Posts Tagged ‘Dave Mustaine’
Listen to Metallica’s Megaforce demo
Invisible Oranges has gotten their hands on Metallica’s two song demo from 1983, commonly known as the Megaforce demo since it led to a recording deal with Megaforce Records.
This is an interesting artifact of Metallica’s history because it is the only Metallica recording which features both Dave Mustaine and Cliff Burton. It also was the band’s first recording with Burton.
The demo includes the songs “Whiplash” and “No Remorse,” both of which ended up on the band’s debut LP Kill ‘Em All.
As expected, the quality of the demos is pretty sloppy, but it’s an interesting look at a band in its gestation period. It also allows fans to compare the guitar work of Mustaine with that of his eventual replacement Kirk Hammett. And in my opinion, Hammett was the much better choice (the only choice?) for Metallica. He’s the perfect lead guitarist for them, and his solos on those two songs, as compared to Mustaine’s, show why. Mustaine could play fast, sure; but the soloing felt lifeless. Most people hail Mustaine as a technical wizard when it comes to soloing, but I’d rather have a guy like Hammett who can breathe new life into a song through his guitar work.
Of course, these are only demos, so it’s probably not fair to bash Mustaine too hard. Still, count me as part of Team Kirk.
-Sam
