Elvis vs. Metallica

So I finally got around to listening to the free CD full of Elvis cover versions that was mounted on the front of this month's Mojo [yuck!] magazine.

Well, let this be a lesson to us all: it was free because it was shite. I got about halfway through before Wife demanded it be turned off so she could listen to something she wanted while cooking. Fair-enough call, and I was only too happy to oblige. I would have turned it off myself were it not for the fact that my hands were busy in the washing-up bowl. No dishwashers for us; I like the old skool, punk rock way of cleaning my cutlery and crockery!

So, it was with a little bit of jadement (good word; just made it up) in my heart that I reached for the other free CD in my collection this month. This one came with Kerrang! mag and is a re-rendering of Metallica's "classic" Master of Puppets album, with each track performed by a band that is new-ish.

I pick K! up once in a while anyway, and I was particularly intrigued by this concept. I don't know much Metallica apart from the stuff they play on the Kerrang! and Scuzz TV channels and what was on the great documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Trivium are on there, and I'd already bought their album and it's pretty good. And Funeral For A Friend are on there, and Wife is currently digging them. So what the heck, right?

And it's pretty good. Again, I haven't got through the whole disc yet; this time, though, because the songs are so damn long and full of (perhaps slightly overindulgent) guitar solos. But so far, so good. Only downside to this story is that by buying this mag and CD I feel I'm giving money to Metallica and, hence, that cunt of a lead singer who goes off and shoots bears in Russia. Asshole.

So, free CDs – here's what I've learned: some are a load of fucking wank; some are cool. But even the cool ones might mean money goes into the hands of people you don't like.

Either way, it's a bit fucked up. Perhaps, as with lunches, there's really no such thing as a free CD.