Top 10 Cover Songs that Developed the Original Towards Its Logical and Natural Direction

Covers by bands with good musical instincts, who felt the right direction to develop a song and took it to another level.

1. Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller - Rod Stewart (Chuck Berry)

   

   This was only an LP filler from Chuck, but Rod picked it up, developed it, and made the song his own. "SLR&R" is now one of the songs that stayed with Stewart in his live repertoire for over four decades.

   When Chuck heard Rod's version he asked, "Is this really a White guy?" You cannot get a bigger compliment.

2. Out in the Fields - Powerwolf (Gary Moore & Phil Lynott)

   

   The original song by Gary Moore and Phil Lynott is amazing, and it's almost power metal. Powerwolf noticed the potential of the original and developed the song into true power metal.

3. Speed King - Venom (Deep Purple)

   

   A great Deep Purple cover. Venom definitely got it right. Hands down.

4. I Want You (She's So Heavy) - Coroner (The Beatles)

   

   One of the heaviest Beatles songs, if not the heaviest.

   Coroner just took the Beatles' idea to a new, heavier level without changing much of the original. I especially like the second part and the elegant double bass drumming Coroner added. Very good job.

5. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting - Flotsam & Jetsam (Elton John)

   

   This is an Elton John thrash metal cover. When I heard this cover, I thought it was the logical and natural development of this song.

6. Black Metal - Vader (Venom)

   

   Christangrant - haha, yes: great comment and observation.

   It's even funnier because the song Black Metal isn't exactly black metal, and Venom also mentions rock 'n' roll in the lyrics. However, this is a great song and was very important in metal music history.

   No surprise Vader interpreted Venom correctly with this cover. My favorite part: "Lay down your souls to the gods rock 'n' roll."

7. Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica (The Dubliners)

   

   Metallica covered Thin Lizzy, which was also a great rock cover of an Irish traditional/folk song. Metallica took the Thin Lizzy version to a 'more metal' level. The Metallica cover sounds good to me.

8. Set Me Free - Saxon (Sweet)

   

   Saxon covered the most metal song by The Sweet, and Saxon transformed it into a "more metal" sounding song.

9. Space Truckin' - Overkill (Deep Purple)

   

   There are several covers of this Deep Purple song, including by Iron Maiden, but I somehow feel Overkill's rendition was in the best possible direction for this song.

10. Somebody Put Something in My Drink - Children of Bodom (Ramones)

    

    The Ramones cover. Sounds more brutal.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Fast Car - Luke Combs (Tracy Chapman)

    
12. ?

    I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston (Dolly Parton)

    
The Contenders

13. Don't Bring Me Down - Northern Kings (Electric Light Orchestra)

    

14. The Wizard - Blind Guardian (Uriah Heep)

    

    A great Uriah Heep cover. Uriah Heep were a pioneering metal and prog rock band in the 70s, and Blind Guardian correctly added more "metal" and more power to the original.

15. Aces High - Children of Bodom (Iron Maiden)

    

    Bruce Dickinson almost screams the vocals on this song, and Alexi Laiho just developed this vocal style a bit further. This is also one of the fastest and most aggressive Iron Maiden songs, and for me, this cover correctly captured the idea of the original.

16. Children of the Grave - Havok (Black Sabbath)

    

17. Hurt - Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails)

    

    Can't believe this wasn't on the list already. This is a perfect example of someone (Johnny Cash) developing a song in a way that makes perfect sense.

18. Creep - Northern Kings (Radiohead)

    

19. All Along the Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Bob Dylan)

    

20. Twist and Shout - The Beatles (The Top Notes)

    

21. Let There Be Rock - Onslaught (AC/DC)

22. Maniac - Firewind (Michael Sembello)

    

    This is the song from the Flashdance movie.

23. We Don't Need Another Hero - Northern Kings (Tina Turner)

    

24. Valhalla - Heaven Shall Burn (Blind Guardian)

    

    Death metal cover of Blind Guardian classic with additional vocals by the original singer (Hansi Kursch).

    I didn't put this cover on the top spots because, on the one hand, death growls made the song heavier. But on the other, the cover lost the brutality of the original riff. Blind Guardian re-recorded Valhalla in 2011-2012, and they made this riff sound even more brutal than in their own original. The riff is awesome.

25. Fight Fire with Fire - Vader (Metallica)

    

26. When the Indians Cry - Vanilla Ninja (Chris Norman)

    

    Cover of the song by Chris Norman. While keeping the exact same structure, they reduced the cheesiness in performance. Norman completely "overacts," while Lenna Kuurma is just herself - perfectly flawed and beautifully real. They added more grace and power.

27. Assassins - Insane Clown Posse (Geto Boys)

    

    The original by the Geto Boys is considered the first horrorcore song. Insane Clown Posse just took the insanity to a whole new level with their over-the-top shrieking performance.

    When Violent J tells us how he first slept with and then violently killed a woman, he sounds so excessive you think he's getting off at the thought. That's perfect acting... this subgenre needs that level of madness.