Some songs can never be truly recreated. Most music by The Beatles, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, The Beach Boys, Garth Brooks, Nancy Sinatra and dozens of other musicians cannot be topped. But under certain circumstances, rock covers triumph over originals.

Rock music has a tendency to sound grander, more exciting and can produce unparalleled songs. Rock covers are just the same.

Michael Jackson is another artist who cannot be emulated, but rock and emo music lovers cannot ignore Alien Ant Farm’s cover of “Smooth Criminal.” The cover adds speed and excitement. However, not all covers hit their mark, such as Ice Nine Kills’ cover of “Thriller.”

Jackson’s “Thriller” is so iconic that Ice Nine Kills’ and other artists’ attempted renditions are honestly just embarrassing as it will never level up.

However, though Ice Nine Kills missed the mark on “Thriller,” their covers of Katrina and the Waves “Walking on Sunshine” and Adele’s “Someone Like You” recontextualizes the original songs not by tone or through lyrics but through the band itself. Ice Nine Kills is a well-known horror rock-metal band.

Their cover of “Walking on Sunshine,” is crafted from the use of the original song in the horror film “American Psycho.” And their cover of “Someone Like You,” simply adds a creepy element.

Some bands who choose to do covers do so to change the entire tone of the song. Type O Negative’s cover of Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze” changes the key and adds drawling vocals which entirely changes the song.

The same can be said for Marilyn Manson’s covers of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” Both of which sound harsher, louder and more riveting than the originals and other non-rock covers.

Some covers change the tone and style so much that it can be hard to initially recognize the song. Muse’s cover of Clarence Ashley’s “House of the Rising Sun” makes the song almost unrecognizable except for the lyrics. “House of the Rising Sun” has been covered over and over again — even by Hawk-Eye actor Jeremy Renner — so it’s refreshing to see Muse’s new take on it.

Rock covers also serve as a manner of revival. For example, Fall Out Boy’s cover of Billy Joel’s song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” was not only updated  to be more modern, but also brought the song into  light once again for younger generations.

Of course there are also rock musicians who don’t want to change the meaning of the song and simply seem to want to make it their own Such as The Clarks’ cover of Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” which just adds another dimension by changing the instrumentation and basic style.

The cover doesn’t necessarily make the song better, but adds an interesting alternative to the original. It’s often fun to play the original and the covers back-to-back to hear the differences.

Sometimes rock covers don’t even necessarily need to be good to be fun to listen to. Goodnight Nurse’s version of Kelis’ infamous song “Milkshake” is a great example. The cover is just ridiculous all around. The fact that a man is singing it and the style it’s performed in makes it absurd, but makes for a good laugh.

Rock covers can also add dimension to songs from media, such as from films and TV shows.

Dan Vasc’s cover of “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” from the book and TV show “The Witcher” He combines the folkiness of the bard’s tune with rock musicality and lyricism. It’s simply a banger, whether or not you’ve read or watched the series .

Other excellent covers of film and TV show songs include:

• “Pure Imagination” by Hearing Shapes from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was  repopularized through the 2023 release of the film “Wonka;” the cover adds hard-core vocals and eccentric bridges that make you think of Willy Wonka himself
• “This Is Halloween” by izzy reign, Cody Jamison, Ryan Ridley, Christian Koo and RandAlive was popularized via social media not long after it was released and expands upon the voices that already exist in the song
• “Sally’s Song” by Lyric Noel does not change much from the original song, but instead makes it more of a power ballad rather than a lament
• “My Friends” by Black Veil Brides adds additional longing and emo edgy-ness to the already dark song from “Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
• “With a Little Help From My Friends” by Joe Anderson and Jim Sturgess from The Beatles musical “Across the Universe”cover makes the song seem a bit more relaxed and friendly. However, again, this does not outdo the original, but instead creates an interesting comparison

Even classical music can be bested by rock covers. One example being The Offspring’s fast-paced and head-spinning cover of “In the Hall of the Mountain King.”

Rock musicians also often try to emulate other rock musicians’ already iconic songs:

• The band In This Moment and Lzzy Hale covered Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” the cover does not surpass the original, but it does add a women empowerment element
• In This Moment also covered Blondie’s “Call Me;” again it does not surpass the original, but makes it even more danceable
• The little-known, punk-grunge, women empowerment band Cheap Perfume covered Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ “Bad Reputation;” the band changed the lyrics slightly and completely changed the vocal structure to make it more punk and raw
• Black Veil Brides covered Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” and kept much of the original ’80s-sounding musicality but also added some more modern elements
• The Linda Lindas covered Bikini Kills’ ultimate women empowerment song “Rebel Girl;” the cover actually mellowed out the song, but still kept the song’s original essence

Similar to The Linda Lindas’ cover, rock bands sometimes take other rock songs and turn them into power ballads. Falling In Reverse took Papa Roach’s iconic emo song “Last Resort” and turned it into a power ballad that recontextualized the lyrics to better reflect the song’s meaning surrounding mental health.

When it comes down to it, there are some artists that are too popular and unique to have any good covers. For example, I have yet to find a good cover of any of Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish’s songs. But I will keep searching.

Ariana Powell can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].

To read the article in Spanish, go here.