10 Metal Cover Songs That Sound Nothing Like The Original

Whenever you decide to record a cover of a classic song, you have a bit of a responsibility on your hands. Aside from just playing the song well, you also have to put your own spin on it to either pay tribute to the act you are covering or to inject your own identity inside. As far as originality goes, these musicians certainly took things in a darker direction.

While some of these songs were already from the metal side of the spectrum to begin with, the amount of sonic difference between these recordings and the originals are like night and day. Though some may thrive on beefing up a classic to suit the times, others might take the exact opposite approach and turn in a much more subdued version of a classic. It's not always the greatest move, but it makes for an intriguing listen regardless.

Across the years, these are the songs that stood out throughout sheer shock factor alone, almost clawing their way to the top solely on the strength of how weird they sounded. From the modern marvels to the weird detours to the outright crap, these are the cover songs that took things in a different direction. I mean, for as much as these might be divisive, you can't dock points for originality.

In this day and age, it's not out of the question for two completely different genres to find common ground in one form or another. I mean, ever since guys like Aerosmith and Run-DMC decided to collaborate back in the '80s, there have been a myriad of different rock acts looking to take on new genres and see what happens with it. Then again, for all of the great reimaginings in metal history, you also have people like Pat Boone.

Being one of the stalwarts of the early days of rock and roll, Boone was always known as the safe alternative to people like Elvis Presley and Little Richard. So how about we get that guy, and make him do a song written and performed by the Prince of Darkness? For any of those still hopeful, this went about as well as you thought it would, with Boone sounding like a lounge singer on not a particularly expensive yacht trying to sound hip for the times.

Look no further than Boone's eventual promotion for this album, as he decided to don the trademark black leather, making him look like your youth pastor trying to pull off a goth phase. Other than being the tongue in cheek theme for the show the Osbournes, this is the one cover song that has absolutely no reason to exist.