That James Hetfield meets Huey Lewis mashup you wanted is finally here

Just when you think mash-ups can't get any sillier, along comes our old friend Bill McClintock with a combination of acts that'll have you marvelling at his imagination but also questioning his sanity.

McClintock, you may remember, has already pleasured humankind with a plethora of unlikely pairings: Ratt vs. Marvin Gaye, Marilyn Manson vs. Mariah Carey, Danzig vs. Donna Summer, Slayer vs. The Bangles, Slayer vs. The B-52s, Slayer vs. Wham, Guns N' Roses vs. Stevie Wonder... you get the idea. The more blasphemous the marriage, the better.

Which brings us to McClintock's latest masterpiece, in which thrash legends Metallica and pop rockers Huey Lewis And The News are combined to near-deadly effect on Hip To Be The Sandman, a stunning amalgamation of the former's 1991 smash Enter Sandman and the latter's 1986 hit Hip to Be Square.

Throw in guitar solos from Megadeth's Peace Sells and Judas Priest's Livin' After Midnight and you're left with a mashup that's as obviously awful as it is clearly brilliant, three minutes and 44 seconds of outstanding musical heresy.

"Trying to find two compatible songs takes a really long time," McClintock told Mouthing Off Magazine last year. "I’ve done eighty or so mashups. You would think that the more you do, the easier it gets. However, I think that it has gotten more difficult – my standards are higher.

"But it’s like you're going fishing. You sit there all day, day after day you get nothing. But then once you’ve found that match, and they sound so good together, it makes it worth it, to the point where I want to keep doing it."

The world thanks you, Bill.

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 40 years in music industry, online for 27. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.