Best Metal Videos of All Time
The Top 15, numbers 13 through 15
Best Metal Covers of All Time—Number 15: You Really Got Me—Van Halen (original = The Kinks)
Sometimes cover songs are huge re-interpretations of (relatively) unknown songs that deserve a better fate (several examples upcoming in this Top 15), and sometimes they are (relatively) modern reworkings of acknowledged classics. The latter may seem more obvious, but require a lot of creativity, skill and bravura to pull it off right. By sheer coincidence1, the three covers of this post are of the latter type.
“You Really Got Me” by Van Halen is a prime example. It effortlessly turn this Kinks classic into a signature Van Halen song. Sometimes—especially to metal fans—‘harder, faster, louder’ does indeed mean better. A tight rhythm section, fantastic backing vocals2, David Lee Roth easily outswaggering Ray Davies and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar pyrotechnics drag the original—kicking and screaming—straight into heavy metal.
And we are all thankful for it.
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Best Metal Covers of All Time—Number 14: Rosalie—Thin Lizzy (original = Bob Seger)
Thin Lizzy covered Bob Seger’s “Rosalie” on their 1975 Fighting album, and it became a live staple quickly after that—see Live and Dangerous3. It’s why I provided a link to the live version, which rocks and runs circles around the original. Sorry, Bob Seger but Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy took that one and ran with it, helping to cement their reputation as a phenomenal live band.
Later on, as Thin Lizzy accumulated an incredible amount of original material, it disappeared from the live set. But it had a great run while it lasted. It was the only full cover4 Thin Lizzy ever did on an album5 (there was the odd cover live, but only rarely), making them—most probably—the hard rock/heavy metal band that did the least covers6.
Anyway, it is impossible to understate how good Thin Lizzy were. One of the best hard rock bands ever. And while this is a great cover, it pales in comparison with their best songs.
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Best Metal Covers of All Time—Number 13: Shape of Things—Gary Moore (original = The Yardbirds)
Another example that sometimes making a song heavier greatly improves it. On top of that, it takes chutzpah to cover a song that’s widely seen7 as a groundbreaking classic8. The cover turns the psychedelic original into a hard rock mainstay: tight, pounding9, heavy and with a blistering guitar solo—which shows Gary Moore at his best10. Whether you like most the original or the cover is basically a matter of taste, and if you love metal you will prefer Gary Moore’s version.
The main problem with Gary Moore during his hard rock/heavy metal years was that his solo albums were about 50/50 decent songs/filler. It’s why he hated his ‘heavy’ years after his success with Still Got the Blues, and this is unfortunate. As his collaborations with Phil Lynott amply show—“Still in Love with You”, “Black Rose”, “Parisienne Walkways”, “Out in the Fields”—he could fill a whole album with good songs if he either collaborated with another songwriter like Phil Lynnott or would have released half the albums that he did (combining the best songs of two albums on one).
Nevertheless a legendary guitar player.
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Author’s note: this is one of several posts that I have written in advance and scheduled its release because in the coming weekends I am very busy (both with the day job and social commitments).
So enjoy while I’m out there either working or having a good time with family and friends, and thanks for reading!
Not so much once you realise this type of cover is quite common;
Mostly thanks to bass player Michael Anthony;
Which spent 6 weeks on number 2 of the British album charts. What kept them from going to number 1? Grease. Sometimes there ain’t no justice;
Alright, several traditionals were interpreted in “Róisín Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend” on the Black Rose album;
“Whisky in the Jar” originally appeared as a single in 1972 and was only included on 1991’s re-issue of Vagabonds of the Western World (well after Phil Lynott’s death);
If only Rush wouldn’t have released Feedback, they would have topped that list;
“‘Shapes of Things’ was the pinnacle of the Yarbirds,” according to Jeff Beck;
Some even called the Jeff Beck Group’s 1968 album Truth—for which a remade version of “Shapes of Things” was the opener setting the tone—as the ‘prototype of heavy metal’ (I disagree: it foreshadows Led Zeppelin—both heavily influenced by the blues—and while Led Zeppelin partly foreshadowed heavy metal, the first true heavy metal album will always be the epynomous “Black Sabbath”);
It certainly helps if you have Ian Pace on the drums;
Back in the days, Gary Moore was a guitar hero;