10 Perfect Rock Songs That Were Inspired From Another Band
2. The Four Horsemen - Metallica
In the early days of thrash metal, Metallica weren't looking to take any prisoners from day one. As they crisscrossed their way to New York from California, these were young and hungry kids looking to tear the roof off of the metal world with songs that fit somewhere between traditional metal and the speed of punk rock. In the case of the Four Horsemen though, this might be one of the first times where a band remixed a song that hadn't even come out yet.
After being sacked from the band the minute they got to New York, Dave Mustaine was furious when he heard some of his initial riffs being used in Metallica tracks, with the Four Horsemen being a prime example. The track had originally started life as a song called Mechanix, which Dave took and integrated into Megadeth's debut album Killing is My Business. There was also some playful lifting going on here too, with the breakdown riff in the middle of the song taken from a rehearsal when Dave played a beefed up version of Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
When it came time for Dave to record his version of his song though, he was looking to beat his former band at their own game, throwing out the Sweet Home Alabama section and making the song almost double the speed of the original. Most thrash music is already fast enough on its own, but when you're fueled by anger, the BPM is going to go up ever so slightly.