Which Metallica album track was originally intended to be an instrumental by Jason Newsted?

“My Friend of Misery” was originally intended to be an instrumental by Jason Newsted.

Newsted wrote the song’s main riff while Metallica was preparing The Black Album. The idea followed a pattern from the band’s earlier albums, each of which had included an instrumental track before the 1991 record.

The piece ultimately became a vocal song rather than a purely instrumental composition. James Hetfield wrote the lyrics, and the finished track appears near the end of the album’s sequence.

The song is notable because it highlights Newsted’s songwriting contribution during a period when most Metallica material was composed primarily by Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. It also preserves the album’s connection to the band’s earlier interest in extended, atmospheric instrumental writing.