Metallica Releases 1991 Demo Version Of ‘My Friend Of Misery’

Check It Out

Metallica has released the original instrumental demo version of “My Friend of Misery” from The Black Album. Played by Jason Newsted, it’s glorious. It’s also taken from the forthcoming 30th anniversary reissue of their fifth album. Listen to it below.

“I was hoping it was going to end up being the instrumental song for the Black Album,” Newsted explained to Classic Albums. “I thought we were going to follow suit and keep having an instrumental song. We didn’t. That’s how it worked out.”

“That was something that I came up with by myself on my old four-track machine when we were just working on tapes,” he added. “The whole idea was to just listen to as much music as possible or different bands and different styles, take it in through your funnel and through your filter, and whatever happens to come out, you know, if you listen to more stuff it’s going to come out more colorful.”

In a separate interview with Metal Hammer, Newsted admitted that he “was fu**ing livid” when he heard Metallica’s “…And Justice For All” for the first time. He was horrified because he thought he did well, and he “played how I was supposed to play.”