Songs in The Key Of…. Black Sabbath

     Part of the true measure isn’t just how many bands cover your songs, but who those bands are, and what exactly they call the song.  If it’s a great song, it’s a cover.  If it’s a great band, it’s a tribute.  And there may be no greater band than Black Sabbath.  The roll call of bands who have offered tribute in this manner is long and varied.  Long before Ozzy was the silly celebrity he is today (not that he isn’t lovable as such.) he was an innovator; a man who helped to form the landscape of Rock and Roll music as it looks today.  Many of the bands here wouldn’t exist were it not for the mighty Sabbath.  Here are some of the best tributes…

Iron Man Metallica

You can count on one hand the number of bands that can historically can hold a candle to Sabbath.  Metallica is one of the few that stand as peers.  In fact, if you go back to Ozzy’s 1986 Monsters of Rock tour, it helped truly launch Metallica into the limelight.  Here a is an epic tribute.

Paranoid Megadeth

Many cover songs try to duplicate the original; this is a classic example of staying true to the song while making it their own, as well.

Electric Funeral  Pantera

Pantera wasn’t always pure power and screaming, as they demonstrated here.  Injecting a bit of southern style, they created a unique interpretation.

 iron man nofx

As much as Sabbath influenced punk music, there are surprisingly few punk covers.

After Forever Bio-hazard

Bio-hazard was a different breed.  They were doing the rap rock thing years before it really caught on;  a band that was genuinely ahead of its time.  As far as Sabbath covers go, this one is a masterpiece.

 Into the Void  Monster Magnet

If ever there was a band that was meant to cover a Sabbath song, it’s Monster Magnet.   A band that’s every bit as heavy as Sabbath,  but forays as often as not into the psychedelic.

Children of the Grave  White zombie

One of the few covers that may actually be better than the original.  Rob Zombie took an already scary song and made it terrifying.

War Pigs  Faith No More

Another band that was years before it’s time.  Mike Patton does a hellfire Ozzy.

Black Sabbath  Type O Negative

Type O is definitely an acquired taste… in this case, it shows that a song can be truly macabre.

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath  Bruce Dickinson w/ Godspeed

Not many people alive could pull off the vocals on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath;  former Iron Maiden front man Dickinson does so amazingly.

Snow-blind System of a Down

System is by far one of the most unique bands Rock music has ever produced;  their version of Snow blind is nothing short of genius.

Hand of Doom Slayer

Slayer is, well… Slayer.  Uncompromising.  They virtually define speed metal.  Here, however, the actually change gears some…. what but Black Sabbath could inspire that?

Lord of This World  Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion is perhaps one of the most under appreciated rock bands in History.  They turned This Sabbath gem into another masterpiece.

Sweet Leaf  God smack

God smack is like AC DC in many ways;  they do pretty much the same song over and over again.  And it works.  Worked with Sweet Leaf, too.

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