Heart‘s classic song “Barracuda” has been covered a handful of times, mostly by metal bands. Which makes sense, because the original tune is already heavy enough to attract that kind of attention. Here are four covers of “Barracuda” ranked by how heavy they are.
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[RELATED: The Specific Sleazy Comment That Disturbed Heart So Much They Wrote “Barracuda”]
Covers of Heart’s “Barracuda” Ranked by Heaviness
The Accused
Released in 1989, The Accused’s version of “Barracuda” resembles what the Tasmanian Devil might sound like if he put out a cover of “Barracuda.” Loose vocals, chugging guitar, and an overall sloppy vibe; essentially, I imagine it as the musical embodiment of Ed Roth’s Rat Fink character.
The Feds
The Feds covered “Barracuda” in 2012, and it was a bit hard to place it on this list with The Accused and Angkor Wat. The vocals are cleaner, but the instrumentation is just a hair heavier than The Accused version. It’s also similar to the Angkor Wat version, but that cover keeps more of the original vibe, just with more runaway train guitar sound. In the end, The Feds fall somewhere in the middle, as they tone things down near the end of the song for a groovy conclusion.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat released their cover of “Barracuda” on their 1990 album Corpus Christi. The vocals have a lightness to them while the instrumentation remains pretty heavy, which mirrors the vibe of the Heart original. The guitar solo is a wild show of pure creative expression, tripping through the phrases almost recklessly, while the vocals reach for sky-high registers to close out the cover.
BRAT
The heaviest cover of them all still features a woman on vocals. Liz Selfish is the growl behind the grindcore band BRAT, and their cover of “Barracuda” is primed to rip some faces off. Selfish’s guttural exclamations before the titular “Barracuda” line are intense and, oddly enough, make me grin like a crazy person. The entire song makes me smile, because there’s something about controlled chaos and women doing heavy metal vocals that puts me in a good mood.
Featured Image by Richard Creamer/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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