first song they want to master. They figure, if they can master that, anything else will come easily. German metal band Helloween have taken the classic Cream hit and given it a heavy metal makeover. Featured on the 1999 album Metal Jukebox, it sounds like the original with a dash of power metal thrown in for good measure
25. HIM. "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult
-HIM took the classic song by Blue Oyster Cult and put a dash of Black Sabbath into it, turning into something eerie and spooky. Vocalist June Hyde provides an almost spooky sound to the song, along with the eerie organs, making it perfect for the Halloween season
26. Iron Maiden. "Cross Eyed Mary" by Jethro Tull
-Jethro Tull and Iron Maiden have more in common than one would think. They both tell stories through their songs. But with Tull, they have a more mystical, almost fantasy-based approach with lyrics and sound than the dueling twin (or in modern days) triple guitar attack that Maiden performs. Iron Maiden's cover of the classic Jethro Tull and it works surprisingly well. This cover ended up as the B-Side to the band's single "The Trooper"
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