Review of Full Metal Garage Album by Various Artists

Various Artists "Full Metal Garage"
The Songs that Drove Metallica
Album Review

Various Artists Full Metal Garage Album

A relatively uncommon concept this really – instead of an album of people paying tribute to their heroes with a compilation of covers of one artist's work, what we have here is all the cover versions and influences of one band, namely the mighty Metallica, performed by the original artists.

This intriguing prospect would seem to be of interest to two camps. Firstly Metallica fans get to see and hear the influences and musical roots of their heroes, and secondly anyone with a desire to explore the roots of the genre that is Thrash Metal gets a perfect window to the scene through this collection.

There is a distinct, and particular blend of both New Wave of British Heavy Metal influences, and both US and UK punk. It was this blend that shaped the Metallica sound so strongly. The punk tracks stem from the more extreme end of the genre. The Misfits "Die Die my Darling" and Discharge's "The More I See" are classic punk anthems, whilst on the NWOBHM front the likes of Diamond Head and Budgie have that sense of energy that distinguished the genre from its predecessors. Somewhere in the no-man's land between punk and metal lurk the awesome Motorhead.

A strange collection purely on its own merits perhaps, but for Metallica fans this is a fantastic and rewarding mix.

Richard Edge

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