10 Greatest Rock Music Cover Songs Of The 2010s
1. The Sound Of Silence - Disturbed
On paper, Disturbed, the band who made “WAH-AH-AH-AH” a thing, and soft folk duo Simon & Garfunkel have very little in common. That all changed in 2015 when the two became inexorably linked through this version of The Sound of Silence.
Originally released by Paul and Art way back in 1964, David Draiman and co. turned the song into a full-on melodrama, slowing it right down, adding soft piano and guitar licks, and forcing Drainman to sing at a low volume for the first time in his life.
This haunting opening slowly builds across the song, swelling and swelling until the river finally bursts its banks. The finale of the Disturbed version is as big and grand as the original version makes you feel, and whilst there was a danger that this could have overshadowed things, it stays just the right side of theatrical.
The Sound of Silence is one of Disturbed’s most streamed songs on Spotify and its YouTube video has nearly one billion views, but its biggest achievement of all is that Paul Simon sent Draiman an email to congratulate him on performing the song on Conan.
Truly, there is no higher honour.