Metallica
Bay Area Thrashers - The Early Days

THE REVIEW

Talking (again) about Metallica today, after the decidedly disappointing recent years, always sparks big discussions, controversies, and arguments. Let's be clear right away: here we are talking about Metallica from their golden era (or even before), and if you're tired of Hetfield's band, or have never loved it, don't even read this piece: it's dedicated to all the Metallers who venerate and respect the 4 from Frisco for the (many) good things they did with their first 5 great albums. The rest doesn't matter.

"The Bay Area Early Days" contains live recordings from 1981, and it has been released in various versions (1982, 1997, 2005), maintaining a very low audio quality: for this, I would have given it 4 and a half stars, but since it's not possible, I give it a brilliant 5, very deserving (if not reductive) for the timeless songs it contains. The record is a historical piece for many reasons.

First of all, it's thrilling to hear historical pieces of such magnitude played by yet unknown kids, who never imagined, at that moment, that they would become what they would: a legend. Then it's impressive to imagine the band in its entirety in one of the first formations, that is with Ron McGovney on bass and Dave Mustaine on guitar: Ron would soon leave the band after continued disagreements with the quirky Mustaine, who once poured beer on his electric bass strings! The same Mustaine would be expelled for misconduct from the band and would form another (Megadeth), equally grand.

The real gem of the album is hearing Metallica play "The Mechanix", a song attributed to Megadeth on their debut album four years later: in fact, the song was written by Mustaine, who always retained the rights, while the 'tallica would reintroduce it with different lyrics and music, titling it "The Four Horsemen." After the initial "Hit The Lights", the group's first flame, James unleashes a violently "Seek & Destroy". Followed by other compelling and timeless tracks like "Jump In The Fire" and "Motorbreath", dedicated to Motorhead. Also present is "Phantom Lord". It all concludes with the wonderful "Metal Militia", a battle cry and pride of belonging to metal to which every true metaller should be faithful (though lately the same Metallica, alas, seem to have renounced it). Riffs and solos follow one another, the drums relentlessly pressing, the vocals drag the listener in thanks to the first gleams of thrash metal.

I dug up this old relic because it deserves to be listened to by genre enthusiasts. The Bay Area years may be gone, but on our skin, they will never stop vibrating indescribable sensations.