Metal fans (and hopefully music fans in general) were thrilled to hear today that Glenn Danzig—frontman for his self-titled band, Samhain and The Misfits—will be releasing an Elvis Presley covers album during 2015, tentatively titled Danzig Sings Elvis.
The connection is obvious, especially considering that Danzig is oft referred to as "Evil Elvis." Vocally, the pair are similar. Physically...the pair have started to become similar. Heck, if Danzig combed back and styled his black hair, they'd even look alike (nothing ever in the universe will get the metal vocalist to smile like Elvis however. Small loss).
It got us thinking: There are way too few Elvis covers out there played by metal bands. Discounting a band that's whole schtick is being half metal, half-Elvis (Volbeat), it's tough to find worthwhile Elvis covers in the metal world. We, for one, totally hope this changes.
Here's a short list of what we've found:
05) "Blue Suede Shoes" by Black Sabbath
The godfathers of heavy metal played this track as a warm-up for a German gig and were surprised when it ended up on TV. As guitarist Tony Iommi later attested, "Ozzy (Osbourne) hasn't got a clue what the words are." It's heavy to be sure, but moves too quickly to be "Iron Man" heavy. As Osbourne hardly knows one verse, most of the video is dedicated to Iommi's guitar theatrics, something would never see in a show where Presley was the spotlight figure. The video is now available on Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978).
04) "Trouble" by Danzig
Danzig gives into the comparisons that people have been making for years during his live album Demonsweatlive. As usual, the vocalist has worked himself into a sweat and he takes the verses easy for a break. His delivery of the song's hook is spot on however and it's interesting to note how lyrically well-suited for metal this Presley original was. Original band guitarist John Christ makes this cover as heavy a blues track as you could hope.
03) "An American Trilogy" by Manowar
Heavy metal band Manowar gets bonus points for having more in-depth knowledge of the Elvis discography than the rest of the tracks on this list. "An American Trilogy" is a medley combining "Dixie," "All My Trials" and "The Battle Hymn of The Republic" into essentially the most American song outside of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA." Presley didn't come up with the idea of pairing the songs—that honor belongs to Mickey Newbury—but he made it famous, performing it at nearly every live show he performed later in his career. Vocalist Eric Adams has the pipes for such an epic track, but the instrumentation only occasionally dives into thick riffing.
02) "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Red Fang
This track came in a four-song EP assisting the Portland Timbers Community Fund, featuring four Oregon bands covering Presley's classic "Can't Help Falling in Love." Red Fang's is certainly the most atypical version on this set, with slow, heavy riffs you'd expect from a sludge metal band, coupled with bassist Aaron Beam's eerily echoing vocals. It certainly turns the track on its from being romantic to being outright creepy.
01) "Blue Suede Shoes" by Motörhead
Perhaps what makes Motörhead's version of "Blue Suede Shoes" more appealing than that of contemporaries Black Sabbath was that they actually practiced for it. And of course bassist/vocalist Lemmy Kilmister actually knows the lyrics. The band's version carries along at a quick chug similar to that of Sabbath, with plenty of shredding but not too much to water down the Presley within. It's not a surprising cover considering that Kilmister's side project Lemmy & The Upsetters titled its only album Blue Suede Shoes.
Let us know if we've missed any obvious covers...Lord knows we want to hear them!
