Jump to content

No life til leather - Metallica


agamerwholovesmetal

Recommended Posts

Since Metallica's new album is going to be released soon, I thought I would go through and review their discography starting with their most famous demo no life till leather. They had released quite a few demos before this but those were never officially released aside from the first version of hit the lights with Lloyd Grant that was featured on the Metal Massacre compilation. I’m going to go track by track and give you my thoughts on them individually.

Hit the lights

This song makes a great first impression of the band and in my opinion is even better than the version on kill em all. The riff absolutely melts your face and the band's sheer speed and aggression on this track blows nearly every other band out of the water. Lars proves every single person that says “Lars is a shitty drummer’ wrong within the first few seconds, Dave's solo is thrash perfection, and Ron McGoverny’s bass adds a big punch to the song.

Mechanix

This song was the precursor to the four horsemen and is completely different in terms of its tone. The four horsemen is about the apocalypse whereas this song is about how Dave really wanted to screw some chick in the back of his car. The song is full of cheesy car related sex puns such as the line “you made my drive shift crank, made my pistons bulge, made my balls melt from the heat” and it’s all great stuff. I always preferred this song to the four horsemen and this version is no different. 

Motorbreath

Great track not much else to say here as it’s basically the exact same as the version from kill em all just with Dave and Ron playing and a not as good production.

Seek and destroy 

The first thing I noticed when revisiting the demo is this version is way faster than the one from kill em all which I think works a little bit better. The song’s about wanting to go out and kill people (and possibly doing it) so the slower version, good as it may be, just doesn't fit the song's lyrics as well. Dave's guitar work is as great as ever and I love the way James says destroy on the track never ceases to make me smile, I don't know why but it does.

Metal militia

Another track with an absolutely face melting riff that kicks your ass. The song starts off fast (easily the fastest on the whole demo) and doesn't let up for a second. This was already one of my favorite cuts off kill em all and this would have been a much better ending song for the demo which the band likely agreed with as they made it the final track on kill em all.

Jump in the fire

This one is jump in the fire in name only. While the one off of kill em all is a dark song about the devil dragging people to hell (that sounds like it could have easily been an early venom song), this one is another sex song that makes the Mechanix look subtle in comparison. This is the only song from the demo I think is worse than the version from kill em all but it’s still enjoyable and the riff is once again awesome.

Phantom lord

Finally, we have phantom lord which is, say it with me now a great song with a great riff. I don't really have much to say about this song either as everything that's great about it I've already said a billion times in this review already.

And that's no life till leather one of the greatest and most important demos in metal history. Listening to this demo again really helped me see that this lineup of the band is incredibly underrated. Sure, Dave is great but so is Ron McGoverny who to my knowledge is the only official member of Metallica that never really got their moment to shine or at the very least record a studio album! He was kicked out of the band before they even had a record deal, and even his later band Phantasm never recorded anything, but a single demo and that band went belly up just a year later. I don't know how else to end this review so 9/10.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Join Metal Forum

    joinus-home.jpg

  • Our picks

    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 10 replies
    • I
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
      • Reputation Points

      • 3 replies

    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
      • Reputation Points

      • 2 replies
    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
      • Reputation Points

      • 4 replies
×
×
  • Create New...