Awesome Covers

Musician T-Pain isn’t the first person you’d think could pull off a Black Sabbath cover. But he proves us wrong with his incredibly compelling version of War Pigs that showcases his vocal abilities and emotional power. It’s one of eight songs on his 2023 album On Top of the Covers.

Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal suicide. Leo Morachiolli didn’t start the fire, but he did an impressive job covering Billy Joel’s wordy 1989 hit, adding fuel to the inferno with his hard-edged guitar and gravelly vocals. If you’re waiting for Joel to update the song for the 21st century, don’t hold your breath.

During their visit to the BBC’s Radio 2 Piano Room, U2’s Bono and The Edge were joined by an orchestra for this toned-down cover of the ABBA track SOS. They also turned in an excellent orchestral version of their hit track Vertigo. Also, this isn’t the first time U2 performed an ABBA song.

The KISS song I Was Made for Lovin’ You offered a deliciously fun blend of rock and disco music. Now the 1979 track has a whole new sound courtesy of Postmodern Jukebox and vocalist Effie Passero. Scott Bradlee’s deft arrangement of the song is equal parts cabaret act and Ennio Morricone western soundtrack.

Musician Scott Bradlee has proven that just about anything can be a Ragtime song with the proper arrangement. His 1920s cover version of Radiohead’s 1997 classic Paranoid Android sounds fantastic, and we can totally imagine it being played in the speakeasy in Westworld’s Golden Age.

School of Rock is a great place for kids (and adults) to hone their musicianship and performance skills. This group of AllStar students was a the top of their game when they took on Europe’s hair-metal classic The Final Countdown in the studio. Lead vocalist Eliza could go out and record an album right now.

We recently went down the rabbit hole, creating a playlist of original versions of hit songs. SecondHandSongs helped us find lots of obscure originals and also revealed tons of unique covers we never knew existed. Like, did you know that this guy recorded Girls Just Wanna Have Fun four years before Cindy Lauper did?

Musician David Bennett performs accurate recreations of classic songs. After impressing us with his version of A Day in the Life, he teamed up with vocalist Guy Bangham to produce a spot-on version of The Doors’ Riders on the Storm. The Rhodes V8 virtual keyboard helped recreate the sound of Ray Manzarek’s keyboard.

Good morning! It’s time for your wake-up call, and there’s no better sound to get you up and going than the screaming vocals of metalhead Leo Moracchioli. This time, he sharpened the edge of the Simple Minds track Don’t You (Forget About Me</a>. Rain keeps falling, down, down, down works really well as a metal lyric.

As part of his “Should I/Can I Cover It?” series, musician Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq. performs a track that clearly wasn’t designed to be played on a tiny 4-string ukulele. But the old-fashioned musician gave it the old college try regardless. If Thomas looks familiar, it’s because he has No More F**ks to Give.

The Melodicka Bros. are really good at reinventing popular songs. This time out, they took the high-energy Blur track Song 2 and reworked it with a 3/4 time signature. The result is a very different, yet equally entertaining track, alternatively known as “Song 3.”

The theme music from Tetris is a big part of what made the video game so popular. Musician JER of the Skatune Network and We Are the Union transformed the classic Russian chiptune into an energetic piece of ska, with its trademark quick beats, layered brass, and organ sounds.

Multi-instrumentalist Joe Porter is back with another medley of music performed on various percussion instruments. This time, he played rock tunes from bands like Metallica, AC/DC, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Iron Maiden. It’s also likely to be the only time you’ll hear Sweet Child of Mine played on a steel pan drum.

The 1977 Bee Gees track Stayin’ Alive is one of the most famous songs of the disco era. Musician Charles Berthoud remembers the song a little differently than we do, with way more flourishes for the bass guitar part – and a funky prog-rock synth solo sandwiched in the middle.

Prog rock band Polyphia is known in large part for Tim Henson and Scott LePage’s virtuosic guitar work. Musician Moyun shows us how their track Playing God can take on a whole new texture when performed with precision on the ancient string instrument known as the guzheng.

There are lots of cover bands out there, but it’s not often their performances rise to the level of the originals. The Lexington Lab Band is one of those rare musical groups that crushes every single cover they play. Their YouTube channel is packed with classics like Ride Like the Wind, Give a Little Bit, Hot for Teacher, and Ironic.

Musician Luna Lee turns in another great performance on her gayageum, letting her fingers fly across all 18 strings with a cover of the Bob Marley and the Wailers classic I Shot the Sheriff. Luna’s brings a whole new flavor to the track through her expressive improvisation skills.

At the 2022 Mountbatten Festival of Music. The Bands of HM Royal Marines performed an epic medley of music by The Prodigy. Arranged by Band Corporal Aaron Pitman, the set included Out of Space, Breathe, Omen, No Good (Start the Dance), The Day is My Enemy, and Voodoo People, but sadly no Smack My Bitch Up or Firestarter.

The DragonForce track Through the Fire and Flames is known for its impossibly fast chord progressions and blister-inducing appearance in Guitar Hero III. The Morander Brothers turned in a flawless cover version of the song, performed on a pair of accordions. Their cover of Iron Maiden’s The Trooper is just as impressive.

The members of The Main Squeeze and their guest musicians present a stellar performance of the Pink Floyd classic Comfortably Numb. They captured the mood and emotion of the original while adding a soulful new dimension, thanks to the fantastic lead vocals by Corey Frye and killer guitar work of Maximillian Newman.

The members of the United States Army Band performed this great medley of tracks from the Foo Fighters, including grand cover versions of Times Like These, Walk, Learn to Fly, and My Hero.. The string, brass, and timpani sections add a new dimension to these rock hits.

Musician Steve Welsh likes to reinterpret songs in different styles. Here, he explores what it might have been like if Pink Floyd possessed the bodies of Nirvana, and they were the ones who wrote the 1991 track Endless, Nameless. Welsh’s dreamy prog-rock version is significantly more eardrum friendly than the cacophonous original.

We know from our past encounters with musician Carolina Eyck that she’s one of the world’s greatest theremin players. In this clip, she amps up the pace to that of a buzzing insect with a captivating performance of Flight of the Bumblebee on the gesture-driven electronic instrument.