Heavy metal and pop music could not be further apart if there was ever a scale to describe musical genres. One; a mainly corporately-created genre filled with beautiful people that dont have to have as much talent as they must have the skills to oversell themselves to the masses. The other; an overly loud sub-species of hard rock driven by a cacophony of sounds and the ability to play hard with a tendency to be a little more than melodramatic. It is the literal definition of chalk and cheese. So when people hear of metal bands - especially those of the more extreme variety doing covers of iconic pop songs - the masses (with special regards to the older generation) may tend to respond with a roll of the eyes and a huge sigh, as they ponder the days when heavy metal meant something. But the funny thing that shocks a lot of people is that the bands in question not only do a good job at this somewhat strange mash up of musical genres, but in most cases add a new flavour to an outdated song that makes it sound even better, prompting some tapping of the toes not unlike that first time you were forced to weather the storm of flavour of the month madness. But before you diehard fans out there get too worked up, there will be no mention of Limp Bizkit in regards to their cover of George Michael's Faith, or Alien Ant Farm in relation to their version of Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal. They have received more than enough mainstream attention already and this article is striving to focus on those that may not have been heard of by the general masses. (Side note: Will not be including covers by bands that only play them live, only tracks that have been professionally recorded and released)
Honorary Mention: Sodom - Surfin' Bird
Original Artist - The Trashmen (1963)Released - 2001 (M-16) This little gem was unearthed during research for this article, simply does not make the list as the Trashmen is essentially a surfing band, not your typical pop star or boy/girl group. But it is an interesting cover version to say the very least. Will leave all Family Guy jokes and references to you, our readers for our comments section.