The cream of Covers! TOP 10 Cover songs!

[Charger]

Okay time for another TOP TEN list.... (yeah I know, but I like making these!)

This time it is the battle of Heavy Metal Covers!

There are a gazillion awesome covers out there and atleast twice as many horrible ones. And there are zillion of covers albums out there as well...so I did have to narrow things down a bit so I went on with (mainly) songs released on actual albums by the bands in question... Had to make two exceptions because those covers were just waaaay too good to leave out. Also I tried to only include actual bands and not just collaborations...but again I did have to make on exception to this rule too..

So hang on to your hats cause here we go!

TOP 10 COVER SONGS!


10.
Judas Priest : The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
 Originally by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac

There are very few songs that have been made truly famous by a band other than the original artist, but here is one. Judas Priest made The Green Manalishi a smash hit and a live staple in their setlists for 40 years! And yes this is one of those versions that truly is better than the original!

9.
Anthrax : Got The Time 
Originally by Joe Jackson 

Anthrax just like Priest has a long list of covers they’ve done over the years and this is one of the best ones. They turned it up just enough to make it into a very groovy bass oriented heavy hitter. This became a staple for their live sets and for a very good reason...it is a suberb version and I do dare to say, better than the original this one too!

8.
Judas Priest : Diamonds And Rust (Live in London version)
Originally done by Joan Baez

 Another rather unfamous song that became a metal smash hit in the hands of Judas Priest. The “original” cover version was on Sin After Sin and it was a fast and furious version, which had nothing to do with the soulful blues that was the Baez original. They kept doing the faster version until Tim “Ripper” Owens joined the band and then turned the tables on this one and made it into a fantastic semi-acoustic ballad with some insane vocal work from Tim. The version on the live album Live In London is probably the finest version of this song ever recorded.

7.
Deep Purple : Hush (Live The Soundboard series, among others)
 Originally by Joe South and Billy Joe Royal

Deep Purple originally covered this song already back in 1968 on their debut album Shades Of Deep Purple, but it was later on in the new millennium when this song really became live and became a true live staple although it was preformed live at earlier tours as well. The live versions on the Soundboard series boxset are among the best ones and truly showcase how a band of Purple’s caliber can take a song from the early 60s and make it rock just like it was recorded yesterday.

6.
Cathedral : Solitude
Originally by Black Sabbath

 British doom metal masters Cathedral never shined away from just how heavily they were influenced by Black Sabbath, up to guitarist Gaz Jennings using Tony Iommi’s signature Gibson SG and singer Lee Dorrian using Ozzy’s peace signs. They covered several Sabbath song in their live setting but only actually recorded this one. Which is the eerily doomy ballad from Master Of Reality album. They stay true to the original but still make it sound like their own...and ofcourse gotta give the lads two thumbs up for recording a cover that isn’t Iron Man or Paranoid!

5.
Motörhead : Cat Scratch Fever 
Originally by Ted Nugent

Motörhead again is one of those bands that has done several covers (Motörized them as they liked to say) of some famous and some not so famous songs. Which category this belongs to is frankly irrelevant as the version done by Lemmy and co. is stellar and they surely Motörized the heck out of it! Fast driving guitars, pummeling bass and thundering drums, just like any other Motörhead track that is. If one wouldn’t know this isn’t a Motörhead original they’d just assume that it was.

4.
Solitude Aeturnus : Heaven And Hell
Originally by Black Sabbath

 United States best doom outfit did a brilliant cover of probably one of the most iconic doomy heavy metal songs ever made. Singer Robert Lowe attacks the mightiness of this song with everything he’s got and that is a lot! Robert is without a doubt one of the best doom metal singers out there and pretty much the perfect man to sing this masterpiece (other than Ronnie ofcourse) to perfection. They made a nice mixture of the original studio version with some of Ronnie’s trade mark live adlibs...making this version that much more special.


3.
Doro : White Wedding 
Originally by Billy Idol 

Doro is another artist that has done some incredible covers over the years but this one has be brought on top. She added some metal twists to Billy Idol’s somewhat thin 80s rock sound making it sound more aggressive and fuller...and ofcourse Doro’s vocals are over the top as her dear friend Lemmy would have said. Another cover that rises head and shoulders above the original.

2.
Ronnie James Dio w/ Yngwie Malmsteen : Dream On
Originally by Aerosmith

Ronnie didn’t do many covers in his time (infact the band DIO never recorded a single one, unless you count the live version of Mistreated from The Last In Live), but he did work with guitar wizard (or wanker if you prefer) Yngwie Malmsteen for a song called Dream On for an Aerosmith Tribute album. Say what you will about Malmsteen’s playing but Ronnie absolutely shines on this one...outshining Tyler infact quite obviously. Proving that Ronnie had the voice to pretty much sing anything. This isn’t the kind of song you’d expect to hear Ronnie sing, but sing it he did...and perfectly I might add.

1.
Benedictum : Temple Of Syrinx
 Originally by Rush

Benedictum has recorded few stellar covers but it was rather obvious which one would make this list and which position it would make. This is hands down THE best cover I have ever heard. While it stays very true to the original Veronica Freeman and the guys also make it sound just like one of their own songs...which is the way covers always work the best. Veronica’s soaring incredible vocals are just the icing on the cake with this one, Pete Wells’ amazing guitar work lays the non wavering foundation to a truly fantastic cover. This is like ultra heavy Rush with better vocals.
 A well deserved #1 on the list and truly 10 times better than the original which is a damn fine track to begin with!


ps.
 A lot of great covers naturally got left out, it’s not a TOP 10 list unless I can narrow it down to actually 10 songs. This wasn’t an easy task by any means and ofcourse I could have done a whole top 10 list of Black Sabbath covers, or Ronnie James Dio covers but I did try to pick as many from different bands as I could...and still was forced to leave out so many great songs and versions including Hammerfall's The Man On The Silver Mountain, Pantera's Electric Funeral, A Sound Of Thunder's Thrashed, Glenn Tipton's Paint It Black (which also is better than the original), Gillan's Helter Skelter, just to name a few...


So what are your favourite covers? Let there be discussion!

[Axefiend]

Kind of a quick list:


10 - Blackfoot - I Got A Line On You (Spirit cover)
9 - Corrosion Of Conformity - On The Hunt (Skynyrd cover)
8 - Soundgarden - Into The Void (Sabbath cover)
7 - Headstones - Tweeter And The Monkeyman (Travelling Wibury's cover)
6 - Kick Axe - 30 Days In The Hole (Humble Pie cover)
5 - Supershine - Shinin' On (Grand Funk cover)
4 - Krokus - Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf cover)
3 - Biohazard - After Forever (Sabbath cover)
2 - Monster Magnet - Kick Out The Jams (MC5 cover)
1 - Voivod - Silver Machine (Hawkwind cover)

I'm sure I could come up with a better list if I'd taken more time. I'll just say that these are favourites today!

[Zzzptm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO5VRoBnEx0

[jjbomber]

Black Magic Woman by Santana is my vote as the greatest cover of all time. Why? Because his whole career is based on it. So Jimi Hendrix gets the popular vote but ''All Along The Watchtower'' hardly changed his career. In second place I have Sloe Gin by Joe Bonamassa. Again, a career changer.

[Zzzptm]

If we go outside of metal, then Joe Cocker's cover of "A Little Help From My Friends" put him on the musical map, for sure.