Full Metal Garage - The Songs That Drove Metallica

I've mentioned more than once how much I love a good cover album, and my clear favourite album to fall into that category is Metallica's Garage Inc. Then one day I'm casually scanning around Dr. Disc and stumble across Full Metal Garage: The Songs That Drove Metallica. It's the exact opposite of Garage Inc. It's all the original songs, by the original artsits, laid out in the exact same format as the Metallica cover album.

To be totally fair, in which I feel that I must, this album is not exactly like Garage Inc. There are only two Motorhead tracks, instead of four, and there are four tracks never found on an official Metallica album. Those are stuffed in on the end of the second disc. Also, the Mercyful Fate medley clearly can't be included, so we got two separate tracks instead. Also Bob Seger's version of Turn The Page has been left off Full Metal Garage as well. I'm okay with all of these changes, and in some cases they make this album better.

Now I know I normally do songs in the order that they appear on the CD, cassette, or vinyl, but never on the eight track. That's forgotten technology. However, in the case of this double disc collection I'm going to change things up a bit, since I've reviewed a fair amount of these songs already. So, let me first present you the track list, which will be followed by all songs I haven't reviewed, and then those will be followed by songs I have already covered. I'm also going to cheap out a bit and use most of the original writings for those songs.

As I've mentioned they laid this out just like Garage Inc. which means Discharge's Free Speech For The Dumb kicks off the album. This song is fast, furious, and wicked bitchin'. It also only contains one line which is slightly mod'd on repeat, "Free speech for the dumb".

Then it's a Diamond Head tune (you can read below), followed by Sabbra Cadabra. This is not one of Black Sabbath's more popular songs, unless you are a Sabbath fan, and I am. They are number two, right behind Alice Cooper, and Metallica follows them. When it comes to this song, not only does it get me wet, but it mellows me right the fuck out. I especially love when the song hits the two minute marker. Then all this kick ass Jazz inspired trippy stuff kicks in and the song becomes so beautiful. Metallica opted to inject a section from Spiral Architect in here instead, which was also really awesome, but I'll stick with the original.

Track four on Garage Inc. is Turn The Page, on here instead we get The Misfits Die Die My Darling. This makes me very happy. I'm cool with the first song, but not that cool with it. Die Die My Darling is another story all together. If you read my review for Danzig III you'll know about a Tim McCready helping introduce me to Danzig, but that included Samhein and The Misfits as well. Which means I've been a fan of this killer Punk classic for a very long time. However, it was the bassist from the same band that Tim was in that actually hooked me up with The Misfits. Ian Clary sold me a copy of The Misfits' first collection, which was how I spent years blasting this song before having this collection.

My first introduction to Nick Cave was through the song Loverman, on Garage Inc. The original version on this collection is a million times better than the cover. The production is not only amazing, but vocal performance is phenomenal. I enjoyed this song so much that I ended up borrowing various Nick Cave CD's off my buddy Ben Denes so I could absorb more. The funny thing is that it was the same Ian mentioned above that introduced Ben to Nick Cave, if memory serves. Now when it comes to this song my favourite part is the way he whispers "I'll say it again / L is for LOVE, baby / O is for O yes I do / V is for VIRTUE, so I ain't gonna hurt you / E is for EVEN if you want me to / R is for RENDER unto me, baby / M is for that which is MINE / A is for ANY old how, darling / N is for ANY old time." This is so sexy and scary, and everything that I love in music, including that epic feel. Oddly the Metallica version does not give me the same vibe.

Earlier I wrote about how we got to Merciful Fate tracks on this colelction, because they clearly couldn't give us the medley that Metallica performed. I love that medley. I love that medley so much that's it's the song I play the most on Guitar Hero Metallica. However, if it were not for the production value on the original tracks I would say that they are just as good, if not better than the cover mix. Well, that and the vocals. I like James' growl on these tracks much more than King Diamond's high pitched wail.

The two tracks Cruse Of The Pharaohs and Evil are both amazing, and you can see how this band was an influence on Metallica, especially in the early days. The speed, the attack, the skill, the talent, the Metal, it's all there. The tempo it a bit slower in feel than the Metallica mix, but I think a lot of that has to do with the production I've already complained about. Also, I should mention that these two songs are on here, because of the four songs that make up the medley, these two are almost entirely played, while the other two are used more for fillers and bridges.

I've been into Blue Oyster Cult for a very long time. In fact I was a fan of BOC before I was a fan of Metallica. However, I never knew about this beautiful piano track. At least that's how it starts off, and I'm not talking about some stupid keyboard sounding crap either. I mean a real piano that has just the perfect amount of reverb on it. However, once that piano stops the Metallica cover becomes a lot better. It's amazing how much production can have an effect on a song. If this song had been re-recorded by the original group in the modern age I think it would be just as heavy, if not heavier than the Metallica version. After all this is the same band that gave us Godzilla and Don't Fear The Reaper.

My dad had me listening to Thin Lizzy when I was a kid. I remember that Jailbreak album cover very well, and when I think about it it saddens me that I never got to hear that actual vinyl spin. My mother was a ball busting bitch that couldn't handle Rock being cranked on the home stereo, so it was only in the car with dubbed cassettes that I got to experience the album with my dad. Whiskey In The Jar was not on that album, I didn't discover that tune until I bought Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy. I can't remember if I bought this album, right before or right after Garage Inc. came out, so I don't remember which one I heard first. I can say that I enjoy both equally, but the Metallica version is the cover that holds the place in my heart. You can't beat an Irish drinking song.

The first album ends with another Discharge cover, as it should. The More I See, much like Free Speech For The Dumb contains a basic line that keeps being altered. "The more I see / The less, the less I believe". There are some other lines in there as well, but they sound like fun little adlibs. I can see why Metallica covered these guys twice on the same collection. The riffs are fun, fast, and furious, while the lyrics are simple and don't require much care or attention. It's the perfect song to nail down real quick and enjoy while doing it. Also you could play this one live every night and not care about how you may start getting bored of it.

The second disc starts off with Diamond Head's Helpless, which you can read about a little bit below, before it kicks into Holocaust's The Small Hours. If you are familiar with Metallica's version of this song, then you might think that they screwed up and put that version on here instead, or that Metallica didn't actually record a version and just put the original on Garage Days Re-Revisited. They both sound pretty much exactly the same, right down to vocal effects and guitar tone. However, the subtle differences have me leaning toward the original as being the better version. It's just that much more creepy and omin0us. It's almost Proto-Goth, and it is my favourite song on the second disc.

Killing Joke's The Wait is fantastic. It's fast, furious, and rips it up like no one's business. I love James Hetfield's vocals much better than the ones on the original, but that's the only point where I feel a need to say anything about the differences. This song is really just totally killer, and I can see why Metallica covered it. I would too.

Budgie was the very first band I ever went searching for after hearing a Metallica cover version. I had stumbled across a couple CD's of theirs, neither containing one of the two songs I know. I never looked for another Budgie CD again. If I had had this collection prior to that point I never would have started looking in the first place. Both Crash Course In Brain Surgery, and Breadfan are much better as Metallica covers. The originals are decent enough, but they don't have the punch, kick, or power of the versions I knew first.

Blitzkrieg, by the group with the same name as the song, is okay, but it doesn't do much for me. I've always found this song pretty stock sounding. There are some cool parts to it, but for the most part I just skip this one, no matter which version it is.

After that is Breadfan, which I've already mentioned my views on. I love the Metallica version of this song. Really not so big on the original. It's still really good, but the vocalist is the big turn off for me on this track.

If there is any song I have come to love just based on the pure vulgarity it's Anti Nowhere League's So What. I have played this song live, and will always play it live with any band that will let me. I love howling lines like "Well I've fucked a sheep / And I've fucked a goat / I've had my cock right down its throat / So what, so what / So what, so what you boring little cunt / Well who cares, who cares what you do / Who cares, who cares about you / You, you, you, you". Musically, it's a just a fast punk song.

The only song on this collection that isn't an original recording is Sweet Savage's Killing Time. This is the version recorded in 1996. I can't remember off the top of my head if this was due to losing the original recording, or the fact that they just wanted a better sounding version. However, I will say that this song is where I think Lars got the idea to turn the snare off for the St. Anger album.

The last four songs on the second disc are songs that have never technically been Metallica covers, however two of the four versions are performed by Metallica. The first one is Savage's Let It Loose. The only version I knew prior to buying this CD was a really poor quality bootleg from Metallica's early days. I'm much happier to have this version now, because it sounds a million times better, but it doesn't really peak my interest all that much. Most of the time it comes on I kind of ignore it.

The other bootleg cover I have is Sucking My Love, which you can read a little lower down the page.

They opted to put another Savage track on here call Dirty Money, which I had never mentioned prior to this. I'm not sure if Metallica would have personally included this song themselves, but I know I wouldn't have. They should have included Motorhead's Stone Dead Forever, which was covered by Metallica, instead. Jaguar's Stormchild sounds a lot like a Deep Purple track. In fact I often think it is. It's not a bad tune, but yet again I would have picked something else instead. It's not an overly impressive song to me.

And now for all the songs I've written about before.

It's Electric is a good song, but the production on the intro sucks ass. It sounds like they didn't quite cue the tape right and the first half second is spliced in wrong. I will say that the Metallica cover is much better than this version, but I think it's because this song needs to sound thicker than the production this album has to offer.

I hate Lynyrd Skynyrd's Tuesday's Gone. This song is ass. I don't like this version. I don't like Metallica's cover. I don't like this song. It's like they decided to take a great idea, slower, more soulful sourthern music, and then totally fuck up the formula. I love songs like Free Bird and Simple Man, which are great songs that take their time to reach epicness. But, it's good epicness and not this slow sissy ballad shit. Quit your fucking whining.

Helpless is a great song. I think that it's the perfect lead off track instead in this collection. This is a track where I think the thin production hurts the song a bit. For the time it was fantastic, and the music is phenomenal, but it could have sounded better, and would have today.

The most popular Diamond Head song, Am I Evil, is great. You know it, as it is performed by Metallica, or at least you should. It was on the CD release of Kill 'Em All until 1995 or '96. It's played live at almost every Metallica show as well. In fact most common people would argue this is more a Metallica song than a Diamond Head song. Those people are morons and shouldn't be allowed to speak. If they have ever listened to this original version, they would hear that Metallica did a really good job of covering a spectacular song. However, this version is better.

Just so we are clear, I don't like The Prince. I don't like Metallica's version. I don't like Diamond Head's version. I just don't care for the song. I don't have a good reason, and that will just have to be good enough for you, because I don't have anything better. I think this song is weaker than the next one, and the next one is either about vampires or oral sex, depending on the day of the week you ask certain members of the band.

Overkill is one of the heaviest, hardest, thundering songs I have ever heard. It is the perfect mix of Hard/Metal/Punk. This song makes Thrash Metal it's bitch, after snorting a line of coke and sodomizing anything that musically resembles Deathklok, has to offer. Oh yeah, the song doesn't have just one fake ending. It comes back to skull fuck you twice with bone rattling fury. It's the perfect overkill. Also Motorhead is the band that can cover a Metallica song, and do it better than the original, and as good as Metallica covers this band, James is no Lemmy, and Lemmy is God.

Too Late Too Late, does nothing for me. It was a b-side because it wasn't good enough to make the album. That's how I see it anyway.

"Over and under, do you go down to the sea / Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Sweet and timely caress, dear babe fulfillin' me / I can feel her heart, it is beating down inside / Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty / Into her valley, all her charms taste of love / Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Fragrance of my dreams, yeah go down, take my love / Oh yeah, yeah / Taste my bitter wine, cos there's something boiling up inside / Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah / Tasty, tasty, tasty, tasty / Faster......love.... / Make me go..... / Shoot me / Faster, faster / Love, sucking my love / Oh Lord, sucking my love / Oh Lord, sucking my love". These are the words that make up Sucking My Love, the only song Metallica has covered from Diamond Head, but never officially released. I can understand why, but at the same time I think it's a great song musically. At least it's better than The Prince. It has a great guitar riff, the bass is doing what bass is supposed to do, and the vocals are full of echo for dramatic effect. There's also a bunch of improved moans in those lyrics as well, which help set the tone for this song even better. Also the wind chimes add that magical touch this song needs as well.

All in all I am beyond happy that I bought this collection. The way it introduced me to bands that I now know are worth checking out helps make it all worth wild. But, the fact that I'm able to hear that there are bands out there that to this day no one can properly replicate, or are just amazing musicians for me to discover gets me off in very unique ways. If you can find this set, don't think twice, just buy it. The only down side to this album is the old production, which you can really hear on some tracks.

8/10 - content

7/10 - production

9/10 - personal bias