Thanks to Fearless Records, here’s where it all started.

Throughout high school, YouTube was my go-to for playing music. Most importantly, it was how I found new music. Starting on a homepage recommendation, I would go through music videos on YouTube using just the suggestions along the side. This brought me to a lot of new and fantastic bands. In the YouTube suggestions, I eventually found Punk Goes…, a compilation album series, specifically a compilation of punk covers. The first song I found was a cover of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Mayday Parade featuring Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil.

From the Punk Goes Pop vol. 5, this was the first song that got me excited about the series and cover songs in general.

An Introduction to Fearless Records

It all began with Fearless Records, a record label company founded in 1994. This southern California company built its name upon punk rock, with artists like Pierce the Veil, Breathe Carolina, I Prevail, Motionless in White, Get Scared and Plain White T’s. Six years later, they decided to do something different and created the Punk Goes… series. These albums showcase various punk bands, giving a fresh new twist to popular songs.

In 2000, Fearless Records released its first album of Punk Goes…, Punk Goes Metal. With 17 tracks in the album, it provides metal songs from the 80s and 90s with a punk flavour. “Breaking the Law” by Divit and “Heaven Isn’t Too Far Away” by New Found Glory are two songs on the album. It also showcases other musicians, such as Death by Stereo, Jughead’s Revenge, and Ten Foot Pole.

Since the release of their first album, Punk Goes… is the top-selling compilation album for the alternative genre. Over 2.5 million albums have been sold. This series has quite a versatile range of cover albums, including covers themed around songs such as Crunk, Christmas, acoustic, and classic rock. Their most famous album is the Punk Goes Pop album. As of June 2017, they have seven volumes just for punk covers of pop songs.

Over the past 17 years, they have compiled a fantastic roster of bands and recorded some phenomenal music. Here are a few of my favourites from the Punk Goes… series.

Punk Goes Pop Highlights

 “Grenade” by Memphis May Fire (Punk Goes Pop 5)

“Billie Jean” by Breathe Carolina (Punk Goes Pop 5)

 “Torn” by Hands Like Houses (Punk Goes 90s Vol. 2)

Don’t forget to check out Fearless Records and tell me what you think of their Punk Goes… series in the comments!