10 Metallica Songs That Have Been Played The Most Live
2. Creeping Death - 1,614 Times
Narrowly missing out on the top spot is the song Creeping Death from Ride the Lightning, which is also based on a book.
Inspired by the tenth plague of Egypt, as described in the Bible, this song details the act of God that killed every first-born child in Egypt, a scene that Cliff Burton described as "creeping death".
Weirdly, this song was around in a different form before Metallica got round to it, as Kirk Hammett had written it when he was in another band called Exodus. Back then, the song was called "Die by His Hand" and it was routinely played by the band live.
Does that mean this number is wrong? Dammit...
If you go by purely the Metallica version, Creeping Death has been performed live 1,614 times since 1983 and is still regularly dusted off nowadays.
Considering that the song is so popular that crowds at Metallica shows sing along to the riff before the vocals even kick in, chances are Creeping Death won't be going away for a long time.