Metallica is planning to release a series of reissues, and the first to jump in that fire is the remastered demo, No Life ’til Leather, and it’ll be released on cassette, no less. The release date for the cassette is looking like Record Store Day 2015, while an expanded CD and a vinyl version should be available this summer.
Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, told Rolling Stone that the original tapes have been remastered to maintain “the same innocence and, I guess, borderline ignorance, of four kids barely out of puberty, rockin’ along, doing their thing.”
The original demo was recorded way back on July 6, 1982, a year before Metallica’s debut album, Kill ‘Em All, which means that Dave Mustaine was on lead guitar and Ron McGovney was on bass. Hell, it even means “The Mechanix” instead of “The Four Horsemen.”
Other tracks on the original No Life ’til Leather demo include: “Hit the Lights,” “Motorbreath,” “Seek & Destroy,” “Metal Militia,” “Jump in the Fire,” and “Phantom Lord.”
It’s of note that No Life ’til Leather is Metallica’s most widely circulated demo tape, and, oh look! Here it is on YouTube!
In fact, No Life ’til Leather has unofficially been re-released twice before, both of them identical and both of them claiming to be “live” versions. Those versions were titled Metallica: Bay Area Thrashers and Metallica: In the Beginning… Live
In other Metallica news, the band is currently working on a new album that’s expected to drop this year.
Rock Hard \m/
