Top 25 Cover and Remake Songs that you have to know!

 

I have always loved cover songs, most specifically cover songs that I end up liking even better than their original.  During many of my my interviews with bands, one of my favorite questions I ask is if they could take a song from any other genre and turn it into their own, what would it be?  I have had some great responses, like Jettblack rockers doing a cover of Tina Turner’s “We Don’t Need Another Hero“, or Wratchchild doing a cover of the Beach Boys, “California Girls” or A Story Beneath doing a cover of the Mamas and the Papas, “California Dreamin“. Those are all remakes that I  hope get made.  What I really like is when an artists takes the original song and completely makes it their own, truly owns it and not just imitates.  Haven’t you ever heard a remake where you are singing the lyrics and then it comes to you, that this is a remake of an old familiar song, just made completely different.  Well here is my list of my TOP 20 Favorite Cover Songs: ( I started to try and get it to 10 but I just couldn’t do it, too many good ones!!)

No. 25 – Godsmack does an incredible cover of  “Come Together” by the Beatles 

No. 24 – Joey Ramone covers one of my favorite songs of all time, “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong

 

No. 23 – Tempting Fate, great band out of Los Angeles who are awesome live, covers “Youth Gone Wild” by Skid Row (WITH the one and only Sebastian Bach!)

 

No. 22 – Buckcherry does it again with their kick ass rock style cover of “Highway Star” by Deep Purple

 

No. 21 – An old favorite of  mine, Dishwalla covers “Its Going to Take Some Time” by the legendary Carpenters

 

No. 20 – My son reminded me of this classic favorite, Nirvana covers ‘Lake of Fire” by Meat Puppets

No. 19 –   Marilyn Manson has done so many awesome covers but this one is my favorite, ‘Tainted Love” by Soft Cell

 

No. 18 – Sick Puppies completely owns this cover of “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child

 

No. 17 – I have heard many covers of MJ songs but I love this cover by Alient Ant Farm of “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson 

 

No. 16 – Hinder has put out some great covers but do a stand out job on this classic cover of , “Born to Be Wild” by Steppenwolf 

 

No. 15 – Rob Zombie definitely puts his own spin on this classic song, his new cover of “We’re an American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad

 

No. 14 – Guns n Roses cover of one of my favorite Aerosmith songs, “Mama Kin”

 

No. 13 – I love Nonpoint and their live shows are absolutely intense and some of my faves, here is their cover of “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins

 

No. 12 – Motley Crue shakes it up with their great cover of “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley 

 

No. 11 – Vampires Everywhere just gives a new meaning to this song, they just completely put themselves into this cover of “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry

 

NO. 10 – From the moment I first heard this band last year, I fell in love with them and they did a cover of one of my favorite artists. This is XFactor1 and their cover of ‘The Stroke”  by Billy Squier. It is awesome! 

 

No. 9 – Children of Bodom really know how to take a cover and make a statement with it, here is their cover of “Oops I Did it Again” by Britney Spears

 

No. 8 – Killswitch Engage cover of “Holy Diver” by Dio 

 

No. 7 – There are so many covers of Rebel Yell out  there but I think Black Veil Brides does a great job of adding their own special touch to this cover of “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol

 

NO. 6 – Adrenaline Mob does an incredible cover of “Come Undone” by Duran Duran. I remember the first time I heard it, I just got chills! This was always my favorite song by Duran Duran. 

 

No. 5 – Heaven Below comes in with their energy driven cover of “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar

 

No. 4 – Another one of our favorite bands, Candlelight Red does one of the best covers with ‘She’s Got the Look” by Roxette

 

No. 3 – This cover has been played over and over by everyone in our family even our 6 year old who screams for the “Little Sister song”. Here is Murderdolls cover of  ‘White Wedding” by Billy Idol 

 

NO. 2 – I absolutely love this song! I love the original by Carly Simon but honestly Faster Pussycat just adds so much attitude and energy to this song. Here is Faster Pussycat and their cover of “You’re So Vein” by Carly Simon

 

No. 1 – This goes out to a band that we recently discovered after the Revolver Golden Gods Awards. They are a young group of guys who have the right rock and roll attitude and deliver incredible live shows! You have to make sure to check out all their music and you can even watch them on an interview we did with them outside the Viper Room in May. They took one of the most annoying Pop songs and just made it into a fun song with an even better video to go with it.  Here they are… Delta Rose cover of “Friday” by Rebecca Black 

 

This list started with about 30 to 40 incredible cover songs. Ryan and I worked to bring you our top 25 favorite cover songs. There were many more that deserve to be checked out like Metallica’s cover of “ When a Blind Man Cries“, Of Mice and Men covering Lada Gaga, to so many more.  One cover song that I would like to share with you, I will call it my honorable mention is a song that Serg Sanchez, vocalist of Atom Smash did for me. It was a tribute song of my father’s favorite song we played at his funeral and Serg took it and made it completely his own. Here is Serg Sanchez with his emotional and touching cover of “My Way” by Frank Sinatra.

 

Let me know if there are any of your favorite cover songs too.

~ Enjoy, Marisol