There are certain bands that just seem to be cover song specialists. I’m not talking about cover bands that couldn’t write a decent original song to save their lives. I’m certainly not talking about tribute bands that not only play 100% covers, but those covers are all by the same original artist! No, I want to talk about three original bands that write and record fantastic original music, but also seem to be particularly good at covering other bands’ songs. Here we go…
1. HALESTORM
Halestorm is a well-loved hard rock band fronted by dynamic vocalist Lizzie Hale. Their first three records are very solid, while some of the more recent releases have been hit and miss. None of those records include any cover songs that I’m aware of. They save the cover songs for releases that are all cover songs. In 2011, they released Reanimate: The Covers EP. In 2013, we got Reanimate 2.0: The Covers EP. And in 2017, we got Reanimate 3.0: The Covers EP. Those three records contain six songs each. They cover a wide variety of artists from Metallica, Soundgarden and Skid Row to Lady Gaga, Pat Benatar, and Sophie B. Hawkins. It sounds strange, but every song is really well done. Halestorm also contributed to a Bad Company tribute album and did a great version of “Shooting Star.” Finally, I will mention my favorite cover song by Halestorm, and that would be “Long Live Rock” by The Who. Halestorm really did a nice job on that one. It was released as a stand alone single.
2. GREAT WHITE
I didn’t really listen to Great White when all the Sunset Strip “hair bands” were the rage. For some reason I avoided them. Fortunately, later in life I gave them a good listen, and I became a fan. I happen to think that Jack Russell (R.I.P.) had one of the best hard rock voices ever. I have noticed that a few of my favorite songs by Great White are cover songs. You need only look as far as their biggest hit, “Once Bitten Twice Shy.” It would be hard to mess up such a great song, which of course was originally written and recorded in 1975 by the amazing Ian Hunter. Amongst other stand out cover songs by Great White, you have Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue,” which is extremely well done. And then there is “Face the Day,” as well as “Can’t Shake It” both by The Angels (Australia’s best rock band not named AC/DC). And I can’t discuss Great White doing cover songs without noting that there is a live record by the band entitled Great Zeppelin: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin. That record is truly excellent. Put on the headphones and turn it up loud, listen to it all the way through. The vocals are stunning. Their live shows always included numerous covers by classic rock artists, probably because Jack Russell could sing them so well.
3. ENUFF Z’NUFF
I suppose it stands to reason that a band as prolific as Enuff Z’Nuff would have a good number of cover songs, but they do them really well. Let’s start with one of my favorite songs in the world, “She Sells Sanctuary” by The Cult. I like The Cult version the best, but the boys from Illinois did a good job. “Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson was on one of their earliest releases. They recorded “The Jean Genie” by David Bowie. They did an entire record called Covered in Gold in 2014. That record included all of the aforementioned songs and many others, although some of those songs had been previously released. Perhaps most notably, 2021 brought us Hardrock Nite, an album entirely comprised of Beatles (and Wings) covers. I thought that one was stellar. It can’t be easy covering a bunch of Beatles songs and having it sound so good that people actually want to hear it, as opposed to simply listening to The Beatles.
So, those are my three picks for the original bands that do cover songs best. I’ll leave you with some good examples.
Halestorm: “Shooting Star” (Bad Company cover).
Great White: “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (Ian Hunter cover).
Enuff Z’Nuff: “Jet” (Paul McCartney and Wings cover).
JCE, or John to his friends, is 63 years old and lives happily in rural VA about an hour and half outside of D.C. His wife of 35 years says he’ll never grow up, and she’s exactly right. He attributes that to his lifelong love affair with all things rock n roll and skateboarding.