It's quite de rigueur to create an 80's cover. The songs on this playlist stand out as being as good, or sometimes better, than the original and delivered in a unique style. Highlights: Paul Anka singing Lovecats is hilarious since in a vacuum the lyrics sound exactly like a lounge song. Johnny Cash's version of Personal Jesus is more stripped down, raw, and I think better than the Mode version. M... [+]

It's quite de rigueur to create an 80's cover. The songs on this playlist stand out as being as good, or sometimes better, than the original and delivered in a unique style. Highlights: Paul Anka singing Lovecats is hilarious since in a vacuum the lyrics sound exactly like a lounge song. Johnny Cash's version of Personal Jesus is more stripped down, raw, and I think better than the Mode version. Mad World is downright spooky and and the lyrics take on more power with the soft piano and slow cadence of Michael Andrews' delivery. In contrast, Disturbed takes Tears for Fears' Shout to a more natural level of being loud and pissed off. Marilyn Mason arguably kicked off the trend with the cover of Sweet Dreams. There are a bunch of alt-punk efforts on this mix (The Metro, I Melt With You, Boys Don't Cry, Send Me an Angel, etc.) that are at least unique in their style interpretation. Nina Gordon's emotive voice creates a much better version of the Mode's "Somebody". Enjoy! [-]