Metallica demos
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Metallica recorded several demos throughout their career, some of which were very notable and now are much sought after as collectibles. The following is a chronology of Metallica demos:
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[edit] Ron McGovney's '82 Garage Demo
This is a demo tape that was never officially released, however the tape found wide circulation both in full and partial versions. The demo contains two original songs, Hit The Lights and Jump In The Fire along with six covers songs, one of which is Sweet Savage cover and a cover of a Savage song and four Diamond Head covers. Hit The Lights and Jump In The Fire were later released on the No Life 'Til Leather demo and eventually made it onto the band's debut album, Kill 'Em All. Most of the covers can be found in the band's much later album, Garage Inc.. The demo was recorded in Ron McGovney's garage on March 14, 1982.
[edit] Sleeve
[edit] Track listing
- Hit The Lights 4:19
- Jump In The Fire 4:25
- Killing Time(Sweet Savage cover) 2:36
- Let It Loose(Savage cover) 3:10
- Sucking My Love(Diamond Head cover) 6:43
- The Prince(Diamond Head cover) 5:00
- Am I Evil?(Diamond Head cover) 7:43
- Helpless(Diamond Head cover) 6:13
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Ron McGovney (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
[edit] Power Metal Demo
Power Metal was a demo recorded sometime in April 1982. Although the demo was never officially released, it was given the bootleg name Power Metal and contained four original songs by Metallica. It also contained "The Mechanix", which was the first song for the band written by Dave Mustaine and "Motorbreath", which was written solely by James Hetfield.
[edit] Sleeve
[edit] Track Listing
- Hit The Lights 4:18
- Jump In The Fire 3:55
- The Mechanix 4:47
- Motorbreath 3:23
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Ron McGovney (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
[edit] No Life 'Til Leather
No Life 'Til Leather is Metallica's widely circulated demo tape featuring Dave Mustaine on lead guitar. All the tracks are early recordings of songs that would later appear on the band's Kill 'Em All album. The track listing on Kill 'Em All is the same as that on the demo tape, save the addition of Cliff Burton's bass solo "(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", "Whiplash", "No Remorse" and "The Mechanix" (the latter of which was re-written by Metallica as "The Four Horsemen").
The demo has been re-released twice so far unofficially, first under the title of Metallica—Bay Area Thrashers, and was alleged to be a live bootleg recording of Metallica in the early days, however all 'live' sounds had been added from various sources including the Metallica video Cliff 'Em All. Soon this was discovered by Metallica and all copies were removed from stores. The second time it was re-released was under the title Metallica—In the Beginning... Live, which is exactly the same as Metallica—Bay Area Thrashers, but simply with a new title.
This is the most well-known Metallica demo, showing the band's New Wave Of British Heavy Metal roots very clearly. The tracks are quite similar to the final versions on Kill 'Em All, apart from the modified lyrics for "The Mechanix" and "Jump In The Fire". "The Mechanix", a Mustaine written composition, turned into Metallica's own "The Four Horsemen". Mustaine recorded his own version of "The Mechanix" on Megadeth's debut album Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! The album, along with two other songs, can be found floating on many peer-to-peer networks under the moniker "One Last Visit".
[edit] Sleeve
[edit] Track listing
- "Hit the Lights" 4:19
- "The Mechanix" 4:28
- "Motorbreath" 3:18
- "Seek & Destroy" 4:55
- "Metal Militia" 5:17
- "Jump in the Fire" 3:51
- "Phantom Lord" 3:33
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Ron McGovney (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums, Percussion)
[edit] Metal Up Your Ass
Metal Up Your Ass is a now legendary live demo recorded on November 29, 1982, at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. The support band was Exodus, with their soon-to-be lead guitarist Kirk Hammett on guitar. The band played all their original material (nine songs) that they had written until that point, which included all the songs from their previous demo No Life 'Til Leather and two new songs (which were later released on the Megaforce demo). Two cover songs of English NWOBHM legend Diamond Head were played, "Am I Evil?" and "The Prince", however the Prince was not recorded as the tape had run out. Both the album cover and name Metal Up Your Ass were to be used as the bands first album name and sleeve. However, the record company convinced them to change it to Kill 'Em All.
[edit] Sleeve
[edit] Track listing
- Hit The Lights 4:15
- The Mechanix 4:28
- Phantom Lord 4:59
- Jump In The Fire 4:40
- Motorbreath 3:05
- No Remorse 6:23
- Seek & Destroy 6:51
- Whiplash 4:08
- Am I Evil? 7:50
- Metal Militia 5:11
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Ron McGovney (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
[edit] Horsemen Of The Apocalypse
The Horsemen of the Apocalypse was a demo recorded in early 1983. The demo contained fresh material by the band along with a live recording of "The Prince". The two songs did not appear on Metallica's first album but instead appeared on their second album, Ride The Lightning. Both "Fight Fire With Fire" and "Ride The Lightning" were later re-recorded on the Ride The Lightning Demos which were improved with input from Cliff Burton.
[edit] Sleeve
[edit] Track listing
- Fight Fire With Fire 4:44
- Ride The Lightning 6:37
- The Prince (live)
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Ron McGovney (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
[edit] Megaforce Demo
This demo was recorded in 1983 and was the first demo recorded with Cliff Burton and the last demo recorded with Dave Mustaine. The demo was designed to introduce Cliff to potential record labels and landed the band a deal with Megaforce Records. The demo was also played live on KUSF FM in San Francisco. It contained two new songs which had not been previously released. The demo received several names including The Megaforce Demo (due to it landing a deal with Megaforce Records), The KUSF Demo (due to it being played on KUSF FM) and The Whiplash/No Remorse Demo.
[edit] Track Listing
- Whiplash
- No Remorse 5:38
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar)
- Cliff Burton (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
[edit] Ride The Lightning Demos
This demo was recorded on October 9, 1983 and contained the original material Metallica had written that did not make it onto Kill 'Em All. Two of the tracks had already been released on the bands Horsemen Of The Apocalypse demo. Both "Ride the Lightning" and When Hell Freezes Over (later re-named "The Call Of Ktulu") were partially written by Dave Mustaine. Both "Fight Fire with Fire" and "Ride the Lightning" had been changed from their original version due to input from Cliff Burton.
[edit] Track Listing
- Fight Fire With Fire 4:44
- Ride The Lightning 6:37
- Creeping Death 6:36
- When Hell Freezes Over 8:16
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Kirk Hammett (Lead Guitar)
- Cliff Burton (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
- Dave Mustaine (Writing credits on Ride The Lightning and When Hell Freezes Over)
[edit] Master Of Puppets Demos
This demo was recorded on July 14, 1985 and was essentially a rehearsal more than it was a demo but was released nevertheless. The demo included five songs that were taken ahead to their next album however had two takes of the song Disposable Heroes.
[edit] Track Listing
- Disposable Heroes (take 1)
- Disposable Heroes (take 2)
- Battery 5:12
- Welcome Home
- Orion
- Master Of Puppets
[edit] Personnel
- James Hetfield (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
- Kirk Hammett (Lead Guitar)
- Cliff Burton (Bass Guitar)
- Lars Ulrich (Drums)
