Description

‘The Memory Remains’ was released as the first single from ‘ReLoad’. It was first performed live in a ‘jam’ version on July 2, 1996. The song is about a once-great, now forgotten celebrity who is desperate to regain her fame but is driven half-mad with her obscurity. It was written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich and featured British singer/actress Marianne Faithfull as a guest vocalist. When played live, the band encourages the fans to sing Marianne’s parts. It also contains lines spoken by Marianne taken from the Marilyn Monroe movie The Misfits (‘Say yes… at least say hello…’). The single would prove to be successful, hitting #28 on the Billboard Hot 100, #3 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and #13 on the UK Singles Chart. It would be Metallica’s last appearance in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 until 2008’s ‘The Day That Never Comes’. The “blue” cd single version also includes a remix version of King Nothing as well as the complete full length version of The Outlaw Thorn. The band says the following on this version: ‘When we were doing the final sequencing of the ‘LOAD’ Album, the record company told us that we couldn’t go a second past 78:59 min, or your CDs wouldn’t play without potentially skipping. With our 14 songs, we were running about 30 seconds over, and something had to give, so the cool-ass jam at the end of ‘Outlaw’ got chopped (ARRRGGGHHH!!). Here is the full version as it was written, recorded, and meant to be.

Track listing:
1. The Memory Remains
2. The Outlaw Torn-unencumbered by manufacturing restrictions version
3. King Nothing-tepid mix