Garage Days Re-Revisited

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Lore & Background

With Monsters of Rock at Castle Donington approaching, UK label Vertigo Records urged the band to release new material. Initial songwriting with Jason Newsted yielded only a demo for "Blackened," but disaster struck when vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield broke his arm skateboarding, halting guitar work for weeks. Facing these obstacles, Metallica chose to record covers of their favorite songs instead of pushing new originals. Newsted used his construction worker experience to soundproof Lars Ulrich's garage in El Cerrito, California, turning it into a rehearsal space. While rehearsing Paralex's "White Lightning," Kirk Hammett switched to Killing Joke's "The Wait," which the band then recorded. They also considered dropping tracks like Bow Wow's "Signal Fire" and Gaskin's "I'm No Fool." The Misfits' "Last Caress" and "Green Hell" were combined into one track despite originating five years apart on different albums. The EP ends with a wildly off-key segment of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," sparking speculation about mid-80s tensions between the British legends and American newcomers.

In Their Own Story

The band intentionally titled the release $5.98 E.P. to prevent retailers from overcharging fans, even including a cassette sticker that read: "If they try to charge more, STEAL IT!" The official US CD title was amended to The $9.98 CD due to higher retail prices, while other countries like Australia kept the original title with a sticker clarifying it referred to the name, not the price. UK pressings omitted "The Wait" to comply with local industry rules on EP length. After going out of print from 1989 until 2018, the original release became a prized collector's item. All five tracks were eventually included on the 1998 double album Garage Inc., which reused the cover art by taping pictures of the band members' c. 1998 faces over the original faces and covering the original album name. In 2018, Blackened Recordings reissued the EP, making it available in vinyl format.

Reader's Guide

To understand this unique release, note the specific personnel: James Hetfield on rhythm guitar and vocals, Kirk Hammett on lead guitar, Jason Newsted on bass (credited as "Master J Newkid"), and Lars Ulrich on drums. Production was handled by Metallica themselves, described in liner notes as "not very produced," with engineer Csaba "The Hut" Petocz assisting Greg Dennen and Marnie Riley. Recording and mixing took place at A&M and Conway Studios. Original mastering was done by Ron Lewter at The Mastering Lab, while remastering for later releases was handled by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. The original North American vinyl release arranged tracks 1 and 2 on Side A, with tracks 3, 4, and 5 on Side B.

Did You Know?

• Jason Newsted used his construction worker skills to soundproof Lars Ulrich's garage for rehearsals.
• The EP title was set at $5.98 specifically to stop retailers from overcharging, with a cassette sticker warning fans to "STEAL IT!" if charged more.
• Kirk Hammett accidentally triggered the recording of Killing Joke's "The Wait" while rehearsing Paralex's "White Lightning."
• UK pressings omitted "The Wait" to comply with local music-industry rules regarding EP length limits.
• The outro features a wildly off-key version of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," sparking rumors of a feud between the bands.