Covered in Black

Cover songs have the ability to truly let obscure music artists shine. There's nothing like a familiar song done in a different way to catch a listener's ear. Nonetheless, it's often difficult to find a really good album of covers. The music of the original artist might be too far ranging to lead to a cohesive album when the styles of the cover artists involved also vary. One of the best cover albums I've heard involves an artist with a solid style, AC/DC, and group of artists working in a complementary genre, industrial music.

In 1996, Cleopatra Records (notable purveyors of goth and industrial music) released Covered In Black: An Industrial Tribute To The Kings Of High Voltage, AC/DC. As with any album, not every song is great, but most of the industrial artists do a good job of adding a new dimension to the songs while staying true to the spirit of the original. (The exception being Pigface Vs. Sheep On Drugs' befuddling rendition of titular "Back in Black.") An example of a well done cover can be found in The Electric Hellfire Club's version of "Highway to Hell":



Also outstanding are "Squealer" covered by the particularly obscure female industrial group Genitorturers, and "TNT" covered by Sister Machine Gun. In all, Covered in Black is a worthwhile listen for an industrial music fan. It is current available as a digital download from Amazon.com.