Awesome Rock

“Could you work to build something else besides a wall?”The minds behind NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert tried to get Brooklyn rockers TV on the Radio onto the show 15 years ago, but the band says they never received the invite. They more than make up for it with a rousing set that took us back to nights in small gigs, the air filled with smoke, beer, and sweat.

Wanna know what it was like behind the scenes when the Minneapolis music world was blossoming in the 1970s and ’80s? Don’t ask Paul Westerberg or Tommy Stinson — they likely don’t remember much. Ask Euphoric Recall author Peter Jesperson, former manager of The Replacements and founder of Twin/Tone Records (Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, and more).

Musical performance group Blue Man Group found out about Drumeo’s first-time challenge series and wanted to join in on the fun. They played along to My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade after hearing it for the first time and without the drum track. Watch their fantastic cover of the emo anthem, including a truly joyous finale and epilogue.

Cloudchord likes to imagine what rock music might have sounded like if it had emerged during the surf rock era of the early 1960s. He’s got a bunch of surf rock arrangements on YouTube, including this reimagining of the Muse track Hysteria that had us dreaming of California’s beaches. His surf rock Judas Priest and Motorhead are great, too.

You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’, Billie Jean. Mashup maestro Bill McClintock took these two very different songs and combined them with Steely Dan’s Do It Again to create the heaviest pop song imaginable. We think Rob Halford’s spiked leather sleeves would look great paired with MJ’s sequined glove.

On 3.11.2024, NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert dropped this excellent short performance by alt-rock band 311. Lead singer Nick Hexum and his bandmates sound as good as ever, with a four-song set that includes Beautiful Disaster, All Mixed Up, Amber, and Down. We always loved the way they blened rock, reggae, and funk sounds.

It’s time to put on your best polyester suit and hit the dance floor. Van Halen meets The Miracles in this fantastic disco-rock mashup by Bill McClintock. Come for the music, stay for the outfits.

Puddles Pity Party takes on two prog rock classics from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The sad clown’s back-to-back covers of Brain Damage / Eclipse are dark, brooding, and every bit as intense as we hoped they would be. Credits to James Beaton for the arrangement and piano, Tim Delaney on the bass and drums, and Derek Ennis on guitar.

Musician Alexander Uhl loves to perform rock, pop, and movie music on a church pipe organ. His YouTube channel is packed with covers including this version of Darude’s 1999 trance hit Sandstorm. We also suggest checking out his covers of Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer and Cutting Crew’s (I Just) Died In Your Arms.

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 Cydonia. We 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.

Whether or not there was a true rivalry, the media loved to play up the competition between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Dog & Rabbit’s brilliantly executed short film plays out this battle through a series of slapstick collages animated using the dueling rock bands’ album art. Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python animations were clearly a source of inspiration.

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.

We hadn’t heard of Lavish Lucy before now, but this band is now officially on our radar screen. Their cover of the Stone Temple Pilots’ track Plush is as good as it gets, with a lead vocal performance that sounds like Scott Weiland has come back to life. Their covers of Nirvana’s On a Plain and Pearl Jam’s Alive are next level too. (Thanks, Craig!)

Musician Mac Glocky likes to record cover versions of songs as if different bands performed them. He recently dropped this gem, which imagines what The Killers’ track Mr. Brightside would sound like if System of a Down played it. We’re setting this as our new alarm sound. If this doesn’t wake us up, nothing will.

Musician Will Wilde is an incredibly talented harmonica player. He’s especially adept at interpreting vocal and guitar solos from rock songs, including this jam from Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky. His harmonica solos from Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven and Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child o’ Mine are equally compelling.

The Hydraulic Press Channel shows us how it’s possible to turn fruit like bananas and apples into rock when subjected to enough pressure. Why you would want to do this, we have no idea. Maybe goalies would enjoy eating hockey pucks that come flying at their faces. They also turned some socks into a rock, presumably because it rhymes.