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Your average metal band usually has wildly different musical sensibilities from top 40 radio pop (and that goes double for said average metal band's fans). But is there really any good reason for that other than genre segregation that forbids metal fans from rubbing their leather-clad elbows with bubblegum popsters? That question may remain unanswered for now, but some metal acts are bridging the divide with covers of pop tracks that range from excellent to execrable. Let's take a look, and see how they stack up against the originals.
1. Children of Bodom - "Oops!... I Did It Again" (Britney Spears)
No one could have predicted how well the chorus of Spears' flagship song would lend itself to chugging sludge metal riffs and growling vocals. When Alexi Laiho's thick Finnish accent rolls over a blistering double bass drum line, it's cover magic. Verdict: Children of Bodom.
2. Lawnmower Deth - "Kids in America" (Kim Wilde)
Want to make an anti-establishment song even more anti-establishment? Record an atonal metal cover! It's essentially a punched-up and rocked-out version of the original, but Lawnmower Deth deserves credit for being halfway energetic about it, rather than gazing with eyes half-lidded into the camera. Verdict: Tie.
3. In Flames - "Land of Confusion" (Genesis)
A case study in why more is usually less. The tempo is too fast, making the dirgelike chorus sag even more, and the lyrics are totally lost in the screams. This cover has one level only: EXTREME. Phil Collins is extreme enough, thanks. Verdict: Genesis.
4. Stahlhammer - "U Can't Touch This" (MC Hammer)
Sorry, Stahlhammer, the song's name says it all. Verdict: MC Hammer.
5. Northern Kings - "Take On Me" (a-ha)
Northern Kings: proof positive that any song can sound like the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings when backed by epic symphonic metal. It's cheesy as all get out, but then again, so was a-ha. Verdict: Tie.
6. Mixal - "UmBahhRella" (Rihanna)
Mix-master Mixal crafted this cover using the original's lyrics, and that's where the similarities end. Picture Motörhead, Megadeath, and (pre-suck) Metallica forming a motorcycle gang/metal supergroup that covers Rihanna while riding through a postapocalyptic Mad Max version of the Arizona desert, and you've got a pretty good idea of how awesome this song is. Verdict: Mixal.
7. Confide - "Such Great Heights" (The Postal Service)
OK, this isn't technically a metal band, so let's just get that out of the way before someone breathlessly informs us that Confide is "actually more of an As I Lay Dying by-way-of In Fear And Faith post-hardcore screamogaze prog outfit." Whatever. But if you thought the original version of this song was over-earnest and saccharine, watch as a mallcore band of unmitigated awfulness teases out the pathos even further. Bonus points for the drummer who looks like he's having a crystal meth tweakout. Oh, to be a fly on the wall at the record label meetings where the A&R reps decide, "You know what this hardcore band needs? A Postal Service cover with breakdowns and Cookie Monster vocals." Verdict: Whoever wins, we lose.
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Nice job. I would consider myself more of a metal fan than a pop fan (though after reading this I'm almost embarassed to admit it) and I still hated ALL of these covers. Wow...just bad decision-making on every level.
How about a follow-up post that switches it around somewhat: indie/folk artists covering metal songs? Lou Barlow's cover of Ratt's "Round 'n Round" is one of my favs.
Oh, and even though I'm probably behind the curve on this..."mallcore" is simultaneously one of the funniest AND most accurate descriptions of that particular flavor of commercial crap.
Northern Kings' Take On Me over their Don't Stop Believin'? That's a tough call.
All I can think of listening to the Northern Kings song is "I feel like I should be in a boss fight."
Not to sound ignorant but "screamogaze" - Is that like a real thing? I think it cound be interesting, so long as it doesn't sound anything like "Confide". After seeing that guy singing the chorus it actually made me prefer the Cookie Monster vocalist. Scary.