martindavey87 Having barely mourned the loss of bassist Cliff Burton after his sudden and tragic death, Metallica were back in the studio, breaking in newcomer Jason Newsted with this short collection of covers.

'The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited' (bit of a mouthful, that) is a nice little E.P. that shows that even at a young age, Metallica were always good at doing cover versions, although the song choices themselves are quite obscure and certainly not the most exciting. I mean, let's be honest, how many people can honestly say they were Diamond Head fans or Holocaust fans before Metallica covered them?

With that said, the band are on point here, and although this release was mostly meant for fun, it still shows a band full of ambition and enthusiasm. With production that, whilst sounding rough in places, fits the music perfectly and gives just the right amount of punch and grittiness.

Any praise or criticisms aside, there's really no point in tracking this down these days. I say this because all five songs offered here appear on the 'Garage Inc.' album, a compilation of newly recorded and every previously released cover Metallica have done. And unless you're a collector looking to own everything, you're better off just getting that.

Vim Fuego Putting the five tracks from ‘Garage Days Re-Revisited’ onto ‘Garage Inc.’ was the last decent thing Metallica did for their fans. ‘Garage Inc.’ is basically an extended version of this EP, and includes much of the material there was no room for on the 1987 release and some versions of the original ‘Garage Days Re-Revisited’ contained only four tracks. While purists and collectors whine about their original mint condition vinyl copies of this much sought after covers EP being devalued, the rest of us can fully appreciate this recording for what it is - one of the great bands in metal fucking about, fucking up and having fun.

Metallica needed a break from touring after losing bass legend Cliff Burton in a bus accident in 1986, but when they were due to enter the studio to start recording album number four, James Hetfield broke his arm skateboarding. While Hetfield recovered, the band messed around playing covers in a converted garage. The band decided to record a few of them to introduce the world to Burton’s replacement Jason Newsted, and threw together this EP in six spontaneous, fun filled days.

From the moment “Helpless” kicks off, it’s apparent this is like no other Metallica album. Gone are the slick, clean studio production values of ‘Master of Puppets’. Hetfield’s famous rhythm guitar holds a fuzzier, less distinct tone than usual. Lars Ulrich’s drums sound spontaneous, and you can almost see the grin on his impish face as he flails away at the cymbals and hammers his kick drums. Kirk Hammet’s solo in the song differs from his usual fare, following the NWOBHM feel of the Diamond Head original. Jason “Newkid” is allowed some room to play a little, and pulls off a nice bass run a couple of minutes into the song. The song fades out, then back in again, as no one seems quite sure where to finish the song, in a gloriously sloppy finale.

“The Small Hours”, originally by Holocaust, has a darker, almost doomy feel to it. The main riff however, sounds like pure Metallica, a perfectly example of where the band found inspiration. The song builds and progresses through several riffs, like much of Metallica’s material from ‘Ride The Lightning’ onwards.

The cover of Killing Joke’s “The Wait” is more of an oddity. It is completely unlike the band had ever recorded before. The distorted vocals, almost mechanical percussion, and the robotic, staccato rhythm guitar are far removed from Metallica’s more organic sound, but perhaps hinted at the dry, precise direction the band were to take on ‘…And Justice For All’.

On Budgie’s groove laden “Crash Course In Brain Surgery”, Metallica were not keen on the mellow middle section, so replaced it with a drunken chorus of shouting and whooping.

The double hit of “Last Caress/Green Hell”, originally by The Misfits, shows where the spit and fury of ‘Kill ‘Em All’ came from. The deliberately offensive and decidedly dodgy lyrics were far removed from anything Metallica had ever written, but the song gave the band a chance to thrash about carefree. The Misfits were one of Cliff Burton’s favourite bands (apparently Dave Mustaine had never heard of them before meeting Burton), and the dodgy Misfits tattoo on his arm was one of his trademarks, so it was a bit of a tribute to him too. The tuneless intro to Iron Maiden’s “Run To The Hills” at the end of the song perfectly captures the spontaneous spirit of this EP.

Much of “Garage Days Re-Revisited” is poorly executed by Metallica’s exacting standards, but to this day it is a firm favourite of Metal fans the world over because of it’s spontaneity and the way it captures Metallica’s now long lost original spirit.

UMUR "The $5.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited" is an EP released in 1987 by US thrash metal act Metallica. The tracks on the EP were rehearsed in drummer Lars Ulrich's garage, but recorded at the A & M and Conway Studios in Los Angeles, California in July 1987. This is the first release by the band to feature the then new bassist Jason Newsted after the death of original bassist Cliff Burton in a tragic tour bus accident on the 27th of September 1986 near Dörarp, Sweden. So the EP served as a kind of welcome to the new kid (Jason Newsted is referred to as Jason Newkid in the liner notes) but also to mourn the loss of Cliff Burton and then move on. The CD re-release of the EP was re-titled "The $9.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited" to reflect the changed price for the CD version. The original intention with putting the price on the front cover and in the title of the EP was trying to ensure that the fans didn´t pay overprice. Both the Vinyl and the CD releases have been out of print for years. "The $5.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited" was also included in the "The Good, the Bad and the Live (1990)" boxset and it´s also available as part of the "Garage Inc. (1998)" cover tunes compilation album.

The EP features five cover tunes of Diamond Head, Holocaust, Killing Joke, Budgie and Misfits (or actually six songs, as "Last Caress / Green Hell" by Misfits are actully two short songs that segue into each other). NWoBHM and hardcore/ punk from the late seventies and early eighties were always Metallica´s biggest influence and it´s showcased on "The $5.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited" EP more than anywhere else in Metallica´s discography. These five songs are excellent examples of how Metallica have always been able to make cover songs their own. From the fast-paced hardcore/ punk of Misfits to the almost doomy heavy metal of Holocaust this is a great release.

The production is very good. Clean, sharp and powerful. It´s excellent but not over-produced. Remember this was about having fun.

"The $5.98 Garage Days Re-Revisited" is a great release by Metallica. An EP I always enjoy when I give it a spin. It´s lost none of its magic in the twenty years that has past since I purchased it the first time. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is well deserved.

Negoba Iconic thrash album, essential Metallica

During Metallica's peak run (RTL through Justice) this product was just as popular and essential listening as any of full length LPs. The energy here is so good, the band is at their most powerful, the song choices are perfect. Yes......it's a cover album. And all of it is available in Garage, Inc.

I don't know if this thing is even available anymore, because it got absorbed. But Garage, Inc. is so hit and miss that one would easily lose the fact that this EP was a monster. Metallica did in fact have some other good covers during their peak, but Garage, Inc spans too wide and includes some true schlock.

Not so Garage Days Re-revisited. Everything here is perfect. The songs range from breakneck fast (Green Hell) to thunderhead heavy doom drag (The Small Hours). James Hetfield actually sings and it sounds like metal not some coached failed crooning which appears first on the Black Album and is still evident even on Death Magnetic. Hammett's solos are aggressive and fast, frenetic and he's yet to have his foot permanetly glued to the wah, never to play a good guitar solo again (also Black album onward). Newcomer Jason Newstead is loud and rockin' here, unlike the following LP where he's inaudible. The bass breaks in Crash Course in Brain Surgery are perfect, energetic, the new guy more than just holding down the bottom. Lars is in the pocket, recorded right in your face.

But most of all the riffs are so friggin great. It's as if Hetfield picked the best riffs of all time, applied his sold-his-soul-to-Satan right wrist and immense tone and you get heaviness that is still rarely matched and probably never bested 20+ years later. Helpless, the Wait, well every single song, are just so HEAVY. The guitars just pummel. Not with sixteenths but syncopation, attack, and pure dangerous attitude. Hetfield's vocal delivery is similarly as scary as it's ever been. You cannot touch me. You would not dare, he sings in perhaps his lowest notes on the album. He sings the infamous Last Caress with both punk disdain for all humanity but metal's love of evil, and for a short time Metallica was indeed the most dangerous band on the planet.