"Blackened the U.S.S.R."
by Beatallica

Ripping off riffs from the White Album is Rock 'n' Roll 101; merging them with heavy metal for novelty purposes—that's either obscene or ingenious. Recognizing the metal potential in Beatles songs, Beatallica risked lawsuits to show headbangers and hippies that they have more in common than long, unkempt hair. "Blackened the U.S.S.R." melds the lead-off tracks from The Beatles ("Back in the U.S.S.R.") and And Justice for All ("Blackened"). The melody comes from the Fab Four, but the distorted guitars and pounding tempo are all The Four Horsemen. The lyrics draw from both bands, and are peppered with self-referential bar-band aggrandizement to boot. These guys mimic their metal idols so well—particularly Jaymz Lennfield's dead-on impression of James Hetfield's vocal style—that there's a disclaimer posted on the Beatallica Web site swearing they are not really Metallica in disguise. No such proviso is made about that other band they draw on, leading one naturally to conclude that the members of Beatallica really are John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Skirting legal issues with Sony (the Beatles' record label and purveyors of evil spyware), all of Beatallica's songs are available for free download at www.beatallica.org. Go there to prep for the band's gig at the North Star on Sat., Dec. 3.