Review by Daniel for Metallica - The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987)
To be honest I find it a little difficult to provide an unbiased review of this release as it was the very first thrash metal CD I ever purchased & I have quite a strong emotional attachment to it. Regardless, I don't think I'm out of line in feeling that it's an essential part of any Metallica fan's collection. I'm not generally much of a fan of the cover version. They're so rarely executed in a way that offers something fresh & new but also does the original version justice. However I'm very pleased to say that this EP is one of the few exceptions. In fact I'd probably say I enjoy it more than anything Metallica have released since the 80's.
The first two tracks are absolute rippers. Opener "Helpless" is a pretty faithful rendition of Diamond Head's original but done in a more thrashy & exciting style that I actually prefer. It wouldn't be out of place on an album like "Kill 'Em All" to be honest. "Helpless" is followed by a reworking of Holocaust's "The Small Hours" which is the highlight of the EP in my opinion. It has an eerie atmosphere that sounds new to Metallica but also sounds quite natural. The original was only ever released on an obscure live album so this one might as well be Metallica's own. The cover of Killing Joke's "The Wait" wasn't included on some versions of the EP but it was on mine. Lucky for me really as it's a very solid & much more metal version that easily tops the original. I probably prefer Budgie's version of "Crash Course In Brain Surgery" but that's not a huge criticism. Metallica's effort provides a totally different perspective on the original that in retrospect seemed to be crying out for a substantially heavier reworking. Closing track "Last Caress/Green Hell" is a combination of two old Misfits tracks. It's probably the weakest of the five songs included here but I still find it quite enjoyable. I comfortably prefer the "Last Caress" section to the Misfits original but the "Green Hell" section is almost identical to the Misfits song & offers little to improve it.
"The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited" may only be an EP of cover versions but it offers substantially more bang for buck than that term implies. It not only offers the listener an interesting & entertaining insight into Metallica's musical roots but it's also a damned fine piece of thrash metal. And there is the beauty of it. None of the original pieces would be regarded as thrash metal in any way yet Metallica have somehow managed to remain faithful to the essence of the originals whilst adding enough of their own sound to make the songs instantly identifiable as their own. A fine effort from a little EP that was only ever intended as a stop-gap between albums.