Chicago, Illinois based heavy metal band Disturbed convert Genesis's 1986 single "Land of Confusion" into a blistering protest song, rallying against the political and corporate clime.
Year after year, this song grows more and more poignant, if not prophetic.
A fantastic rendition, but I'd advise lead singer David Draiman that owning cats may not be the best idea, as it sounds like he's about to hock up hairballs the size of hockey pucks.
New Wave German band Trio released "Da Da Da" in 1981, along with the weirdest video that I've ever seen. Love the stoic drummer under a beach umbrella.
Actually, not exactly. They released the song under the title "Da Da Da ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha," which was later truncated because, sheesh.
In the Spring of 2000, British alt rockers Elastica performed a brilliant cover of "ich lieb mich nicht lich frich" before promptly falling off the face of the Earth.
Austin, Texas rock band Black Heart Saints put their Southern spin on Robert Palmer's signature song "Addicted to Love."
If they remake the video, they should still feature five female models in black dresses and slicked back hair, but instead of playing instruments, they should be chowing down on some barbecued ribs.
Simply covering REM's 1987 college radio hit with the impossibly quick-flying lyrics is impressive enough.
That Gainesville, Florida punk band Discount recorded the 4 minute long song in under 3 minutes, while Alison Mosshart clearly enunciated the tune's twenty million and seven words.... that's just showing off.
Revolution, I Love You are billed as a post-punk electronic band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They rose from the ashes of Newark, Delaware grunge band Radiowhore, though... so I'm going to consider them a Delaware band. My blog. I do what I want.
The shift to a more synth-dominated sound makes R, ILY a near-perfect stylistic match for Damon Albarn led trip-hop outfit Gorillaz.
Here, they pay homage to "Dare," the second single off of 2005 album "Demon Days."
The official Gorillaz video has racked up over 239 million views on YouTube, and, though I'm not at all invested in the story of Noodles or why she has the giant disembodied head of Black Grape front man Shaun Ryder in her closet, when she starts tapping her animated toes and shaking that cartoon groove thing, I get it. This song.... both versions of this song.... are catchy AF.
German reggae dance duo Blue Lagoon (not to be confused with the early 1980's borderline child porn of the same name) take Dionne Warwick's 1982 tearjerker (and one of the biggest hits of her 50+ year career) and toss in some lively island vibes. Because... just because.
Lead vocalist Patricia Gerndt is completely on point. The steel drums and palitos and what not, though out of place in a song explicitly dealing with emotional pain, sound great. Gerndt's male counterpart should stick to mixing or producing, though, and just shut the hell up already.
From the town that brought us the Little League World Series come melodic metal quartet Candlelight Red, with their riff-laden reworking of Swedish pop duo Roxette's bouncy 1989 single "The Look."
The Black Knight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" could count on his fingers the number of times tunelessly screaming instead of singing has improved a song.
That said, the screamo crap in this version is limited to one line in the chorus, so it's tolerable. Unlike this utter nonsense.
Oakland, California lo-fi experimental artists Tune Yards take The Breeders' 1993 single "Cannonball" that was hailed by VH1, Pitchfork Media, and Rolling Stone as one of the greatest anthems of that era, and make it.... different.
It's still quirky and keeps a lot of the original's hooks, so... I guess I don't hate it?
Detroit area rap/rock/country artist Kid Rock tackled Houston boogie rockers ZZ Top's catchy little 1983 lady-objectifying ditty "Legs" to provide model turned actress turned Baltimore Ravens cheerleader turned WWE professional wrestler Stacy Keibler with music to enter the ring by.
And, the song is fitting. Because, unlike Raymand Batista in the Harmony Korine horror show "Kids," Keibler does, in fact, have legs.
Saint Louis, Missouri born singer/songwriter Angel Olsen lays down a dark art folk version of Laura Branigan's platinum 1982 single "Gloria."
40% of the single's sales will go directly toward the purchase of literal vats of electric blue eye shadow.
For those who secretly thought that Kings of Leon desperately needed a makeover courtesy of a mandolin and banjo, here's a version of their 2004 song "Taper Jean Girl" performed by Killen, Alabama bluegrass band Iron Horse, from their album "Get Off The Dadburned Roof."
At least, that would be a good name for their album.
Munich, Germany based musician Danny Humphreys now performs a one-man show under the stage name Glow.
In 2001, Glow featured Humphreys joined by a full metal-tinged band, who contributed this song to the Japanese Progressive Rock/Hard Rock label Nexus's compilation album "Metal Abba."
Bay area native Ashley Price covers Ke$ha's dancepop song about a short form video hosting service that, inexplicably, didn't go public until nearly a decade after the song dropped.
I write about cover songs, not parodies (which is probably a Panic! At the Disco song title), but there's a great spoof of the song by legendary gamer nerd Insane Ian. Check out "Dig Dug" here, and relive your personal early '80s Atari-fueled halcyon days.
Namco-oh-oh-oh-oh-OH!
Summer break officially begins for every member of our household today!
Except for me.
To celebrate, here's a cover of Alice Cooper's seminal 1972 song "School's Out" by Minneapolis, Minnesota alternative rock band Soul Asylum, from the soundtrack of 1998 Sci-Fi Horror film "The Faculty."
Arguably the greatest bespectacled identical twin Celtic folk band ever to exist, The Proclaimers throw down some harmonies with Scots accents thicker than Lauren Boebert's skull on this remake of Wreckless Eric's 1977 jam "Whole Wide World."
Thanks to the movie "Stranger than Fiction," I can't hear this song without conjuring up mental images of making out with Maggie Gyllenhaal.
That's not necessarily a bad thing.
German DJ, producer, and deep house musician Pretty Pink remakes Haddaway's "What is Love?," with vocals provided by Dutch band Tears and Marble.
The upside : Contrary to what Chris Kattan and the folks at the Roxbury might think, the slowed tempo, thundering bass, and haunting vocals make this version sound far superior to the original repetitive crapfest.
The downside : Slowing down the speed leads to a recording with a duration over six minutes. Which, for a cover of "What is Love?," is approximately five minutes and forty-three seconds too long.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania Nu Metal group From Ashes to New cover the 2003 signature song from Goth Rockers Evanescence.
And, it sounds just like Evanescence would sound, if they had traded lead vocalist Amy Lee for two jars of apple butter, six dozen pierogies, and future prospects.
They were able to duplicate much of Evanescence's sound by actually plugging their electric guitars in, which seems fairly uncommon for Lancaster.
Rumspringa, I suppose.
I have no idea why this band is called Dakota.
They aren't from the Dakotas. They hail from Cincinnati, Ohio.
There is a Dakota Avenue in Cincinnati. Maybe they grew up there?
There are several used Dodge Dakota trucks for sale in Cincinnati. That's kind of a stretch.... but, maybe?
Anyway, they perform a stripped-down version of Dream Academy's 1985 cult hit "Life in a Northern Town" using only an acoustic guitar, a bass, and some killer harmonies.
The cover of the day comes from a Broadway revival of the show "Promises, Promises," starring the guy from Will and Grace alongside one of the regular voices from the series BoJack Horseman.
While we're on the topic of liking basketball, Adam Sandler just dropped a new movie on Netflix called "Hustle," that centers around a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, and everyone should watch it. Now. Because my sister's an extra in it!
Junkanoo band The Baha Men released a cover of "Hooked on a Feeling" in the late '90s. It's surprisingly good. I'm glad that they didn't add "Who Let the Dogs Out?" between each "Ooga-Chaka-Ooga-Ooga."
Though the original is credited to BJ Thomas, I'm considering this a cover of Blue Swede.
And, speaking of Blue Swede, take a look at this picture and tell me that dude in the front, second from the left, wouldn't be played by Jeremy Renner in a biopic.
Influential Newark, New Jersey songstress Lauryn Hill Doo-Wops that thing (and, by thing, I mean Frankie Valli's 1967 hit "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You.")
The album that this recording appears on is entitled "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," meaning that she missed a golden opportunity to call it "Air on the Fugee String."
Scotland quartet Speedway broke through with this rock cover of Christina Aguilera's 1999 teen pop anthem "Genie in a Bottle."
Totally unrelated, but Glaswegian is a really, really cool word that I plan on trying to throw into every sentence from here on Glaswegian.
German Classical/Pop fusion band Gregorian take modern pop and rock songs and make them sound like 9th Century Latin liturgies.
Here's their chant-style rendering of Joan Osborne.
Progressive NYC House artist Dingodile, along with Long Island alt-folk duo Peachleaf, swap out granola for glow sticks on this rave-worthy electro-dance reworking of Pittsburgh hippies Rusted Root's 1990 Worldbeat classic "Send Me On My Way."
Sydney, Australia brothers Lime Cordiale cover The Divinyls' "I Touch Myself."
This version exists to remind me that I don't own nearly enough pairs of roller skates or polyester shirts.
Kind of a shame, really.
New York City "Horny Metal" band Brass Against, with the aid of former Voice contestant (and apparent watersports enthusiast) Sophia Urista, supply a fantastic version of Rage Against the Machine's 1996 release "Bulls on Parade."
The horn blasts during the chorus of the song remind me of Adam West as Batman punching villains while the word "Thwack!" or "Zonk!" or "Kapow!" appears on the screen.
Here's a barn burnin' hootenanny from Stockholm, New Jersey hillbillies Frankie Goes to Dollywood, as they put their spin on A-Ha's 1984 singalong "Take On Me."
The band's tagline says it better than I can... Banjos and Americana and Eighties, oh my!
