Metallica turns out an album of tribute covers

November 24, 1998

BY BRIAN MCCOLLUM Free Press Pop Music Writer

The lineup for Metallica's new album of grimy garage-rock chestnuts makes sense, featuring songs made infamous by such left-field artists as Motorhead, the Misfits, Blitzkrieg, Bob Seger . . .

Seger? Detroit's multiplatinum, not-so-head-banging classic rocker?

Yeah, makes perfect sense to Jason Newsted, bassist for hard rock's reigning titan.

"In 1989 or '90 we decided we were going to do 'Turn the Page' because of its honest lyrical content," says Newsted. "We could really relate to it at that point in our career -- it was a lot of miles, a lot of buses, a lot of road shows.

"With the other bands, you can hear the obvious Metallica influences: Thin Lizzy gave us the harmonies, Motorhead gave us the arrangements, the Misfits gave us that crazy punk aggression. Different bands have contributed to our sound blatantly. But the Bob Seger thing was the first one we chose for this."

For Kalamazoo native Newsted, there's a particularly special meaning in the revved-up rendition of "Turn the Page" featured on the new "Garage Inc." (Elektra). As a teen -- back when he swiped tapes from his older brothers to immerse himself in Bad Company and Nazareth -- he couldn't help but soak up music by the Motor City's favorite blue-collar rocker.

"Being from Michigan, I spent more hours voluntarily and involuntarily listening to Bob Seger," he recalls. "I had the Seger eight-track playing in my dad's Cadillac when I was still just old enough to go on family trips."

Seger wrote and recorded the epic "Turn the Page" for his now-obscure "Back in '72" album. Never released as a single, a live cut of the song from 1976's "Live Bullet" became a rock radio staple and stands as one of Seger's most popular songs.

Metallica's version is making its own mark: Last week the song was the most-added single at rock radio.

"Garage Inc.," in stores today, is a two-disc homage to what Newsted calls "Metallica's teachers." Featured are 11 new cover songs recorded with longtime producer Bob Rock, along with five tracks from the rare "$5.98 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited," recorded in 1987 -- Newsted's first studio work with the group -- and out of print two years later.

The track list includes a handful of cuts familiar to most rock fans (Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy," Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone"), as well as Diamond Head's "Am I Evil," a longtime Metallica live fave. But the bulk of the 27-track set will feel foreign to all but diehard metal fans, with songs originally recorded by the likes of Discharge and Budgie.

"Most of the choices are pretty obvious. We have our collective heroes," says Newsted of the artists who influenced bandmates James Hetfield (vocals), Lars Ulrich (drums) and Kirk Hammett (guitar). "Lars has more of the obscure metal stuff, the British stuff. I listened to Motorhead pretty early myself. Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy were big ones for all of us. We tried to get songs that were more off the beaten path. For Sabbath, we didn't want to do 'War Pigs' or 'Paranoid.' We wanted to get a little more sideways."

That quest also meant digging up songs -- like Sabbath's "Sabbra Cadabra" -- that lent themselves to the quartet's ominous, high-wattage grooming.

"Some adapted themselves better to the Metallica sound. They had to have notes in minor keys -- a lot of F-sharp, man, the devil's chord," Newsted says with a laugh. "And they're all from the '70s and '80s, except for Nick Cave, the only new teacher on here. That was at James' insistence. James has become more of a singer, rather than just shouting. He looks to these cats who have a darker side, the creepy thing, but with the presentation of a frontman."

Transforming Seger's tune into a Metallica track proved tricky.

"We had trouble figuring out where we stop being soft and start being metal. The song is such a piano-based song; going from the somber mood to in-your-face, we had to figure out where to kick it," he says. "So we decided to make it right away. You've got this nice little intro, your mom starts turning it up and then ARRRGGGH!"

After three albums in 29 months and continual world touring -- plus plans to head back into the studio next year -- tackling the naturally raw "Garage Inc." was a pleasant respite.

"It's not fun when you're recording an album of Metallica, really. You know -- 110 takes of the same thing. It's a very trying type of process," he says. "With this thing, you have a lot more freedom.... You're giving it your all, but the notes have already been chosen for you, the melodies already designed. That gives you the green light to just go for it, and not be super perfect with everything."