by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 09, 2008

The Beatles meet Metallica in a great band called "Beatallica." But before the band even had a name, they were recording their first songs in 2001 (for a Minnesota festival of musical spoofs).

For three years those seven songs were the only recordings available - but they were classics, working both as parodies of Beatle songs and reasonably good tributes to the metal sound. A Metallica song called "The Thing That Should Not Be" obviously suggested possibilities for the Beatles song "Let it Be," and other songs in the original set included "A Garage Dayz Nite" and "Everybody's Got A Ticket To Ride Except For Me and My Lightning."

Audience reaction was so positive that a fan created a web page hosting their seven recordings, dubbing the band "Beatallica." Eventually the original artists learned of their new online popularity, and reunited in 2004 to release "The Grey Album." (In one song, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" became "I Want To Choke Your Band.") The band's genuine affection for metal music won the loyalty of fans, and soon they were performing as the opening act for real metal bands like Motorhead. They even became famous enough to attract the attention of the real Metallica, and three Metallica members have acknowledged they're fans of "Beatallica."

Unfortunately, the Beatles melodies were in the hands of Sony Music, who issued a legal threat arguing "Beatallica" was violating their copyright. It demanded "unspecified damages," and led to the band's web site leaving the internet.

One of the most beautiful things about the Beatallica saga is the way this crisis was resolved. The original Metallica had earned a reputation for taking a strong stand against mp3 traders - but the band's drummer Lars Ulrich was the one who ultimately rode to the defense of Beatallica. He sent Metallica's lawyer to contact Sony music, and eventually Sony dropped their legal threats, and soon the band was back, releasing a new album in July of 2007 called "Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band."

It featured the band's own Metallica-like interpretation of the Beatles song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" that begins "It was 20 years ago today that Motorhead taught this band to play..."

And Beatallica is now going strong, promising yet-another new single by April of 2008.

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