Awesome Covers

We recently discovered musician Anne Reburn and her catalog of wonderful covers and originals. Her warmth and charm are guaranteed to bring sunshine into any dark day. We couldn’t pick a favorite, but we’re big Flight of the Conchords fans, so here’s her version of the Kiwi duo’s song about friendship.

Imagine for the moment that the AC/DC classic Back in Black was recorded by Fall Out Boy or some other early 2000s emo band. Musician Todd Barriage transformed the rock anthem into a totally different song with that super-emo style. He definitely nailed the sound, but we kind of think this belongs on There I Ruined It.

This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve heard Black Sabbath’s music turned into jazz. But Jazz Sabbath created an entire album of Ozzy and company’s metal reworked into a concert-worthy jazz performance. Seriously, this is some really great music, so consider making a purchase from their Bandcamp page.

Musician Leo Moracchioli takes a detour from the beach with this scream-filled cover version of the Dick Dale and the Del-Tones surf rock classic Misirlou. The song that Pulp Fiction made famous (for the second time) sounds especially great when played with anger as Leo does.

The Metallica song Master of Puppets already slaps pretty hard, but it sounds downright insane when performed on a bass guitar while slapping the strings. Musician Charles Berthoud absolutely crushes it with this performance that sounds kind of like a Red Hot Chili Peppers version of the song.

The future is a dark place for the Melodicka Bros. The second in their Revolt Saga concept video series transports us to a dystopian future where synthwave and industrial music join forces to fight evil. At the end of the first clip, they acquired the I.R.O.N.M.A.N. suit, and now they’re celebrating their acquisition with a song.

The Eiffel 65 song Blue (Da Ba Dee) is one of the most infectious Europop songs of all time. Now, thanks to Cornelius Link, it’s been transformed into a catchy ditty befitting of a 15th-century banquet where a king’s court feasts on turkey legs and flagons of mead while bopping their heads to the beat.

You might think “Weird Al” Yankovic was a weird guy, but he’s a pretty regular dude who likes hanging out with his friends. Al recently performed with David Wain’s Middle-Aged Garage Jam, with his pals Bo Boddie, Jon Spurney, Ken Marino, Eduardo Penna, Beth Dover, and Joe Lo Truglio, who you might know from Reno 911.

Paweł Zadrożniak’s Floppotron 3.0 computer hardware orchestra struts its stuff with its most impressive performance to date. Crank it up and enjoy all 512 floppy drives, 16 hard drives, and 4 flatbed scanners as they perform the 1985 Dire Straits hit track Walk of Life. Yeah, the electronic boy can play.

If you poke around musician Eli Gilbert’s YouTube channel, you’ll quickly realize he’s a very talented banjo player. In between the numerous bluegrass and tutorial videos, we stumbled onto Eli’s warm and enveloping performance of The Beatles’ 1968 classic Blackbird, and had to share it because it’s just that good.

During their October 2022 stadium show in São Paulo, Brazil, the Rockin’ 1000 assembled an informal band of musicians from around the world. Their performance of Metallica’s Enter Sandman brought down the house with infectious energy. You’ll want to crank up the volume all the way for this one.

We’re big fans of Tame Impala. Musician Max Frost imagines what it might sound like if the Aussie alt-pop group Rickrolled us all and recorded a cover of Never Gonna Give You Up in their unique electro-psychedelic style. It sounds pretty awesome if you ask us.

Pianist Gamazda is back with another ear-pleasing performance. This time, she took on House of the Rising Sun, adding an abundance of flourishes to the 1964 Animals classic. Her elaborate arrangement brings new drama and depth to the track.

You might not remember the band Hot Butter, but you’ve probably heard their tune Popcorn at some point. The 1969 instrumental track was one of the earliest examples of synth-pop. Elias Niemelä and Suvi Buckman of Drumorg replaced the original’s Moog synthesizer with a church organ and upgraded the drum kit.

Living Colour is one of those great bands that doesn’t get the kind of retro love that they deserve. The genre-defying group gave us songs like Love Rears Its Ugly Head, Glamour Boys, and their biggest hit Cult of Personality. 8 Bit Universe created this chiptune cover which gives the track a totally different and unexpected sound.

Because Leo Moracchioli needs to turn every possible song into a heavy metal version of itself, here’s his absolutely explosive cover of the Sir Mix-a-Lot track Baby Got Back. Next time you have a workplace party, be sure to crank this one up to 11.

Vocalist Jared Halley has wowed us before with his one-man a cappella songs. This time, he took on the 1992 Green Day track Boulevard of Broken Dreams, using his voice to layer together every track of the recording. Also, we can’t get that one a nunna, one a nunna, one a nunna out of our heads now.

The Dick Dale track Misirlou is known for its genre-defining surf rock sound. Musician Bloxsy transformed the track into something you might hear walking through a crowded market in India. He used the simplistic Ostritch tuning used by Lou Reed during his time with The Velvet Underground to create the mystical sound.

Guitarist Lucas Imbiriba brings his warm and soulful style to the Eagles classic Hotel California. His fingerstyle skills are truly impressive, and the track sounds fantastic in this stripped-down acoustic version. Check out his covers of Stairway to Heaven, Sultans of Swing, and Classical Gas for more delightful ear candy.

Looking for some weekend ear candy? Put on your headphones and crank it up the volume to 11 for Marcin Patrzalek’s excellent acoustic cover of Eurythmics 1983 hit Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), with a nod to Marilyn Manson’s dark and creepy 1995 version.

Musician Ralf Bienioschek performed this cover version of the Queen classic Bohemian Rhapsody, replacing the band’s original operatic vocalizations with multiple tracks of recorders and other wind instruments. For a moment we thought we got shittyfluted, but this is actually an impressive performance.

Desmond Doom likes to rearrange and perform songs in the styles of different musicians. Here, he entertains us with a jangly reinterpretation of the Joy Division track Love Will Tear Us Apart as if it was an early 1960s Beatles track.

Puddles Pity Party absolutely crushes it with this emotional cover version of the 1970 Black Sabbath classic War Pigs. The unique and creative new piano and guitar arrangement only serves to emphasize the song’s powerful anti-war message.