Cover tunes of AC/DC’s greatest songs range from good to bad to awful

AC/DC is like a favorite beer, you know, one that tastes the same every time and yet still manages to pack a good buzz.

Has there ever been a band that's done more with less than these dudes?

Their tunes are dirt simple, blues derived, double entendre-laced cat calls driven by some of the most signature guitar riffs ever.

It's basic, yet brilliant, firmly ensconcing AC/DC among the top five greatest hard rock bands of all time.

As such, they've spawned a small nation of tribute acts that number well into the hundreds and have had their songs covered as much as just about any other group.

With the band coming to town this weekend, we thought we'd help you bone up on Angus Young and Co. by taking a look back at some of the many AC/DC cover songs and covers albums, from the good to the bad to the butt ugly.

■ Six Feet Under, "Graveyard Classics 2": OK, think Satan belching out "Back in Black" staples while trying to pass a kidney stone in a vat of boiling Velveeta. That's pretty much what this death metal take on AC/DC's most seminal album sounds like. Six Feet Under/former Cannibal Corpse grunter Chris Barnes barfs up his resin-covered lungs all over some turgid thrash riffs that rumble by like Abrams tanks squashing some poor villagers. Yeah, we know, it's that good.

■ Celine Dion, "You Shook Me All Night Long": Talk about your miscasts, this makes about as much sense as "Schindler's List" starring Alf. Simply put, you don't let soft pop warblers emasculate a bunch of hard rock hedonists with what can only be described as audio saltpeter. It's not ironic, funny or amusing in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way, like Al Pacino trying to pull off a Cuban accent. Last year, Total Guitar magazine voted this the worst cover song of all time. "Celine Dion covering AC/DC is sacrilege," editor Stephen Lawson said in London's Daily Mail. Yeah, pretty much.

■ Mark Kozelek, "What's Next to the Moon": Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon main man Mark Kozelek drains the blood from 10 AC/DC staples and replaces said fluids with some liquid Nyquil. Seriously, these songs are hard to recognize at times as slow, spare, pretty acoustic versions of randy rockers like "Love At First Feel." Clearly, former AC/DC frontman Bon Scott was a poet -- see "Big Balls," "She's Got Balls," etc. -- and here, Kozelek makes his words burn like the fire water Scott was so fond of.

■ Dropkick Murphys, "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock and Roll)": Among the very best AC/DC covers, with these Celt punks knocking the snot out of this one with frontman Al Barr slinging gallon drums of grit on the mic while the band keeps the song's ripping bagpipe solo intact. By tune's end, it seriously feels like someone's clapping you in the ears with a pair of cinder blocks. But, you know, in a good way.

■ Various Artists, "Covered In Black": A bunch of mid-'90s industrial rivetheads pound some 9-inch nails into AC/DC's back catalog here to mixed results, slathering everything in leather and latex. Think AC/DC singer Brian Johnson in bondage gear. Better yet, don't. If you can get past Spahn Ranch's fruity, Eurotrash take on "Shot Down In Flames," it gets better with Die Krupps putting the hammer down on "It's A Long Way to the Top" and Godflesh turning "For Those About To Rock" into a lumbering, funereal death march as the song gets sent to the gallows.

■ "Back in Baroque: The String Tribute to AC/DC": Huh? A snooty classical album of working class AC/DC jams? What's next, "Masterpiece Theater" with Dying Fetus? Next.

■ Hayseed Dixie, "A Hillbilly Tribute to AC/DC": These dudes put the "ass" in "bluegrass" with fiddle-fired versions of some of AC/DC's signature hornball hits. With a banjo flecked take on "Hells Bells" and a foot stompin' version of "Money Talks" that you could square dance to, this is hard rock for the "Hee-Haw" set.

■ Shakira, "Back in Black": It begins as a slinky, heavy breathing, near-lounge version of the song before the signature guitar lick kicks in and Shakira starts whipping her hair around like it was crawling with spiders. She ties her tongue in knots attempting to wrap her Columbian accent around this bad boy, occasionally sounding as if she's gargling with marbles. It's really, really hard to ruin this chestnut, and Shakira comes pretty close, but, like open bars and ladies with low standards, some things can never be completely spoiled.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.