Oh,
how the mighty sometimes come crashing
down to the ground with a great big thump.
Metallica started off the nineties right
on top of the tree, probably the #1 working
Rock 'n' Roll band in the world. Don't
get me wrong, they were never going to
challenge the likes of the true greats
of 'The Beatles', 'Led Zeppelin', etc.,
but they had just released their magnum
opus simply called ‘Metallica’
(1991) with its famous black cover, and
had toured all over the world to sell
out arenas. I will say something for Metallica,
at least they turned up in Bangkok and
were on stage for nearly four hours, unlike
our dear friends 'The Rolling Stones'.
They toured with 'Guns N’ Roses',
headlined Donnington, played at the Freddie
Mercury Tribute concert…. You name
it, they had done it, got the T-shirt,
and gone home with the match ball.
This had all begun from very humble beginnings
in 1981 by a Danish born aspiring tennis
player called Lars Ulrich. He had been
blown away by the resurgent heavy metal
scene in the United Kingdom. As a result
adverts were put in Southern Californian
newspapers seeking like-minded souls to
form an American based, head banging outfit
to play some of the music of their heroes
on the other side of the Atlantic. To
reach the stage that they were at by 1991
is a long convoluted story involving several
superb thrash metal albums on different
small labels, each album selling more
than the last, and of course constant
gigging all over the planet. Along the
way were several changes of personnel,
including the tragic death of bass player
Cliff Burton, who was killed when their
van crashed on the way back from a late
night gig, or the firing of Dave Mustaine
for trying to take over the band. Mustaine
went on to form the reasonably successful
‘Megadeath’, which he ruled
as a musical dictator for over fifteen
years. However, by 1991 the lineup was
settled with Lars Ulrich on drums, James
Hetfield on guitar and lead vocals, Kirk
Hammet on guitars, and new boy Jason Newsted
on bass.
Another five years was to slip past before
the next Metallica album was released
to great fanfares of the champions to
the ring. ‘Load’ (1996) was
released with massive publicity, including
playing the new album in theatres all
over the world. The day before its official
release people actually paid to be in
a hall to head bang along to the new recordings.
Unfortunately for the band it was not
met with high approval by the critics
or their massive fan base. After five
years of waiting they expected more than
this rather motley collection of re-hashed
riffs and rather distracted playing. ‘Load’
was not an aspiring example of what the
fans had come to expect. The backlash
for the boys in the band was horrific.
Concert attendances fell sharply and the
band was ridiculed every which way they
turned. It didn’t help either that
they simultaneously changed their dress
code with all of the band members in nice
new short hair cuts. That made them look
more like bank clerks than the bank robbers
of days of yore, and they further alienating
themselves from their long haired, denim
and leather clad hordes of fans.
To try and smooth the waters somewhat
a press statement was release by the band,
apologizing for the album. They admitted
that it probably wan’t up to snuff,
and that everything would be put right
the following year with a quickly recorded
new album, which would be back to previous
standards. Unfortunately the following
years ‘Re-Load’ (1997) was
even worse. Basically because all the
band had left was song ideas that were
rejected for ‘Load’. The band
found themselves in a situation, which
involved canoes, creeks, a long way up,
paddles, and the lack of them.
In desperation the following year Metallica
put out a covers’ album ‘Garage
Inc’, which just smacked of milking
what was left of the market. 'Guns N’
Roses' had just done the same thing with
'The Spaghetti Incident', when they were
riding the crest of their particular wave
and didn't have any products to release.
They whizzed in the studio and blast out
a whole batch of covers of your favorite
songs. Of course, David Bowie and Brian
Ferry had done similar albums of covers
in the seventies, but they managed at
least to do it with dignity.
What you get with ‘Garage Inc’
is a collection of songs recorded over
a 14-year period (1984-1998). Twenty-seven
tracks spread over two C.D’s. On
disc two the first seven tracks are with
Cliff Burton on bass, which do have a
naive enthusiasm about them, whereas most
of disc one's eleven songs were cut at
the Plant Studios with producer Bob Rock
in 1998 (who should of known better),
and lack any kind of urgency. The song
selection throughout is quite intriguing,
and about the only thing that is imaginative
about this collection. They range from
obscure British heavy metal bands like
'Mercyful Fate' to less obvious tracks
from more well known acts such as Sabbra
Cadabra by 'Black Sabbath', two from Welsh
Rocker’s 'Budgie', three from little
known British new wave of heavy metal
leaders 'Diamond Head', and to close disc
two four from 'Motorhead'. The trouble
is that every single one of these songs
were done better by the original artists.
So really, what is the point? If you want
to hear these songs done in their proper
context, please get the songs by the original
artist.
Five years later, with all members of
the band having had to come to terms with
relative failure (some of them having
to resort to re-hab after to much excess),
Jason Newsted moved his bass guitar onto
pastures new, being replaced by ex-suicidal-tendencies
bassist Robert Trujillo. The band is about
to come out with an all new album 'St.
Anger', which is due the middle of June
(2003). The world will have to wait and
see whether Metallica can snatch victory
from the jaws of defeat. Don't hold your
breath.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
