Metallica - Ron McGovney's '82 Garage (Demo) (160)

Line Up :

James Hetfield-Vocals/Guitar
Dave Mustaine-Guitar
Ron Mcgovney-Bass
Lars Ulrich-Drums

Review :

When listening to this demo, you get the feeling that this band had a lot of potential and surley they had a promising future. It's clear that this demo had been recorded during a rehearsal in a garage, the sound quality is pretty low, there is an obscure feeling on all the instruments, but you still can listen to the music and really hear it. There was a lot of energy when they recorded this demo, but the cheap sound just totally buried it.

So what we got here is three original songs (I've also got 'Mechanix' on my version) and six covers of NWOBHM bands. The covers are pretty catchy and intense, here you can check out from what Metallica started and what was their inspiration for their own material. 'Killing Time' and 'The Prince' are the best covers here, they have the catchiest riffing and the most rock'n'roll feeling, the bass is also pretty noticeable in 'The Prince', athwart the most of the tracks here.

The original songs are done pretty well, but not as they will be in future demos or 'Kill Em' All'. in 'Jump In The Fire' the guitar sounds a bit out of tuned, or it was too much vibrated. The first solo at the intro is also missing, but it's forgettable. It also played at a bit slower tempo than the final version of it, but you know, it sounds pretty intense at all. The riffing is catchy, the lead guitar doing a short but pretty piercing solo and the vocals...well, they often vanished under all the instruments, and they aren't harsh as they will be. James had a bit higher tone here and he sounds like trying to sing in a NWOBHM style, but when you get used to it, it won't sound too much irritating.

Overall it's sound decent for a garage demo, and while it isn't essential as their upcoming demos, you still can enjoy from it. Get it if you wanna listen to the first steps of one of the most important bands in the 80's.

1.	Hit The Lights	04:19	[view lyrics]
2.	Jump In The Fire	04:25	[view lyrics]
3.	Killing Time (Sweet Savage cover)	02:36	[view lyrics]
4.	Let It Loose (Savage cover)	03:10	[view lyrics]
5.	Sucking My Love (Diamond Head cover)	06:43	[view lyrics]
6.	The Prince (Diamond Head cover)	05:00	[view lyrics]
7.	Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover)	07:43	[view lyrics]
8.	Helpless (Diamond Head cover)	06:13	[view lyrics]
Total playing time		44:37

Download Link

Pass : http://demo-series.blogspot.com/

Metallica - Ride the Lightning (Demo) (320)

Line Up :

Kirk Hammett : Lead guitars
James Hetfield : Guitar, vocals
Cliff Burton : Bass
Lars Ulrich : Drums

"When Hell Freezes Over" was later retitled "The Call of Ktulu".

Review :

After the release of the famous Kill 'em All debut from Metallica, they recorded this demo, Ride the Lightning. Ride the Lightning is by far one of the best of Metallica albums, and on this demo you will be pleased to hear the infancy of song of the material. Musically, the album is similar for the most part. There are some parts I recognized that were different from the album, Ride the Lightning, but overall it's pretty similar compositionwise.

This demo features 4 early versions of some of the most popular songs from Lightning: Fight Fire With Fire, Ride the Lightning, Creeping Death, and When Hell Freezes Over (Later titled The Call of Ktulu) in the immature form. Some of the differences noticed on this demo though are the production and vocals. In the production matters of this demo, it's pretty raw and sloppy. Not as polished as the later releases of Metallica, but still very well production, especially for a demo tape.

The vocals on this release are very different from what you hear on the Ride the Lightning album itself. Sometimes can get annoying as well. You can tell that James didn't polish his vocals on this demo due to the very weak delivery through this demo. Probably one of the most horrid experiences is hearing his attempt at screaming on this release.

The guitars and drums on this release sound fucking great when raw. When these songs are played raw like on this recording, you can tell how special these songs are. In some cases the intros (Especially on Creeping Death and Ride the Lightning) sound even better on this demo version with the raw sound. The harmonics feel even more power fun throughout this release with the difference in production. Giving the demo much more life.

Overall this is a really good demo to pick up if you can find it. Shows a rawer version of the famous ride the lightning demo and definately worth a good listen or two if you can find it.

1. Fight Fire with Fire 04:44 [view lyrics] 2. Ride the Lightning 06:23 [view lyrics] 3. Creeping Death 06:50 [view lyrics] 4. When Hell Freezes Over 08:16 [view lyrics] Total playing time 26:13

Download Link

Pass : http://demo-series.blogspot.com/

Metallica - One (Ep/Demo) (320)

Line Up :

Kirk Hammett : Lead guitars
James Hetfield : Guitar, vocals
Jason Newsted : Bass
Lars Ulrich : Drums

A Japan-only EP. The live tracks were recorded on February 5th, 1989, at
Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas.

1.	One	07:24	[view lyrics]
2.	Breadfan (Budgie Cover)	05:44	[view lyrics]
3.	For Whom the Bell Tolls (live)	04:48	[view lyrics]
4.	(Welcome Home) Sanitarium (live)	06:06	[view lyrics]
5.	One (demo)	07:03	[view lyrics]
Total playing time		31:05

Download Link

Pass : http://demo-series.blogspot.com/

Metallica - Metal Up Your Ass (Demo) (192)

The band's fourth demo. A live demo, actually. The lineup is
Hetfield/Mustaine/McGovney/Ulrich.

The recording date is November 29th, 1982, at the Old Waldorf, in San
Francisco. The support band was Exodus, with Kirk Hammett on guitar, playing
their fourth or fifth live gig.

The recording was done by a boom box on stage, as opposed to from the
soundboard, due to technical difficulties with the mixing.

An eleventh song, The Prince, was played, but was not part of the demo since
the tape ran out!

Review :

Back when Metallica were good, they were definitely a force to be reckoned with - and that includes their prowess as a live band. On this album, they are still VERY rough around the edges as far as performance goes, but the raw energy is definitely there.

This is Metallica's fourth demo, and probably their least well known. It was recorded in San Francisco, on a road trip that would prove to be very useful to Metallica later - this is where they first met both Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett!

The sound quality is pretty decent, considering it is an audience recording made from a boom box! (I'm surprised that the recording wasn't totally distorted, seeing as the thing was placed right on the stage!) The performance has a few minor fuck-ups here and there - but really nothing all that unusual compared to their later drunken performances. Hetfield's vocals do kind of suck at this point in time, and Ulrich fucks up a lot, but the sheer volume of the guitars compensates for any of that silliness. Hetfield and Mustaine do a competent job playing the songs, including the solos, quite well.

As for the setlist - they played pretty much everything they had at that point, including two of their favourite Diamond Head covers: Am I Evil and The Prince (Sucking My Love was out as of mid-1982, as were covers by other bands: Killing Time, Let it Loose, and Dirty Money). "The Prince" is not on the official demo tape, as the tape ran out just after Metal Militia! However, someone in the audience recorded the whole thing, and most bootleg copies of this demo nowadays come with "The Prince" as well (albeit in worse recording quality).

Interestingly enough, this was the first Metallica demo to have cover art. I have no idea what it is, actually. When this demo tape was done, they made a cover for it, as well as for the No Life 'til Leather demo from July.

Overall - worth getting? Fuck yeah, finders keepers. Worth finding on mp3? YES! Just to piss off Lar$ :-)

1.	Hit the Lights	04:15	[view lyrics]
2.	The Mechanix	04:28	[view lyrics]
3.	Phantom Lord	04:59	[view lyrics]
4.	Jump in the Fire	04:40	[view lyrics]
5.	Motorbreath	03:05	[view lyrics]
6.	No Remorse	06:23	[view lyrics]
7.	Seek and Destroy	06:51	[view lyrics]
8.	Whiplash	04:08	[view lyrics]
9.	Am I Evil? (Diamond Head Cover)	07:50	[view lyrics]
10.	Metal Militia	05:11	[view lyrics]
Total playing time		51:50

Download Link

Pass : http://demo-series.blogspot.com/

Metallica - Jump in the Fire (Ep) (320)

Line Up :

James Hetfield : Guitars, Vocals
Kirk Hammet : Guitars
Cliff Burton : Bass
Lars Ulrich : Drums

The two songs on side B are not actually live. They were recorded in a studio,
and fake crowd noise was added. The "Whiplash" single has these two songs,
without the noise.

Reissued in Europe & Australia in 1990 on CD with the Creeping Death EP.

1.	Jump in the Fire (Album version)	04:40	[view lyrics]
2.	Seek and Destroy (Fake live)	07:04	[view lyrics]
3.	Phantom Lord (Fake live)	04:52	[view lyrics]
Total playing time		16:36

Download Link

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Metallica - No Life 'til Leather (Demo) (320)

Line Up :

James Hetfield - Guitar, Vocals
Dave Mustaine - Lead Guitar
Ron McGovney - Bass
Lars Ulrich - Drums

Metallica's famous July, 1982 demo

1.	Hit the Lights	04:19	[view lyrics]
2.	The Mechanix	04:28	[view lyrics]
3.	Motorbreath	03:18	[view lyrics]
4.	Seek & Destroy	04:55	[view lyrics]
5.	Metal Militia	05:17	[view lyrics]
6.	Jump in the Fire	03:51	[view lyrics]
7.	Phantom Lord	03:33	[view lyrics]
Total playing time		29:41

Download Link

Pass : http://demo-series.blogspot.com/