Wow, almost 15 years into it and it's the first time I hear this version of the song. Not too much different from the final version, but it's definitely not _a_ final version quality. Slightly different arrangement. The historical significance of this song (when internet piracy was addressed large for the first time) is enormous if you think about it.

This is pretty incredible that this is still around. I remember downloading a copy of this way back when. being 12 years old was such a long time ago.

And Metallica were totally right in their fight against Napster!

Finally, the illusive Napster leak that started it all. It's amazing, this song must have been downloaded by (at least) hundreds of thousands of computers, and it somehow disappeared from the internet without a trace... Until now. It's not as different as I thought it was going to be; in the research I've done on the history of Napster, every source I've read made it seem that it was a rough demo, not an almost-finished studio recording. This is pretty much the same recording that was released, except during the bridges, there's annoying wah where the harmonics are in the released version.

This is the infamous "leak" that served as the catalyst for Metallica vs Napster. A kind soul on the Metallica forums provided me with this mp3. It was actually surprisingly hard to track down. Unfortunately there is annoying radio banter but it's at least good enough to hear how different this version was from the final version from the Mission Impossible 2 soundtrack.  

April 2021 edit: Good news! Metallica are officially releasing this song as part of their 2020 Vinyl Club membership. So this post is no longer relevant!

I disappear Napster era leak.

whiplashedbmc

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