The 5 Most Awesomely Ridiculous Mashups Ever

in Blender Blog by Conrad Doucette

Mashups as a concept came into their own in the '00s. But for every Grey Album, there's a subpar, homemade jam clogging up YouTube.

But some of those amateur creations? Genius. I mean, I may just start listening to mashups exclusively. Listen:

1. "The Trooper Believer," Iron Maiden + The Monkees

Same key, same BPM, same verse lengths... holy crap, Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" and The Monkees' "I'm A Believer" are the same song. It's not just Bruce Dickinson's piercing vocal that perfectly matches the track—the guitar solo that kicks in at 1:35 might as well have been played by Peter Tork (if Tork were English, into leather, and knew the number of the beast). Oh and recall that "I'm A Believer" was written by Neil Diamond, in case you didn't think this was weird enough.

2. "Runnin' With The Beatles," David Lee Roth + The Beatles

David Lee Roth may have come up with the late '70s class of Sunset Strip metal, but one listen to his voice and the timeless entertainer inside Dave was apparent. Hitched to the Beatles' four-wheeled Rubber Soul rocker, Dave's California personality shines through. Here's what David Lee Roth would have sounded like fifteen years earlier.

3. "Sgt. Pepper's Paradise City," Guns n' Roses + The Beatles

Guns n' Roses and the Beatles—mashups don't get more anthemic than this. It's John and Paul singing over the music of Slash, Stradlin, McKagan, and Adler. It may get a bit awkward when the frenzied, sped-up outro kicks in, but by that point you're headbanging anyway, so who cares. You know, the Beatles really could have used more referee whistle.

4. "Come Closer Together," The Beatles + Nine Inch Nails

"Come Together" is one of the most eerie, dark entries in the Beatles' catalog. And just about everything Trent Reznor's done has been spooky. So yeah, let's mash 'em up. This may be the closest the word 'sex' has ever gotten to a Beatles' lyric. FYI: If you're familiar with "Closer," then you already know the audio is NSFW.

5. "We Will Rock And Roll Beverly Hills," Weezer + Joan Jett + Queen

Weezer, Joan Jett, Queen. That's right—three artists are mashed up here. Thanks to the blissful simplicity of all three songs in question, "We Will Rock And Roll Beverly Hills" never gets unwieldy. When you hear these songs put together, you realize that, really, all that's needed for a kickbutt rock song are distorted guitars and lyrics that don't discuss anything more complicated than wanting to rock, all delivered at a head-nodding, grinding pace.