Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson has released a playthrough of his cover of Metallica‘s “(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth“. Ellefson took on that showcase of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton‘s bass prowess for an upcoming tribute album to Metallica‘s 1983 debut album “Kill ‘Em All“. That outing, “No Life ‘Til Leather – A Tribute To Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All“, will be out on November 14th. It is set to feature covers done by Testament, Diamond Head, Motörhead and more. Ellefson said of his take on this track:
“It was a total honor to be asked to participate in this album, especially to record the iconic bass composition ‘(Anesthesia) – Pulling Teeth’ by the one and only Cliff Burton. I was able to borrow one of Cliff‘s Aria Pro signature bass guitars and signature Morley fuzz/wah pedal for the session to replicate his sharp, yet thunderous tone he created on the original recording.
It is my hope that this homage will highlight Cliff‘s larger than life personality and that his music will always live on through this unique and iconic song he gave to the world.”
It’s a somewhat ironic twist that Ellefson has taken on an early Metallica track, as he opted to not join his former Megadeth bandmate Dave Mustaine in doing so a number of years back. As Ellefson stated this past July, Mustaine wanted to re-record several of the tracks he wrote during his time in Metallica.
Mustaine‘s decision to do so came about as a royalty dispute he had with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich regarding those songs flared up around 2015-2017. That disagreement forced Metallica to shelve their plans for a deluxe reissue of their “No Life ‘Til Leather” demo.
