Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (1974): 08. Stone Cold Crazy

"Stone Cold Crazy" "Stone Cold Crazy" was one of the earliest tracks that Queen performed live, and had several different arrangements before being recorded for Sheer Heart Attack. No band member was able to remember who had written the lyrics when the album was released, so they shared the writing credit, the first of their songs to do so. The lyrics deal with gangsters and include a reference to Al Capone. The track has a fast tempo and heavy distortion, presaging speed metal. Music magazine Q described "Stone Cold Crazy" as "thrash metal before the term was invented". The song was played live at almost every Queen concert between 1974 and 1978. Metallica covered the song as their contribution to the 1990 compilation album Rubáiyát: Elektra&40th Anniversary. This cover version was later used as a B-side of their "Enter Sandman" single and subsequently won a Grammy Award; it also appeared on their covers/B-sides album Garage Inc. The Metallica version of the song is more aggressive than the original, and they slightly altered the lyrics, adding two uses of the word "fuck" and changing the more humorous lines for more violent lyrics, such as: "walking down the street/shooting people that I meet/with my fully loaded tommy gun". James Hetfield of Metallica performed it, together with Queen & Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath-fame and using the altered lyrics, at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. Metallica played the song as an encore during their 1991–93 Black Album...