For many Metallica fans, the 1990s were a rough time. One of the biggest thrash metal bands of all time shifted gears drastically. The decade saw the band releasing their self-titled album, Load, and Reload. All three of the albums saw a band with a new look and a new sound, neither of which went over well with the majority of fans. Unfortunately, what may have been their best album of the decade often gets overlooked.
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Between Reload (1997) and St. Anger (2003), Metallica released the criminally underrated collection of cover songs, Garage Inc. in 1998. The two-disc collection included an album of newly-recorded cover songs, The $5.94 EP–Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987), B-sides from classic singles, a 32-page booklet, and more.
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Garage Inc. was a bit of a return to form for Metallica. Many of the newly recorded covers showcased the sound that made countless metalheads fall in love with the band. Their covers of Discharge’s “Free Speech for the Dumb” and “The More I See” bookend the collection and are both fast and heavy. Then, there’s the medley of songs from New Wave of British Heavy Metal heroes, Mercyful Fate, which includes “Satan’s Fall,” “Curse of the Pharaohs,” “A Corpse without Soul,” “Into the Coven,” and “Evil.” Seeing them pay homage to one of the bands that shaped their early sound was a treat for many fans.
Metallica Rolled Back the Clock with Garage Inc.
The $5.98 EP–Garage Days Re-Revisited was a holy grail item for many fans. However, the five-song release went out of print shortly after its initial release in 1987. Taking up the first handful of tracks on the second disc, the EP featured covers of songs from Diamond Head, Holocaust, Killing Joke, Budgie, and the Misfits.
The second disc also included two B-sides from their 1984 single “Creeping Death.” Both “Am I Evil” and “Blitzkrieg” featured original Metallica bassist Cliff Burton holding down the low end. At the same time, the songs had only appeared as B-sides of the single and on one re-issue of Kill ‘Em All. So, they were new to many fans.
Standout Covers on Garage Inc.
Metallica cast a wide net when putting together the tracklist for this collection. It included songs from the likes of Bob Seger, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Black Sabbath, Queen, and many more. However, some stood out from the rest. Here’s a list of some of the best covers included in the collection.
- “Mercyful Fate”–Medley of songs by Mercyful Fate
- “Astronomy” by Blue Öyster Cult
- “Die, Die My Darling” by the Misfits
- “Stone Cold Crazy” by Queen
- “Am I Evil?” by Diamond Head
- “Blitzkrieg” by Blitzkrieg
- “Last Caress/Green Hell” by the Misfits
- “Tuesday’s Gone” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
- “Sabbra Cadabra” by Black Sabbath
- “The Small Hours” by Holocaust
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