Please Enjoy Metallica’s Gloriously Atrocious Cover Of ‘When Doves Cry’
Was it...was it meant to be terrible?
There are generally two roads you can take when you decide to cover a song.
The first is that you can stay close to the original track, thereby ensuring that you won’t piss anyone off — but also ensuring that it’ll be a little boring. The second option is that you take a hacksaw to the original tune, turning it into something unrecognisable and — hopefully — great.
Metallica chose the second road during their recent show in Minneapolis, but unfortunately for them…it did not work out.
Mid-way through the band’s set, bassist Rob Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett were left alone on-stage for their scheduled “doodle” — the part of the show where the two cover a track representing the town they’re playing in. So of course, being in Minneapolis, they chose a Prince song.
The track they went with was the iconic ‘When Doves Cry’, from Prince’s 1984 album Purple Rain. A bold choice for any band.
And unsurprisingly, when reduced down to a lone grinding bass and Trujillo’s phlegmy vocals, the track somewhat loses its magnificence. And by that, we mean the cover had about as much musical merit as a toolkit in a tumble dryer.
Watch their cover below — and don’t say we didn’t warn you.