The WORST covers by AMAZING Metal bands

Check out the BEST Metal covers of non-Metal songs video as well – https://youtu.be/WNBwlHvsqsc

Disturbed The Sound of Silence
The autotuned voice makes it the worst.
Other notables.
Mehtallica Turn the Page
Slayer Inna Gada Davida

I never liked you’re no good by Van Halen. Cross Eyed Mary from Maiden was epic!

I was listening to this in the background, but I had to open the tab to check if I actually heard Iron Man say something about not wearing underwear at 0:52.

I quite like the Nickleback Saturday cover. None of these match the Take That cover of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ – I know this video is the other way around but the cover is so bad it has to be heard to be believed

Leader of the pack by Twisted Sister is Atrocious

Up the Irons I love their music and albums

I loved Robs screams on Johnny B. Goode!! He crushed it and Jonathan Davis and Korn made that cover by Pink Floyd sound like one of their songs.

I love when a band covers a song and makes it uniquely their sound. The Cure did that with Purple Haze.

Cheers!! 🤘🤘🤘

My sweet lord is a way worse cover by Megadeth!!!

I'm very surprised you didn't include the Iron Maiden cover of Women in Uniform, originally by Skyhooks? I personally think it's a great cover, but Steve hates that they recorded it. Cheers as always dude! Robin

Holy diver by dio ✅
Holy diver by killswitch❌
Holy diver by primus✅

Reroute to Remain was the beginning of the end of In Flames for me, and that Land of Confusion cover didn't help.

I'll disagree with Priest……it was a fun cover and it's not that bad…..and I'll have a big disagreement with Megadeth……I'd put it on my list of the best covers…….

Flotsam And Jetsam recoded a cover of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and its actually pretty good!

Of the covers mentioned here.. the only one I am truly familiar with (I own the album it is on) is Judas Priest's cover of Johnny B Goode.

I will formally disagree with you in regards to it being a bad cover.. due to my personal belief in what makes a good or a bad cover.

Here is a dataset I use when evaluating a cover. I rate based on how close to the original a cover sounds. If it sounds way too different I generally score it badly.. with few notable exceptions.

================================================================================
10-POINT COVER SONG EVALUATION MATRIX (BASELINE TEMPLATE)
================================================================================

[SYSTEMIC_RULESET]
This matrix establishes an objective, cumulative deduction framework to rate
cover songs. It prioritizes structural fidelity to the original master template.
Any deviation in execution, arrangement, or production acts as a systemic penalty.

—
[SCORING_VALUES]

10.0 : Absolute Baseline. Reserved strictly for the original studio recording
(or original live recording if that was the official album release).

9.5 : Peak Live Execution. The absolute ceiling for a band performing
their own original song live (historically achieved only by elite-tier
acts like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica).

9.0 – 9.9 : Elite Cover. Structurally exceptional. Highly faithful with superb
execution. Actively sought out for repeated, intentional listening.

8.0 – 8.9 : Strong Cover. A well-executed rendition. Highly listenable; would
not skip if encountered passively (e.g., on the radio), but not
actively searched for.

7.0 – 7.9 : Acceptable Deviation. Unfaithful or heavily modified cover, but
retains enough structural competence to be tolerated/listenable.

< 7.0 : Critical Failure. Unlistenable. Instant termination/skip threshold.

—
[DEDUCTION_MATRIX]

All penalties are subtractive and accumulate from the 10.0 baseline:

1. VOCAL EXECUTION
* [-1.0] : Gender Swapping (Automatic penalty if vocal gender is altered).
* [-0.5] : Minor Vocal Changes (Slight modifications to delivery or style).
* [-1.0+] : Major Vocal / Lyrical Alterations (Significant changes to vocal
timbre, cadence, or direct changes to the written lyrics).

2. INSTRUMENTAL & ARRANGEMENT
* [-0.5] : Tempo Shift (Changing the speed/groove from the original).
* [-0.5] : Guitar Flourishes (Unnecessary note bends, excessive solo
modifications, or deviation from original structured solos).
* [-0.5 to -1.0] : Structural Arrangement Alterations (Changes to time signature,
genre-shifting, or removing/adding sections).

================================================================================

To this I will add a bonus of up to +1.0 if the cover establishes and maintains the original vibe or feel of the original.

Given Rob Halford's voice.. the only penalty in the first segment is a -0.5 for vocal changes. He did his best with his vocal range and his vocal delivery to maintain the original's vibe.
Where it gets hit the most is in the second section. Temp shift -0.5, Guitar flourishes -0.5, structural arrangement alterations -1.0.
Given those numbers it would score 7.5 on my grading scale at best. However the bonus factor comes into play here as it does maintain the original feel and vibe of the original, netting the full bonus of +1.0 to arrive at a final score of 8.5.

I would probably score it harder if I were note-for-note familiar with the original through years of listening to it… but for my comparison purposes the song fits nicely in the 'strong cover' category. It is not only above the 7.0 score of 'tolerable/listenable'.. it is 'highly listenable'.

To be fair.. most bands playing a live version of their own songs rarely achieve a 10.0 score because the liver version is simply a cover of their own song and rarely can they mimic studio versions live.

I like MH Message In A Bottle cover 😂

Paul Di'Anno's weird punk-ish butchering of Symphony of Destruction is my favourite bad cover

Priest did some great covers over time like Diamonds And Rust, Green Manalishi, Better By You Better Than Me, all amazing. That cover of Johnny B. Goode is horrendous though, it's way too happy especially in the chorus, they were trying to appeal to late 80s hair metal with that one. Luckily they would release the amazing Painkiller soon after and leave that one in the dust. I actually like most of the Ram It Down album, other than that cover.

Johnny B. Good the movie? Underrated but Judas Priest version Johny B. Bad isn't for everyone. I kinda like it. I understand why some say it sucks. it a bit med tempo and the lyrical structure of the verses are bit off putting. the original has a bit of an old school rock and roll jam vibe. I give priest credit for trying to make it as their own but the other problem is seems that it was done for a movie soundtrack then on a JP album.

Exodus version of Pump It Up is not bad IMO. not their best. the bad had done some cool covers like their version of WAR'S low rider and The Rooling Stones's B-tch.