27 Of The Best Pop Songs Covered By Rock Bands – Part Two [VIDEOS]

This is Part Two of this massive breakdown of pop-songs-covered-by-rock-bands that I decided to tackle this week.

Some really good covers have been released recently, so I decided to sit down and figure out the best of all time. Now there were some quick rules I had to put in place for myself. First, it had to be a POP song, but I did include hip hop songs too, so that eliminates songs like "The Man Who Sold The World" which Nirvana did a bad ass cover of, but it was a David Bowie songs first. I considered David Bowie a rock artist, so it didn't count. Also, I put a lot of emphasis on how big the cover was, not necessarily the original. There have been a lot of big songs covered unsuccessfully.

There might be some no-brainers here, but I'm sure you'll find one or two you've never enjoyed before.

Number 19: Weaving The Fate "Rack City"

Original Artist: Tyga

There was a big run on rock bands covering rap songs post 2010. One of the best of the mix was Weaving The Fate taking on Tyga's hit "Rack City". When you hear rock bands go lyric for lyric on a rap song, it really makes you realize that the two genres aren't that far apart in reality.

Number 18: Smashing Pumpkins "Landslide"

Original Artist: Fleetwood Mac

Again, this is a song that has been covered a lot. But no other rock band has done it as well as Billy Corgan and company has. Hell the Pumpkins did it well enough to earn praise from Stevie Nicks herself.

Number 17: Dynamite Hack "Boyz-n-the-Hood"

Original Artist: Eazy-E

Its difficult, but it sometimes happens...a band is a one-hit-wonder, and their one hit was a cover song. That's what happened in 2000 when Dynamite Hack covered Eazy-E's "Boyz-n-the-Hood". It was the debut single for Eazy-E, as well as Dynamite Hack.

Number 16: Dope "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)

Original Artist: Dead or Alive

A lot of bands complained about the Napster/Limewire era, but some bands created a lot of success based on it. The band Dope benefited from a case of mistaken identity when users uploaded their cover song as a Marilyn Manson song. Eventually people fixed the name issue, and Dope was able to capitalize on the new-found notoriety.

Number 15: Framing Hanley "Lollipop" 

Original Artist: Lil Wayne

Framing Hanely may be calling it quits later this year, but back in 2008 they burst onto the scene with a masterful cover of Lil Wayne's "Lollipop". The song achieved Gold status, which is actually something that was pretty difficult to do in this era.

Number 14: Korn "Word Up"

Original Artist: Cameo

Korn was doing some weird stuff around 2004, and releasing this cover as part of their Greatest Hits totally counts as weird. This was the first, and only, Korn song to become a 'pop' song. It was played by 'pop' radio from coast-to-coast that summer.

Number 13: Seether "Careless Whisper" 

Original Artist: George Michael 

There's something about rock bands covering songs written by George Michael. For example, Seether's 2009 version of "Careless Whisper". The song was released as a bonus track on later versions of their Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces album.

Number 12: Marilyn Manson "Tainted Love"

Original Artist: Gloria Jones and Soft Cell

This cover feels more like a cover of a cover, which is why I included Soft Cell in the 'original artist' designation. Manson's cover is a riff on the 1980s Soft Cell cover of 1960s Gloria Jones original. So Jones released her's in 1965, Soft Cell released theirs in 1891, and Manson in 2001...so we're only 5 years away from another killer cover of this one.

Number 11: The Clash "I Fought The Law" 

Original Artist: The Crickets

This one's almost not fair. This song has worked for 'pop' artists, country artists, and rock artists. It had already been executed twice by the time The Clash took their swing at it. However, even after artists like Hank Williams, Jr and Green Day have released covers, the benchmark still remains The Clash version.