10 Worst Hard Rock Cover Songs Of All Time
The art of butchering classics.
It's always a challenge for a band to take on a cover song. Not only do you have to make sure you do justice to what is already a classic, but you also have to make sure that you put your own spin on it so that you're not just copy-and-pasting someone else's work as your own. Some bands are more than worthy of the challenge, but every so often there's a few that are in way over their heads.
Regardless of which subcategory they fall into, each of these songs has ended up disappointing the rock crowd by not living up to their expectations. While they don't hit the mark, that's not to say that these bands are all bad. The songs themselves may be god awful, but oftentimes it just comes down to meshing genres in a way that just didn't work.
On the other hand, there are people who just want to screw around and do borderline karaoke versions of the original songs, which end up making even the original classics hard to listen to. There may have been a ton of potential at play here, but it takes a certain level of incompetence to screw something up this royally.
10. Leader of the Pack - Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister was never a group that you were really supposed to take seriously. There was no way anyone was looking for thoughtful music coming out of a band that looked like bikers in drag, but it all seemed good as long as the music kicked ass. However, the moment these make-up clad badasses actually got some money behind them, everything went south really fast.
Uninspired after finally reaching the big time, vocalist Dee Snider decided to follow up the Sisters' phenomenal album Stay Hungry with Leader of the Pack, which turned them into a caricature from the minute it started playing. Make no mistake, Twisted Sister had always been over the top, but no one was really asking for the guys behind classic music videos like I Wanna Rock to pay tribute to one of the more forgettable girl groups of the '60s.
The original version of this tune may have been a nice slice of pop rock for its time, but it makes for absolute artistic murder when it's coming from a 6 foot brute clad in makeup from head to toe, looking like he could assault you if he really wanted to. Twisted Sister are fun, fast and loud, but they are anything but eclectic, and this song proves that in spades. Nice try... now please pick a different decade.