Dansk version

For the sake of experiment though let’s imagine putting Metallica to the test for a change. Send them on a ride they cannot manage on cruise control alone. In that case they might start by rehearsing these ten covering their whole career.

Welcome the editor’s "Try THESE Metallica!" list.

"Leper Messiah" (from "Master Of Puppets", MFN 1986)
There are no such things as overlooked songs on one of the greatest Heavy Metal albums in history. Having said that I don’t think Metallica play "Leper Messiah" often enough. Strange and strangely enough because "Leper ... " is the only Metallica song I’ve ever heard Lars Ulrich sing to himself backstage.

"Ain’t My Bitch" (from "Load", Vertigo 1996)
They tried it often enough but Metallica were hardly ever successful trying their hands on biker rock’n’roll. Except the first time which was the urgent and hard rocking "Ain’t My Bitch" lead by James Hetfield in one of his most muscular vocal performances. An air guitar classic that – for reasons unknown –never really were.

 "Jump In The Fire" (from "Kill ‘em All", MFN 1983)
A top shelf metal riff and a battle cry of the first order. An obvious show opener. Yeah I wish! And I keep wishing.

 "Phantom Lord" (from "Kill ‘em All", MFN 1983)
Proto thrash from Metallica’s debut and to these ears THE song that kick started thrash metal for real. A screaming, kicking and crunching classic with a riff straight out of hell. Clearly courtesy of one Dave Mustaine before he was kicked out of the band.

"Trapped Under Ice" (from "Ride The Lightning", MFN 1984)
A personal all time favorite from the Metallica catalogue. An instruction of how to add melody, atmosphere and dynamics to seething thrash metal. Lots have learned something here but nobody has ever surpassed it.

"The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" (from " ...  And Justice For All", Vertigo 1988)
" ...  And Justice For All" was Metallica’s third consecutive master piece. No less. Here the band took it upon themselves to prove that you really can play intricate and so called "progressive" metal without resorting to meaningless wanking and keyboards. The staccato symphony that is "The Frayed Ends Of Sanity" is probably the most overlooked song on this album. I wouldn’t mind that fact being changed.

"Bleeding Me" (from "Load", Vertigo 1996)
"Load" and "Re-load" have suffered much critisism from purists and critics alike. That’s as may be but at least "Load" really has it’s moments. Not least the minor masterwork that is "Bleeding Me". Eight minutes of pure performance high – an excellent arrangement, several melodic moments and played with feeling and sense of dynamics.

"Mercyful Fate" (from "Garage Inc.", Vertigo 1998)
A tribute to the mighty Mercyful Fate that really surpassed anything one could’ve hoped for. Metallica fearlessly threw themselves into the Mercyful metallic maelstrom via this eleven plus minutes long medley. Consisting of  "Satan’s Fall", "Curse Of The Pharaohs", "A Corpse Without Soul", "Into The Coven" and "Evil". Metallica not only escaped the maelstrom with their lives. They did so with heads held high – knowing they’d created a truly worthy tribute here.

"Dirty Window" (from "St. Anger",  Vertigo 2003)
Hate "St. Anger" all you like. To these ears that album (and this song) sound exactly like what it is: a tortured frontman and a band exorcising their demons in public. All right, it ain’t pretty but it was not fucking intended to, now was it! Exorcisms are rarely beautiful to behold.

"Ronnie Rising Medley" (from "Dio – This Is Your Life", Rhino 2014)
Where Metallica in one stroke re-invent themselves and sound more alive and true to their legacy than they ever did on "Death Magnetic". It took the four Rainbow songs in this medley - "A Light In The Black", "Tarot Woman", "Stargazer" and "Kill The King" to do it. Frankly, Metallica haven’t sounded this good in ages.