\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A good artist can perform a competent version of a cover song. A great artist can cover a song and make it their own. For example, Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails is one example of a\u00a0cover song that sounds nothing like the original<\/a>, stripping down the guitars and slowing down the tempo, making the song even more melancholy. From Jimi Hendrix’s electrified version of “All Along the Watchtower” to Amy Winehouse’s R&B take on “Valerie,” some cover songs are better than the original version<\/a>. Then there’s the other side: Some cover songs are just bad.<\/p>\n When an artist covers a popular classic rock song, they might get a lot more scrutiny and criticism than if they released a lackluster original song. For example, reviews of\u00a0Britney Spears’ 2001 album “Britney” tended to single out “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” for particularly harsh critique.\u00a0Even though the album as a whole also received generally mixed reviews, none of the original songs drew the same kind of ire.\u00a0To put together this list, we drew from critical reviews, fan comments on social media sites such as Reddit, and user-submitted reviews to music sites such as RateYourMusic.com. We also checked the chart and\/or social media performance of each song to verify that it could justifiably be called a “hit.” Without further ado, here are five hit covers that classic rock fans actually hate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ \u2014 Jessica Simpson and Willie Nelson<\/p>\n
Pop star Jessica Simpson recorded a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” for the 2005 “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, featuring her co-star Willie Nelson. The lyrics and melody were drastically rewritten in order to pack them with references to the movie, adding lines like “Tick-tock, all around the clock, drop it\/ Push ya tush, like that.” Simpson simply does not sound convincing, crooning lines like “Yee-haw” and “Come on, boots” while Nelson’s backing vocals are almost mumbled, and the added banjo is not a good fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still,\u00a0the cover\u00a0peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of Simpson’s best-performing hits. In 2006, the song was a \u200b\u200bPeople’s Choice Award winner for “Best Song from a Movie,” yet also a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for “Worst Song in a Film.”\u00a0One RateYourMusic.com<\/a>\u00a0commenter writes, “This is the single worst cover song of all time. You want a real cover of ‘These Boots’? Go literally ANYWHERE ELSE and you’ve got it.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll \u2014 Britney Spears<\/p>\n
Britney Spears’ cover of Joan Jett’s version of “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” (itself a cover of a song by Arrows)\u00a0was the fourth single from her 2001 album “Britney, and it was also prominently featured in her 2002 movie “Crossroads.” While not a hit in the U.S., “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” reached the Top 10 in Germany and Austria. Similar to Spears’ 2000 version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” (which was not a single), music critics and classic rock fans alike immediately hated the cover.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s easy to see why: The song features a spoken-word intro saying, “Hey, is this thing on?”; the background voices (intended to sound like a crowd at a karaoke bar) sound jarringly out of context, and Spears’ signature breathy vocals aren’t a good fit for the lyrics or the theme. “Memo to Britney: You do not rock. Repeat, you do not rock. Leave it to Joan Jett,” wrote one RateYourMusic.com<\/a> commenter in 2004.\u00a0Decades later,\u00a0even Britney fans rank it as one of her worst singles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n About A Girl \u2014 Puddle of Mudd<\/p>\n
2020 was a weird time for music. Along with Verzuz battles on Instagram Live and dozens of livestreamed concerts, the COVID-19 pandemic brought us Puddle of Mudd’s infamous acoustic cover of Nirvana’s “About A Girl.” After being\u00a0filmed as part of a SiriusXM session in late 2019,\u00a0the song went largely unnoticed until April 2020, when\u00a0clips of the performance were posted to Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and the original YouTube video quickly went viral, racking up over a million views despite being unlisted. Top-voted YouTube comments include “This literally sounds like something South Park would do to imitate Nirvana” and “When you think 2020 couldn’t get any worse… You find this exists.”<\/p>\n The off-key vocals and undecipherable lyrics can still give the listener secondhand embarrassment, and Puddle of Mudd’s decision to add bongos to a Nirvana song was definitely questionable.\u00a0Some members of the band even look concerned as they watch lead singer Wes Scanlin strain as he tries (and fails) to hit the notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Behind Blue Eyes \u2014 Limp Bizkit<\/p>\n
Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst is not a vocal powerhouse like The Who’s Roger Daltrey, and that’s very evident when you listen to his cover of The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” (a song with an interesting backstory).<\/a>\u00a0While Durst’s vocals don’t compare to Daltrey’s range, power, or emotion, the thing that really stands out is Limp Bizkit’s decision to add a digital\u00a0Speak & Spell voice saying, “Discover, L.I.M.P., say it” over and over again on the bridge, immediately dating the song in a very\u00a0bad way.<\/p>\n In 2011, the song was voted the second-worst cover of all time by Rolling Stone<\/a>\u00a0readers. One Redditor<\/a> writes, “Limp Bizkit’s Behind Blue Eyes made me hate them on sight.” Nonetheless, the single\u00a0performed moderately well in the U.S., reaching No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs. However, it was a bigger hit in much of Europe and even reached No. 1 in Sweden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Sound of Silence \u2014 Disturbed<\/p>\n
In 2015, Disturbed released a slowed-down, orchestra-ed up cover of the Simon & Garfunkel hit “Sound of Silence.” Disturbed’s version extends the vocal range of the song, moving certain lines to a lower or higher register, while\u00a0Lead singer David Draiman crisply enunciates the lyrics to the verses and basically screams the chorus. Combined with the piano and strings, this makes the cover sound incredibly overdramatic and over-produced when compared to the simple, timeless nature of the original.\u00a0<\/p>\n Disturbed’s cover\u00a0topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart and racked up over 1 billion views on YouTube, becoming\u00a0not only one of Disturbed’s biggest hits but also the most popular hard rock song of the decade. However, not everyone enjoyed the song’s dramatics, with one\u00a0Redditor<\/a>\u00a0writing: “It’s like some child is trying to be edgy, but all it comes off as is incredibly immature and cringey.”<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n