They might be stadium rock superstars now, however similar to each different band Metallica started out playing cover versions in a garage. In recognition of the inspiration they have received from heroes and friends alike, the quartet have officially released nearly 40 covers and, considerably ridiculously, have even won Grammys for 2 of them – their takes on Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy and Thin Lizzy’s Whiskey In The Jar. Neither track, nonetheless, makes it into our list of the band’s 10 greatest covers…
10. Tuesday’s Gone (Initially recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
Sloppy as hell, however undeniably charming, Metallica’s live-in-the-studio version of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s travelling man epic, recorded on December 17, 1997, features cameos from Alice In Chains duo Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney, ex-Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin, Primus’ Les Claypool, COC’s Pepper Keenan, Blues Traveller man John Popper and Skynyrd’s personal last man standing, Gary Rossington. Skynyrd fanatic Cliff Burton would absolutely have authorized.
9. Remember Tomorrow (Initially recorded by Iron Maiden)
Recorded for Iron Maiden tribute album Maiden Heaven in the course of the final weeks of tracking 2008’s Death Magnetic album, Lars Ulrich acknowledges that Steve Harris and Paul Di’Anno’s 1980 power ballad was “principally the blueprint for songs like Fade To Black and …Sanitarium.” By the way, Ulrich truly noticed Di’Anno’s final show with Maiden, on the Odd Fellows Mansion in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 10, 1981.
8. When A Blind Man Cries (Initially recorded by Deep Purple)
Metallica’s contribution to the 2012 Classic Rock magazine-curated Re-Machined: A Tribute To Deep Purple’s Machine Head collection was initially the B-side of Purple’s 1972 single By no means Earlier than. Having first seen the British rock legends in live performance on the age of 9, Lars Ulrich inducted the band into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame earlier this yr, and Metallica’s delicate treatment of this deep cut is equally respectful.
7. Blitzkrieg (Initially recorded by Blitzkrieg)
Nowhere is Metallica’s debt to the NWOBHM extra specific than right here, their tackle the hard-riffing B-side of Blitzkrieg’s 1981 single Buried Alive. Recorded for the B-side of the Creeping Death single, the Leicester band’s titular anthem was truly the primary cover music Metallica performed in entrance of a paying viewers, at their debut show in Anaheim, on March 14, 1982 [The Hetfield/Ulrich unique Hit The Lights, appropriately, was the world’s introduction to the then LA-based band]
6. Turn The Page (Initially recorded by Bob Seger)
When Lars Ulrich first heard Bob Seger’s Turn The Page (initially featured on the Michigan singer-songwriter’s Back In ’72 album) whereas driving throughout San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge he heard “James [Hetfield] throughout it.” Recorded for the Garage Inc, album in autumn 1998, Hetfield duly instils a way of quiet nobility into Seger’s meditative lyric about life on the road for a touring musician.
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