Not much difference other than Axl's voice vs Paul's. But the original was the opening to a James Bond movie, so it has a special place in my heart.

Speaking of Axl and cover's, who do y'all think did the best version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door? Probably the most covered song ever, excluding the multitude of cover's on the Metallica Blacklist album, lol.

Didn't read through the whole thread, so sorry if these have been named but JP's Green Manalishi "live version" and Iron Maiden doing Cross eyed Mary are both better than the originals, IMO.

Agree with Judas Priest Green Manalishi. Also have a soft spot for the Enslaved Immigrant Song cover, not better but just sounds more Viking. And there's the Rancid Amputation cover/parody by Hansen.

Probably a hot take but Pantera's cover of Planet Caravan

I absolutely LOVE Chelsea Wolf's "Black Spell of Destruction." It doesn't sound at all like the Burzum version, but it's dark, haunting, powerful and mysterious, and definitely lacks the annoying caterwauling vocals that tarnish a lot of the first couple Burzum albums for me. I dunno, it's just really, really good, and I personally like it better than the original.

Edit: Celtic Frost gets covered almost as much as Black Sabbath, and while Obituary's Celtic Frost cover is good (the better of the two cover versions of "Circle of the Tyrants" I've heard) if you want to hear an utterly ripping, face melting cover of "Nocturnal Fear" check out (Portland Oregon's) Detestation's cover of it. It just fucking destroys.

Gawd I didnt realize how old this thread was...

Metallica -The Small Hours (Holocaust)

I love the original but Pantera's cover is also superb.

Visigoth - Necropolis (Manilla Road)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWixcWq1HPk

Not better but always thought the Doom cover of Symptom of the Universe was kinda fun. And Corrosion of Conformity's Green Manalishi.

Will check that one. Carpathian Forest did a cover of The Cure's 'A Forest' and though I wouldn't say it's better than the original, it definitely gives it a different, more evil atmosphere than the original.

Covers better than the originals, I would say almost all of Metallica's covers from the '80s were better than the originals. Best example would be their 'Green Hell/Last Caress' cover. I heard their cover first and when I finally heard the original version from the Misfits, I was disappointed to say the least. Not only did it have bad production, it wasn't heavy as I expected. It sounded like some regular rock band with an Elvis impersonator as a singer. On a totally different topic, I was severely underwhelmed the first time I heard the Misfits. I expected more from them as they were supposed to be a great influence on Metallica. And I liked Danzig too. But when I finally heard a Misfits CD, I was disappointed with how not heavy it was.

https://youtu.be/fI8HGXkUNLU

These guys could do no wrong when it came to covers. Super thought out arrangements making the songs their own.

I love Resurrections cover of War Machine by Kiss

Hallowed be Thy name by COF is on par with the original, except a little better, the original is played out for me

Obviously Am i Evil and Blitzkrieg, and The Small Hours and The Wait lol.

Obituary with Circle of the Tyrants anally decimates the original as far as I'm concerned, Opeth of all bands had a good version of that song too.

I love both bands, but Carpathian Forest's cover of Venom's "In League With Satan" is a step up from the original. The double bass at the end and liberties taken with the riffs are amazing additions.

I also love Decapitated's cover of "Mandatory Suicide".

I've always preferred covers where the band makes it their own or adds another dynamic to it. Though I don't necessarily dislike covers that sound like the original, it kind of hits the "what's the point" territory (see Weezer's cover of Africa).
c
Type O Negative's covers are fantastic. They've always brought their own brand in every cover they've done. My personal favorite is their over of "Paranoid".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8QSazMF7J0

Definitely prefer Emperor's cover of Funeral Fog. The atmosphere, the vocals, the pacing, the maniacal laughter, all of it is superior to me.

Van Halen - "You Really Got Me" & "Pretty Woman"
Bot unquestionably destroy the originals.

Aerosmith - "Train Kept a Rollin'"
Compared to the Yardbirds version (which I believe is also a cover), it's far stronger.

Rainbow - "Still On Sad" from On Stage
This version also blows away the Yardbirds' version.

Panzerchrist - Metal Church (original by... Metal Church)
The original is excellent, but Panzerchrist's version is so insane. Not only is it faster, the double kicks also sell the riff much better than the original. I don't like Bo Summer's vocals all that much though - I would love to hear a version that combines the music from Panzerchrist and the vocals from Metal Church. Compared to each other, it just makes it sound like the original is slow and boring.

Liege Lord - Kill the King (original by Rainbow)
So I'm a little biased because I never really liked Rainbow all that much. But Liege Lord make it sound like Kill the King was always meant to be a powerful speed metal song.

Blind Guardian - Don't Break the Circle (original by Demon)
Blind Guardian is one of my favourite bands, and I never listened all that much to Demon. But having listened to the original version of this song, BG's version is more energetic, more powerful. Demon's version sounds lethargic compared to it.

Blind Guardian - Hallelujah (original by Deep Purple)
Love the original, but the heavier version by BG is amazing. Hansi really sells the vocal style even if he's kinda-sorta-not-really emulating Gillan.

Blind Guardian - To France (original by Mike Oldfield)
The original is excellent, but ultimately a little stale in my opinion. The layered vocals suit the song very well, and the metal-solo version of Oldfield's guitar melody is a pure stroke of genius.

Visigoth - Necropolis (original by Manilla Road)
This is just straight up blasphemy. I love the original because of its quirky sound, but there's so much more energy in Visigoth's take on the song. There's no question that, technically, Visigoth's version is better performed and recorded. It has a very different atmosphere, which I guess is a matter of taste. I just prefer the cover version.

16 Horsepower - Bad Moon Rising (original by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
Not a metal cover, and not a metal song at all. But 16 Horsepower's ghostly, dreary americana version of the CCR classic is just an incredibly different take on a song that is otherwise a little annoying in its upbeat nature.



Obituary's cover is at the very least one of the best covers of a Celtic Frost song I've heard, but the thing with CF that nobody properly emulates is the Tom Warrior-ness of the riffs. Especially with the weird timing of the Circle of the Tyrants riff.

Other decent CF covers I like (but not more than the originals):

Mortician - Procreation of the Wicked
What a dumb version of an otherwise crushing song, but I gotta admit that I kinda like it.

Nuclear Death Terror - Morbid Tales
If Celtic Frost was a crust punk band, this is what they would sound like. They really make Morbid Tales sound like it was always a punk song at heart.

I'd not say that either of these are better than the originals, but both are fantastic renditions:

Opeth - Circle of the Tyrants
Opeth - Remember Tomorrow

I rarely find metal bands covering metal songs to be of much interest, but it's done quite well here.

As an aside, a few bands have a such a unique sound and/or players, that covering them is almost impossibly to pull off:

Ozzy-era Sabbath - Arguably the *most* covered metal band ever, yet I've never heard a single cover-version of their songs done even remotely better than the originals.

Led Zeppelin - same as the above. Covered to death, but to no avail.

Jimi Hendrix.

Iron Maiden - A few bands have done admirable jobs covering them (Solitude Aeternus' cover of "Hallowed" comes to mind) but none of it ever sounds as potent as Maiden itself. Maybe Harris' unique style is why?
With this said, the band Maiden United, with their radically different takes on maiden classics, are worth listening to.

Man this one is tough, I don't know if I'd say the Virus cover of The Walker Brothers' "Shutout" is outright better than the original but I like them equally, at the very least:

Oh yeah, just thought of a fairly obvious one to counteract the ozzy Sabbath argument: Type O Negatives version of black sabbath is way better imo, that's a rendition I think puts most death and black metal bands to shame in terms of pure fucking darkness(not even cradle of filth is fit to use the term in comparison)

No argument there. Type O’s cover of Black Sabbath was a formative intro into my discovery of metal, at the wee age of 15 in 1995. Forever indebted to their rendition as it simultaneously terrified and yet fascinated and intrigued me. Here I am 26 years later on this website.

I really enjoy the Motorhead cover of Jumpin Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoxdH4FWuhg

I got into that Nativity in Black tribute album very early in my life, I was legit probably 6 or 7, I think it still holds up, Lots of great covers, I always liked Ugly Kid Joe doing N.I.B. tho I don't give a shit about the band at all.

There's a lot of tracks from that i haven't heard, but Cathedral's cover of Solitude is absolutely superb*. The thing that really sets it apart from the original in such a good way is that Lee Dorian sings a lower pitched vocal line in perfect harmony with the higher pitched vocal line, and it's just magic.

*Note that though I haven't heard the Inebriated Mix of this track found on the Twilight Songs single, I'm pretty sure it's not the same version, as the review of Twilight Songs here says Lee sounds drunk, which probably explains the Inebriated Mix subtitle, but on the one found on Nativity in Black he doesn't sound drunk but sounds really great.

thanks for the tip. I'd never heard this before and it is indeed brilliant. (And it's also one of my all-time fav songs.)

Wait, the nativity in black cd I've always had doesn't have the Cathedral cover on it, I'm assuming you're talking about the black one, the red one kinda blows tbh.

I'm pretty sure that Cathedral song is on the Earache masters of misery one tho

Looking at Nativity in Black on discogs, it appears the Cathedral track is a bonus track on the European release and not included on the U.S. release.

Speaking of Sabbath, I think Zero the Hero works better in the groovy death metal way Cannibal Corpse played it

That cathedral cover reminds me I should pull out that earache tribute one day

I'm gonna throw myself into the fire here...I don't like Manilla Road. Nothing against the "old man metal w/ weird vocals" genre (Cirith Ungol, Pagan Altar, etc.) something about MR specifically just doesn't appeal to me, I like the atmosphere and "feel" of the music, I just don't think they had great riffs or songs. And conversely, I do like everyone's least favorite "epic metal" band, Visigoth, quite a bit . They always seemed to be a little controversial around here...oh well, I like 'em. I really love their cover of "Necropolis" and definitely prefer it to the original. Great vocal harmonies and it's catchy as fuck...it makes me appreciate the original more. I just prefer it through the "Visigoth lens" I guess.

For what it's worth Visigoth's last album won the MA album of the year poll when it came out.... and Amorphis put an album out that same year.

I remember, and I was surprised at the time because it seemed like most of the posters in the original album thread (and even the "AOTY thread") were either completely dismissive of them, or were disappointed in the second album. One of those weird situations where I somehow totally missed out on all the supposed "hype" a band received. For me, I still think Conqueror's Oath is even better than The Revenant King.

I'm ready to be crucified. It's because I heard it the first time when I was about 10 or 11 and didn't know it was a cover at first, and I had never really heard the original band, but I prefer the Cradle of Filth version of Hallowed Be Thy Name.

Realm - Eleanor Rigby. Always a bonus when a band makes the cover their own.

Would have loved to see Type O Negative take a stab at it though. Just for fun.

Goatsnake, one of the greatest, if not the greatest stoner doom bands ever cover Free's "Heartbreaker", one of the greatest blues rock bands ever and they make it their own. It isn't better than the original, but i like it just as much as the original.

I much prefer Katatonia's cover of 'Nightmares by the Sea' to the original Jeff Buckley tune. The added heaviness lends some much-needed dynamics, and Jonas conveys the slightly unhinged feeling more convincingly.

Death's cover of Judas Priest is not better than the original, come on.

This is a thing I wish more stoner bands did, cover an old/classic blues rock song and make it heavier (and possibly slightly slower). If I could play the guitar, I would have made a covers album like this.

I agree. This is fantastic!

Really can't agree with the Necropolis cover. To me it suffers in the same way most rerecordings of old material do- nailing the notes but completely missing the intricacies of atmosphere and delivery. To put it bluntly, the Visigoth version sounds like a bunch of (enthusiastic) dudes doing a pub karaoke while the original actually evokes some kind of sword-and-sorcery vibe. Would've loved to hear Eternal Champion cover it instead though, Visigoth has always struck me as a bit shallow.

At the Gates cover of Legion by Slaughter Lord definitely surpasses the original. Not only is it slightly faster, the riffs are actually audible! It's a shame though because every time I hear it I get a strong taste for more, only to be disappointed by the utter shit quality of the Slaughter Lord demos. Ah well.