10 Amazing Rock Bands That Almost Had The Wrong Members
3. David Ellefson - Metallica
A good portion of fans who witnessed Metallica's Some Kind of Monster documentary argued that we probably saw a little too much of the band around this time. Even though they were clearly going through a harsh time during the band's tenure, each of the members have stood by the documentary, showing the human side of them as well as the bass auditions that went by before eventually bringing in Robert Trujillo. Long before Metallica inherited Robert's funk chops, one potential standout was actually a lot closer to home.
If you look at the bonus features, it looks like the closest bassist to almost join Metallica was Pepper Keenan from Corrosion of Conformity, but the band had actually reached out to David Ellefson of Megadeth before everything got started. At this time, David was actually out of Megadeth after a legal falling out with Dave Mustaine, which left the void wide open for him to fill in Metallica.
Knowing the history behind each of the bands though, it made sense why Ellefson turned them down, being a little too close for comfort considering how much him and Dave had fallen out around the same time. While you did have some notable names in the mix like Twiggy Ramirez and Scott Reeder from Kyuss, it's clear that they made the right decision when you see the chemistry they have onstage these days.