The $5.98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited
Metallica is one of the most Influential metal bands in history.
With classic albums such as “Master Of Puppets” and “The Black Album” they are truly an amazing band.
After Cliff Burton’s untimely death in 1986 due to a tour bus accident the remaining band mates were of course looking for a new bassist.
Jason Newstead was added to the band and Metallica decided to release a little EP featuring Jason as soon as possible before working on their next major album.
So that was when “The $5.98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited” was thought up. Featuring six cover songs of bands such “Diamond Head” and “The Misfits”.
Metallica at the time was:
- James Hetfield -- Rhythm Guitar & Vocals
- Lars Ulrich -- Drums
- Kirk Hammet -- Guitar
- Jason Newstead -- Bass
1)Helpless (6:38) - Starts with just the drums then the other instruments kick in, soon after that the verse starts. The overall sound is a lot more punk than what Metallica has done before, saying that though they still manage to keep the heavy/thrashy feeling which is one of the things that I really like about the cover songs that Metallica do. Kirk adds in a nice guitar solo around the five minute mark which really adds to the song. Overall a good, fast and catchy start to the $5.98 EP. 4/5
2)The Small Hours (6:43) - Starts with a very spooky acoustic riff with the high hat keeping the beat in the background. Soon after the drums come in then a distorted guitar comes in and everything goes heavier. The lyrics in the song are very catchy and I often find myself humming them to myself. Around 4:25 there is a guitar solo, I don’t like it as much as most of Kirk’s solo but it stills adds to the song. Overall a good song but gets a bit repetitive at parts. 3.5/5
3)The Wait (4:55) - This is my favorite song from this EP. Starts with a heavily distorted guitar doing some power chords then somebody (Lars I think) shouts “one, two, three, four” in the background. At that point the rest of the instruments join in to make a heavy, slightly grungy sound. Then the verse starts with strange slightly robotic sounding vocals. Many people say that the chorus is boring and repetitive, I actually disagree with that, it is certainly repetitive but it is also very catchy. After three and a half minutes then the guitar solo starts, it’s a bit grungier than what Kirk usually does but it’s still a good solo. After that the chorus is just repeated until the end. Overall a good song with a slightly grungy feel. 4.5/5
4)Crash Course In Brain Surgery (3:10) - The shortest track off the EP and also one of the shortest songs Metallica has ever recorded. Starts with a cool yet simple bass solo. After several bars of that the rest of the instruments join in, again a bit more of a punk sound than Metallica usually does. After about forty seconds the verse starts with James doing some solid vocals. At about 1:52 the band keeps stopping after playing one note at the beginning of each bar, in the spaces in between you can hear people cheering in the background and stuff. Then after about ten seconds of that all the instruments come back in again and there is a sweet guitar solo. Then for about ten seconds there are some bass fills. Then after that there is another verse until the end. Overall a really good song which shows off some of Jason’s skill with the bass. 4/5
5)Last Caress/Green Hell (3:29) - In my opinion this is the weakest song off the EP. With weird, aggressive and sometimes even perverted lyrics this song really is a bit immature for such a great band like Metallica. With lines like “I killed your baby today, it doesn’t matter much to me as long as it stays dead” and “I raped your mother today, it doesn’t matter much to me as long as she stays spread”. I really don’t have much more to say about this song, it’s poppy, immature and doesn’t show the talent that Metallica has shown in previous efforts. It is the kind of song that you would listen to at a party when you and all your friends are completely dead drunk and don’t really care too much about how the music sounds. 2/5
Overall this is a very good EP. It shows off Metallica’s talent of covering songs while still being able to add they’re own style and feeling to the songs they’re playing.
That’s why it gets a 3.5/5
Note: I am only 12 and this is my first review so take it easy on me alright, I do want some constructive criticism though. R.I.P. Cliff Burton
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