I’m a big fan of heavy, modern rock groups that can take an old song and breathe life back into it. For example, I’d probably never listen to “Word Up” voluntarily, were it not for Korn’s awesome rendition on seven-string guitars.
To me, it’s like trading in an old, worn-out cell phone for something brand new and interesting.
So I’m rounding up some of my favorite—dare I say “the greatest”—rock covers I’ve come across spanning the last couple of decades. This means the cover was released after 1990 and that the original might or might not precede that date.
And to give more weight to my selection, this isn’t an article I decided to write and then rushed to cobble together a bunch of rock covers for the first time. Honest to Pete, I’ve been collecting these on my playlists for years, and I’ve picked through those to make a decent roundup.
Here’s a quick look at some of the music on my iPhone that I’ll offer up as proof.
I guess this isn’t really “proof,” but you get my point. I’ve listened to this stuff a lot, and now I’m sharing my thoughtful, carefully collected playlist for all ya’ll to enjoy and jam to.
Before we get started: This is not a ranking. The order I’ve chosen isn’t significant. I think all these songs are great, and I'm not compelled to order them by some subjective measure of greatness. Let’s just enjoy some good music.
For those interested in full video song lessons and tutorials, check out Guitar Tricks’ song list[1]. They’ve got a little bit of everything for those of you who want to do your own covers. They’ll even let you try it for free[2].