Halloween...

Halloween is my favourite time of the year. Screw Christmas, Halloween is where it's at. I love the gory decorations, I love dressing up, and most importantly I love that I can make playlists up of songs I love and no one can complain about it for once. No being forced to listen to R Kelly on repeat. Screw you R Kelly.

Music is what can make or break a party, or any occasion, so it's important to get it right. You need the cheese, the horror film classics, and the creepy. And what better genre for Halloween inspired music than rock. So here is my top picks for Halloween.

The Cheesy Halloween Classics

'Casue you can't just throw in the rock, you need to have a bit of the overplayed, commercial songs that everyone know.

Michael Jackson - Thriller

No Halloween party is complete with a bit of MJ. And 'Thriller' is as iconic as it gets, for both MJ and Halloween. With an award winning video full of the supernatural elements, the video propelled the song to become a cult classic. Yeah, it's cheesy as hell, but it will always be remembered. 

Monster Mash

Another iconic Halloween themed song. Monster Mash has been covered and parodied countless times. Some good, some bad. My favourite version has got to be Misfits.

Timewarp

The classic Halloween, horror dance song. Taken from the infamous Rocky Horror Picture Show, Timewarp is known by millions. And it is nearly impossible to hear it without looking like an idiot dancing along. A favourite with kids and adults alike, it is a must for Halloween. 

(Horror) Film and TV Themes

I feel like the following need no explanation. And if you're unsure about them then please remove yourself from the rock you've clearly been hiding under and go get Netflix, or go on Amazon, or just Google it!

Adams Family

Ghostbusters

Freddy Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street)

The Exorsist

Halloween

Rock Music

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

From the Osbourne's manical laughing, to the fact that Osbourne is bat shit crazy, you can't have a Halloween playlist with out him. And the song is a classic.

Metallica - Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Keeping with the kinda insane theme here, next up is Metallica, 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium). From 1986's 'Master of Puppets,' arguably one of the most influential albums ever released, the song is creepy from start to finish. So perfect for Halloween. The opening riff gives me shivers down my spine every time I hear it. And with lyrics that can interpreted as someone trapped in an asylum (or their own head) it could be the theme song for a number of horrors. A winning Halloween combination. Although to be fair, just thrown on a couple of Metallica albums ans you've got yourself a pretty sound playlist as it is.

AC/DC - Highway To Hell

One of the most recognised rock songs out there, Highway to Hell is another classic. There's not much explanation required with this one either, Halloween is all about demons and shit, and I'd assume they'd be giving it shit down in hell. So what could be more appropriate than a song about the 'Highway to Hell.'

Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil

'Shout, shout, shout. Shout, shout shout. Shout at the devil.' Again, the devil is a heavily associated Halloween figure. 'Shout At The Devil' can be taken if two ways, worshipping the devil, or a fuck you to the devil. Whichever way you want to take it, it's a Halloween kinda song.

Aiden - We Sleep Forever

As with the other bands mentioned there are a lot of Aiden songs that can be used on a Halloween playlist. Goth rock is Halloween all year round. But 'We Sleep Forever' is one of my favourites and is the on the soundtrack for 2007's horror film 'Dead Silence.' And the video features the band performing in a graveyard. It is worth mentioning Aiden's haunting cover of 'Cry Little Sister,' for the 'Lost Boys' remake too. It's a bit creepy. The original is also pretty creepy. Check them both out.

Misfits - Halloween

I feel like that is self explanatory. Halloween.



Alice Cooper

Original horror rock star, Alice Cooper. Anything by the legend is Halloween appropriate. Halloween go together like bread and butter.




Check out my full Halloween playlist here:https://open.spotify.com/user/1113460294/playlist/0H2XlezhN1klcEqocJaFGi

And if you're not feeling my music (although god knows why) here are some other playlists:

http://blog.siriusxm.com/2015/10/29/halloween-playlist-13-scary-songs-according-to-science/

http://in.bookmyshow.com/entertainment/7-songs-you-must-have-on-your-halloween-playlist/65454

http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archives/2014/10/20/15-songs-to-put-on-your-halloween-playlist

The Best Cover Songs

So moving on from Sixx Am's Modern Vintage, there has been a lot of talk about their cover of The Cars song "Drive." I will admit I had never heard of the song before, and have no idea what the original sounds like, but I love the cover version. Ironically right now I'm sitting listening to Alice Cooper, "Poison," that I only first heard back in 2004 when Groove Coverage did a cover/remix of it. Sad but true.

This has left me thinking, there are some brilliant cover songs out there, some bizarre cover songs, and some truly terrible ones. So here goes my top cover songs.

• Seether - Careless Whisper

George Michael's "Careless Whisper" is not something you would ever find me just casually sitting chilling listening to. Ever. Pretty much I would never be voluntarily listening to it. Add in some heavier guitars, Shaun Morgan's vocals (which in my opinion sound's hotter than George Michaels...) and I'll be singing along. Find it on 2007's "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces"

• Bullet For My Valentine - Welcome Home (Sanitarium) 

Metallica is not a band that should be covered lightly. Many people have tried, many have failed. Kerrang! managed to get it right with their "Master of Puppets Revisited" tribute album. And while the whole album was a fitting tribute to an amazing band, the only cover that has stuck with me over the years is Bullet's cover of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". There are a lot of similarities between the two, but they've still managed to make it their own, while keeping the haunting feeling Metallica inspired all those years ago.

• Nirvana - Lake of Fire

I had no idea this was even a cover until recently. And no offence to Meat Puppets, but Nirvana have totally owned it. Listening to the original version of "Lake of Fire" it sounds like one of those totally horrendous youtube covers that people still insist on uploading. Check out the video of Nirvana and Meat Puppets playing it together at MTV Unplugged in 1993 here, or find it on Nirvana's "MTV Unplugged in New York" album.

• Aiden - Drain You

From Nirvana covering a song to a song by Nirvana covered. Seattle goth-rock band Aiden covered Drain You (I could be wrong with this) for another of Kerrang! Magazine's tribute albums, and gave the song a heavier sound, more like their own style than Nirvana's grungey chilled out vibe. The song works both ways, and I totally love both versions, depending on the mood I'm in. I can't remember which Kerrang! tribute album (if it actually was any of them) it was on, but find it on youtube here.

• Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love

I always thought that "Tainted Love" was a cover of Soft Cell, but after googling it just now, I've discovered it was actually released in the '60's... Please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this?! And the original... Well it's a lot more upbeat.. After years of Manson's cover it sounds strange. Good but strange. Manson's darker, heavier version is more to my style, like with Careless Whisper, I wouldn't listen to the original but the cover is great. Find it on "The Golden Age Of Grotesque"

• Metallica - Whiskey In The Jar

First of all, having to spell whisky in the (very wrong) Americanised style kills me a little on the inside. "Whiskey In The Jar" was actually a traditional Irish folk song back in the day, before being recorded by The Dubliners, released by Thin Lizzy then Metallica performed it, and people just kinda forgot about any other version. Metallica's is definitely my favourite version. Find it, with other covers, on 1998's "Garage Inc."

• Johnny Cash - Hurt

Eight years after Nine Inch Nails released an emotional "Hurt," Johnny Cash covered it. And had a lot more success with it. Cash's cover is haunting, full of pain, and quite frankly makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time I hear it. It's gone from a soulful gothic rock song to a (for lack of a better word) depressing country rock song, that will never be forgotten. (And we are deliberatly going to ignore Leona Lewis butchering the song on X Factor...)

• HIM - Solitary Man

HIM have got a fair few cover songs in their discography, and I am completely biased but there all great. I am a total fan though! "Dark Light" was the first album I bought after going through that whole awkward I love dance music stage... Anyone else remember DJ Rankin? No just me then.. Neil Diamonds version is just too... cheesy for me. HIM have taken it and put their "love metal" spin on to it like they do with every other song they've covered (and created) and it just works. End of. HIM are great. 

• Faith No More - War Pigs

I am in no way a fan of Faith No More, they've got a couple of alright songs, and they were just plain fucking weird at Hyde Park. Still not sure why the hell they were dressed as ministers. Anyway moving on, War Pigs is probably my favourite Black Sabbath song. I'm not the type to take well to bands who slaughter my favourite songs in covers, so lucky for Faith No More their cover is actually pretty good. It's not Black Sabbath amazing, no one will ever be able to sound like Ozzy, but it is acceptable for an cover.