I can’t find an online version of it, but Big Daddy does a cover of Celine Dion’s theme from “Titanic”, [NB]My Heart Will Go On** that completely blows me away.
They do it as an upbeat, bouncy Elvis Presley number. It’s so completely at odds with the son’s original style and intent that you can hear it several times before it sinks in which song it really is. Then you notice that the background singers are doing things like “Glub, g;lub”, “Drip, drip, goin’ down on a sinkin’ ship” that you missed the first time.
I always have to mention my all-time favorite in these “unlikely cover version” threads: the Stranglers’ awesome rave-up version of “Walk On By,” with Hugh Cornwell’s sneering punk vocals and extended “Light My Fire”-style organ and guitar solos, all underpinned by the bass guitar that ate London.
A 50s version of Metallica’s Enter Sandman. Mr. Sandman meets Enter Sandman, if you will.
The original Enter Sandman
A bluegrass version of Enter Sandman
It’s the only time I have ever stared open-mouthed at a radio.
A Perfect Circle has a botleg floating around of their live mash-up/cover of The Cure’s Lovesong and Ozzy’s Diary of a Madman. The best part is when he changes the lyrics to “Diarrhea of a mad man…”