When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Awesome Covers

Friday Afternoon at the Music Store

Friday Afternoon at the Music Store

When the guys at Stockholm, Sweden’s DLX Music are bored, they break out the instruments and start playing. For this clip from their #fridayfeeling series, they performed a cover of I Want Candy, adding an extra flourish to the track’s syncopated rhythms by setting up a literal drum circle. Their Makita-enhanced version of Miserlou is fun, too.

1000 Musicians Play Knights of Cydonia

1000 Musicians Play Knights of Cydonia

For their July 2023 concert in Cesena, Italy, the Rockin’1000 gathered 1000 guitarists, drummers, bass players, keyboard players, and vocalists to perform the Muse track Knights of CydoniaWe always thought Muse sounded much bigger than a three-person band, but the wall of sound created by hundreds of musicians makes the track even more epic.

Advertisement

One Hacker Band: Video Killed the Radio Star

One Hacker Band: Video Killed the Radio Star

For those unfamiliar with the One Hacker Band, it’s a roomful of electromechanical musical instruments created and programmed by Aaron Todd. For this performance, he programmed his robotic band to play Video Killed the Radio Star, the 1979 Buggles song that launched MTV and kicked off the music video era.

Banjo Impossible

Banjo Impossible

Composer Lalo Schifrin’s theme from Mission Impossible is one of the most recognizeable TV and movie theme songs of all time. But we bet you’ve never heard it like this. Musician Jamie Dupuis found a way to preserve the urgency of the original while adding a dash of bluegrass on the 5-string banjo.

Movie Music on Unusual Instruments

Movie Music on Unusual Instruments

Joe Porter plays familiar tunes on a variety of musical instruments. After entertaining us with some video game and cartoon music, he’s back with a medley of movie music. His renditions of the theme from Home Alone, Peaches, Over the Rainbow, and Pure Imagination sound magical on the lithophone, slapophone, aquarion, and euphonic array.

Thunderstruck on Electric Harp

Thunderstruck on Electric Harp

Kristan Toczko is a talented harpist with a knack for playing popular music on a classical instrument. Here, she shows off her skills with a brief performance of the famous guitar intro to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck on an electric lever harp. By connecting it to distortion pedals and retuning the harp, she was able to closely replicate the sound of the original.

If the B-52s Sang Chop Suey

If the B-52s Sang Chop Suey

Musician Dalton Deschain is an expert at making unlikely cover versions of hit songs. He’s especially adept at performing tunes in the style of the B-52s. Here’s his version of System of a Down’s Chop Suey with Fred Schneider’s energetic vocalizations. Singer-songwriter Jo Kroger brings the Kate + Cindy energy, minus the beehive hairdo.

Advertisement

Jazz Drummer Improvs Nirvana’s “In Bloom”

Jazz Drummer Improvs Nirvana’s “In Bloom”

We enjoy watching Drumeo’s series, where they ask musicians to create the drum track for a song they’ve never heard. In this session, they challenged Julliard jazz professor Ulysses Owens Jr. to perform the Nirvana song In Bloom. Ulysses’ interpretation both touches on the original and adds some new flourishes compared to Dave Grohl’s original.

“Come Together” But It’s a Dire Straits Song

“Come Together” But It’s a Dire Straits Song

Netherlands-based musician Laszlo Buring likes to cover songs in the styles of different bands than initially sang them. His cover of The Beatles Come Together, melded with Dire Straits’ Walk of Life, gives the track a totally different and unexpected new sound. His Dire Straits version of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid is equally entertaining.

Paper Planes Piano Cover

Paper Planes Piano Cover

Musician Alban Claudin shows off his performance and production skills with a great live cover version of the M.I.A. track Paper Planes. Though without the vocals, it could almost be called a cover of The Clash song Straight to Hell, which M.I.A. sampled heavily. His version of Doja Cat’s Paint the Town Black is wonderful too.

Wicked Game: Bardcore Edition

Wicked Game: Bardcore Edition

When it comes to bardcore covers of popular songs, Hildegard von Blingin’ is at the top of the game. Her interpretation of Chris Isaak’s 1989 hit Wicked Game is just as impassioned as the original, with Aaron Dolan’s uilleann pipes and whistle helping to set the medieval mood.

Crazy Train on Bagpipes

Crazy Train on Bagpipes

Who here thought that an Ozzy Osbourne song would sound good played on bagpipes? The talented and beautiful Ally the Piper proves that with the right arrangement, it can definitely work. Her cover of the 1980 hit Crazy Train is as solid as any we’ve heard. And if you’ve ever wanted to know how bagpipes work, Ally is here to help.

Advertisement

Ghost Riders in the Sky: Cyberpunk Edition

Ghost Riders in the Sky: Cyberpunk Edition

Yippee-I-aye, Yippee-I-o… the Melodicka Bros. took the oft-covered western staple Ghost Riders in the Sky and transformed it into a synth-heavy cyberpunk jam. The track is accompanied by an appropriately neon-lit, smoke-filled music video that imagines a cybercowboy riding his steel horse to round up some cybercows.

Oops!… I Did It Again: Metal Edition

Oops!… I Did It Again: Metal Edition

Leo Moracchioli turned Britney Spears’ 2000 hit Oops!… I Did It Again into a shockingly good heavy metal track. Leo is at the top of his guitar game while wearing a blue bodysuit which seems like it would be a good canvas for applying visual effects. And for more unexpected Britney covers, check out Toxic on toothbrushes.

Master of Piano

Master of Piano

Obey your master and crank your speakers up to 11 for Gamazda’s latest performance, an absolutely killer grand piano arrangement of Metallica’s Master of Puppets. We never thought we’d bang our heads to a piano concerto, but we’re making an exception here.

Robot Band Plays Nirvana

Robot Band Plays Nirvana

Here we are now; entertain us. The One Hacker Band features no humans except the man programming its servo-powered, robotic members. Crank up the volume and do the pogo dance as the animatronic musicians perform a cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Syncronicity II Acoustic Cover

Syncronicity II Acoustic Cover

Another suburban family morning… grandmother screaming at the wall. Musician Kent Nishimura performs a wonderful acoustic guitar cover of the 1983 Police track Syncronicity II. Even without the lyrical genius of the original track, Nishimura’s interpretation is powerful and emotive.

If Green Day Sang Bowie

If Green Day Sang Bowie

David Bowie performed in many styles over the years, but as far as we know, pop-punk wasn’t one of them. Musician Steve Welsh makes a compelling argument that The Man Who Sold the World would have worked quite well in that genre. His Green Day-inspired cover of Bowie’s classic track works much better than the idea sounds on paper.

Marcin: Layla

Marcin: Layla

We’ve heard several amazing performances by the talented guitarist Marcin Patrzalek. His latest is a cover of Derek & The Dominos 1970 track Layla. While nobody will ever live up to Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, Marcin’s percussive fingerstyle technique adds a new depth and dynamic to the rock classic.

Hysteria Fingerstyle

Hysteria Fingerstyle

Luca Stricagnoli takes on another Muse song with a performance of Hysteria on his unique triple-necked acoustic guitar. As his fingers fly across the three fretboards, Luca captures the original track’s massive energy despite being a solo musician.

Thunderstruck on Tubulum

Thunderstruck on Tubulum

El Estepario Siberiano, aka “The Groovefather,” is a skilled percussionist. In this video, he shows off his talents with a cover of the AC/DC track Thunderstruck on a tubulum – that PVC pipe instrument made famous by Blue Man Group. He looped multiple sequences to create the track, but it’s still impressive for an instrument he’s just learning to play.

Lithium: Happy Edition

Lithium: Happy Edition

After turning Y.M.C.A. into a sad song, Italy’s Melodicka Bros have done the opposite with another song. Please enjoy as they perform an upbeat ska-punk version of Nirvana’s Lithium, bringing a little bit of levity into this otherwise dark and moody track.

Rubber Chicken Immigrant Song

Rubber Chicken Immigrant Song

If there’s any song that needed a rubber chicken remake, we’d say it’s Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song. Fortunately, Chickensan is here to fulfill our wishes, replacing Robert Plant’s iconic wail with the pained squawks of plastic poultry.

ADVERTISEMENT

Home | About | Suggest | Contact | Team | Links | Privacy | Disclosure
Advertise | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Sites We Like

Awesome Stuff: The Awesomer | Cool Cars: 95Octane
Site Design & Content © 2008-2024 Awesomer Media / The Awesomer™