Metallica, 'Whiskey in the Jar' EP (Metallicaa, 1999)

As I was a-goin' over Gilgarra Mountain
I spied Colonel Farrell, and his money he was countin'.
First I drew my pistols and then I drew my rapier,
Sayin' "Stand and deliver, for I am your bold deceiver."
Musha ringum duram da,

Whack fol the daddy-o,
Whack fol the daddy-o,
There's whiskey in the jar.

Spike's helping me clean up the Green Man music library this very, very rainy afternoon as it's rather quiet this afternoon in the Pub.

One minute... No, Spike, don't throw out that CD! Yes, I know it's by a well-known Metal group, but it actually fits the Green Man motif as it's got a cover of 'Whiskey in the Jar' that's among the best I've ever heard. Now we have sort of reviewed this group's music before, as Mia Nutick did a smashing review of Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cellos. So let's look at this CD.

Metallica would belong in some urban fantasy novel if it wasn't real; not that 'reality'should be a hindrance as the Celtic rock band Tempest was in a Mercedes Lackey novel that's still unreleased, and there are several Green Man staffers who, when wearing their War for the Oaks tour shirts, have been told that folks saw the fictional Eddi and the Fey band in the early 80s when they lived in Minneapolis! Reality is, as always, somewhat up for debate, i.e. Emma Bull who played the Summer Queen in the War for the Oaks movie trailer is going to be the Summer Queen here at Green Man. Really. Truly.

But Metallica is quite real (I think). One of the better Metallica sites has this bio of the group:

'In the summer of 1981, Lars Ulrich secured a deal to record a track for the Metal Blade compilation Metal Massacre. Due to the fact that he didn't yet have a band, he quickly began contacting people. Metallica formed shortly thereafter in 1982. A demo-tape, entitled No Life 'Til Leather, raced through the international underground tape-trading network and quickly landed the band a recording contract with Megaforce Records, who released Kill 'Em All. Their determination to do things their way and make the music they wanted to make saw a loyal following grow rapidly. Elektra Records saw the giant within and signed Metallica in 1984. Their first major label release Ride The Lightning enjoyed massive attention globally. After the "Day On The Green" at Oakland Stadium and the British Castle Donington festival in 1985, and the 1986 release of Master Of Puppets and their subsequent 6 month U.S. arena tour with Ozzy Osbourne, the band broke wide open, their U.S. popularity soaring to dizzying new heights. ...And Justice for All, released in 1988, sparked multi-platinum sales in the U.S. alone, as well as 18 months of sold out shows. With 1991's Metallica, the massive tour which followed it, and the revolutionary stadium headline festivals with Guns N' Roses; Metallica established themselves as one of the world's biggest bands. The Metallica album (produced by Bob Rock) has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, and ...And Justice For All are also all international multi-platinum sellers. Even their 1987 EP Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987) sold over 3 million copies worldwide. And, they have two international platinum-plus video releases, Cliff 'Em All (1987), A Year And A Half In The Life Of Metallica (1992). Metallica also won three consecutive Grammy Awards in 1989, '90, and '91.'

So the question at hand is how the frell did a Metal band end up covering 'Whiskey in the Jar'? (Yes, Spike -- it's a bloody good, and you can play it again if you like, but make sure Maggie's outside as she's far too likely to hurt herself by flying into a closed window while listening to it!) Possibly by listening to the Thin Lizzy or Seven Nations covers of it, but possibly not. Let's see if the liner notes give a clue... Ahhh, it was Thin Lizzy that inspired them as it's say their version was 'originally released by Thin Lizzy in 1972 as a UK single from the album Garage, INC.' Spike, dig out that copy of the 7" incher Thin Lizzy did of 'Whiskey in the Jar'/'Black boys in the Corner'.

Grey once noted, 'The music section of Green Man Review's archives is somewhat different than the book section, in that it contains equipment as well as music. Why, you may ask? GMR has been collecting and archiving music since first it was recorded, and we need the equipment to play each medium properly. Hence, we have several phonographs -- including one that plays wax cylinders -- a reel-to-reel tape machine, an eight-track machine, and a cassette player, in addition to our up-to-date sound system for playing CDs and DVDs in all their iterations and enhanced forms. We also have a seelie box for playing impression balls. The brownies lovingly maintain and clean all of this machinery. Of course, some of our archived material is contained within its media,and needs no special equipment. Sidhe glass, for example (songs trapped in strands of twisted glass, for those of you who have never encountered one), and several sea shells, and an enchanted dulcimer that plays on its own when the wind is from the west-south-west.' And that means we can listen to the Thin Lizzy version to see how it compares to the Metallica version...

Ouch. That's awful. Phil Lynott's frelling horrid on this song, and the instruments ain't any better. You can't blame it on the time -- Fairport did Liege and Lief around that time, and Steeleye did more great folk rock than I care to list here. It just sucks, period. In contrast, James Hetfield -- go look at a picture of him to see why he belongs in an urban fantasy novel, preferably as an Unseelie Court prince -- has a wonderfully full, deep-throated roar of a voice. I've heard more covers of 'Whiskey in the Jar' than I can possibly ever 'member, and this is by far the best of those I've heard. Thin Lizzy's may be the worst short of some local bands that shouldn't even be pretending to be musicians! As I said, Hetfield's voice is just right, and Lars Ulrich's drumming provides just the right driving tempo. Kirk Hammet (along with Hetfield on his axe) rounds out the 'wall of sound' these blokes do ever-so-well.

Spike likes it, Maggie our resident magpie loves it all too well, and even the blokes in the Neverending Session thinks it's neat. So go buy a copy, crank it up very loud, and make sure the neighbours ain't home. Oh, and do listen to the other two cuts here which are taken from Metallica concerts ('The Small Hours' and 'Killing Time') as oddly 'nough Bela Bartok would be proud of how they sound.

Now we need to figure out who's getting the hundred or so singer-songwriter albums that need weeding out as no one can stand to listen to them. No, Spike, we are not going to use let Maggie drop them from the Clock Tower unto the stone paving in the Courtyard outside the Pub; someone might get hurt. But before we do that horrid task, let's go grab a pint or two of Dragon's Breath Stout in the Pub as Reynard, the barkeep this afternoon, wants to tell us his tale of when he heard the Horslips do this song live!