9 Cover Versions That Have No Right Being As Good As They Are

A cover version can be a pretty magical thing, often breathing new life in to a song, whilst allowing a musician to put their own unmistakable stamp on it. However, sometimes the best covers are the ones where the artist decides a mere stamp isn't enough and decides to spill their musical ink all over the song.

1. Nickelback - 'How You Remind Me' (as performed by Postmodern Jukebox)

Via postmodernjukebox.com

Postmodern Jukebox's litany of contemporary covers done vintage are all pretty spectacular. In all honesty, I could have filled the entirety of this article with their covers alone. However, who would have thought that the anthem for angsty teens in 2001 could be transformed in to a sorrow drenched, upbeat number a la Smokey Robinson. Also, that chap and his tambourine obviously have a very special relationship.

2. Rihanna - 'Umbrella' (as performed by Manic Street Preachers)

NME / Via Youtube.com

Being Welsh, I'm genetically predisposed to being slightly obsessed with the Manics. However, at no point did I expect that them doing an incredibly straight and sincere cover of Rihanna would sound so good. Glad I was proved wrong, then.

3. ABBA - 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' (as performed by Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force)

Via youtube.com

For the uninitiated, Yngwie J. Malmsteen rose to fame in the late '80s as one of the proponents of the shred guitar movement (otherwise known as the 'play really fast Bach pieces on guitar over heavy metal songs' movement). However, I think it's safe to say that no one expected Malmsteen to apply his heavy metal virtuoso stylings to anything by fellow Swedes, Abba. Utterly overblown and bursting with rampant guitar noodling, it's hard not to smile at Malmsteen's cover.

4. Chris Brown - 'Look At Me Now' (as performed by Karmin)

Karmin / Via karminmusic.com

Obvious comments about Chris Brown being a bad man aside, I think we can all agree that 'Look At Me Now' was just a bit of a bland song (bar Busta Rhymes's part, but you can't fault that man's rapping speed). Good thing pop duo Karmin are here to breathe light-hearted life in to contemporary rap - Amy Renee Heidemann absolutely nails Busta Rhymes's section to boot.

5. Lady Gaga - 'Born This Way' (as performed by Alice Cooper)

officialalicecooper on Youtube / Via youtube.com

The progenitor of shock rock, forever immortalised by 'Poison' and Wayne's World for most, has undoubtedly left his mark on the world of music. Most would cite acts like Marilyn Manson as the most obvious to follow up on the rock star's onstage antics, but I'd argue that without Cooper, we wouldn't have equally out there pop musicians like Lady Gaga. And, whilst Alice has always espoused his love for the more outrageous acts like Gaga, I don't think anyone predicted this live cover - let alone how fitting the lyrics would be.

6. Sex Pistols - 'Anarchy In The UK' (as performed by Ade Edmondson)

BBC

Trigger warning: contains Jools Holland and his Hootenanny.

I'm sure you all know Ade Edmondson, probably most famous for his roles in Bottom and the unfathomably brilliant The Young Ones. What you may not know is, from about 2006 onward, Ade decided to focus more on music over acting. As part of his musical exploration, Ade offered a surprisingly convincing smooth jazz cover of 'Anarchy In The UK', as if to bridge the gap between his modern self and his days as the maddened punk, Vyvyan Basterd.

7. The Beach Boys - Surfin' USA (as performed by Blind Guardian)

Via Blind Guardian

Did you ever listen to The Beach Boys and think to yourself, "You know what this is missing? Double-bass drums and a German man belting in to the microphone." Well, have I got the thing for you! Blind Guardian are one of the more famous power metal bands (power metal being a genre dedicated primarily to expressing the works of Tolkein through the medium of guitar solos) who occasionally do very weird covers. Other classics include 'Mr. Sandman', 'Barbara Ann' and 'You're The Voice'.

8. System of a Down - 'Toxicity' (as performed by Meytal Cohen')

Via meytalcohen.com

I don't know about you, but I've always felt that the real test of any good early noughties nu metal song is whether or not it stands up to being arranged for two electric violins and drums. Luckily for System of a Down, 'Toxicity' does.

9. Pulp - 'Common People' (as performed by William 'Captain K' Shatner)

My dreams / Via Youtube.com

I'm going to end this post on the highest high it is possible for anyone to end on. I think we can all agree that 'Common People' is the quintessential Brittpop anthem (or at least that's what a poll by BBC Radio just established), but what happens when non-Brits have a go at it?

Amazing things. Wonderful things. Captain Kirk irately narrating over Ben Folds's instrumentation, with Joe Jackson occasionally bursting in to offer some actual tunefulness to the vocals. This is the stuff dreams are made of.