Dave Mustaine, Megadeth frontman and one of the first members of Metallica, has finally made a statement regarding his former band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mustaine posted an open letter on Megadeth's website.

"Metallica, as you know, has been selected to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So, it is with much respect that I say congratulations!

"I also had the nice surprise of hearing that they called to invite me to the pre-ceremony party the night before, and then to the actual ceremony. Unfortunately, as you all know, I will be winding down our European tour with Judas Priest, so I will be unable to attend. However, I'd like to say to Lars (Ulrich) and James (Hetfield), I am so very proud of all you have accomplished. I will continue to pray for the very best for you and your families, as I always have.

"Thank you for the invitation and thinking of me."

It sounds like Metallica have handled this situation with class and Mustaine responded in kind. It's nice to see they're able to put their contentious years behind them.

The latest issue of Rolling Stone has a five-star review of the new U2 album, which led us to wonder when the last time the magazine gave a five-star review to a non-Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist. Over the years, we noticed that they seem to reserve the perfect rating for artists who have already cemented their legendary status (Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan come to mind). When was the last time the magazine went out on a limb to anoint an album of new material an instant classic?

For our purposes, we're excluding five-star reviews of reissues and compilations, which Rolling Stone hands out fairly regularly and generally are given to artists that are already determined to be "immortals." So let's find the five-star reviewed albums by artists before they were eligible for the Rock Hall. Here are the five-star reviewed albums by non-Rock and Roll Hall of Famers since 1986 (in reverse chronological order):

• Kanye West - Late Registration, 2005
• The White Stripes - Elephant, 2003
• Beck - Sea Change, 2002
• R.E.M. - Automatic for the People, 1992 (inducted in 2007)
• Metallica - Metallica, 1991 (inducted in 2009)
• Pixies - Doolittle, 1989
• N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton, 1988
• Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, 1988
• U2 - The Joshua Tree, 1987 (inducted in 2005)
• Prince - Sign O the Times , 1987 (inducted in 2005)
• R.E.M. - Document, 1987 (inducted in 2007)
• Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction, 1987
• The Smiths - The Queen is Dead, 1986
• Run-DMC - Raising Hell, 1986 (inducted in 2009)
• Paul Simon - Graceland, 1986 (inducted in 2001)

As you can tell, Rolling Stone is extremely judicious in handing out five star reviews, but when they do, they have a good track record of picking artists who eventually end up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And of the artists who are not in yet, it's difficult to find any who won't likely end up enshrined in Cleveland someday. The only two artists on the list who are eligible and not in the Rock Hall are The Smiths (eligible since 2008) and Sonic Youth (eligible since 2007). Neither group has received much attention from the Nominating Committee yet, but that is likely to change in the coming years.

One other thing to note is that there is only one debut album on the list (Appetite for Destruction). Usually, the five-star reviewed album follows other notable work from the artist, so Rolling Stone isn't gambling its reputation on a previously unknown artist.

Major thanks go out to Erik J. Heels who has been tracking these five star reviews for many years now. We'll be sure to take note of any new five-star reviews in the future.

Update: We removed Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted from the list above. That album didn't get its five-star review until the reissue came out. Can anyone confirm the others were all from their initial review?

Wanda Jackson is a 2009 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the "Early Influence" category, and apparently that distinction means she doesn't get to pick who will give the speech in her honor.

Q: Who's doing your induction speech? Don't you get to choose?

A: We thought the artist would have that option. We found out in these special categories - see, I'm in "early influence" - the people that head up these various categories are the ones who choose who's the presenter for each artist, so I put in my request for who I wanted. Elvis Costello was the first one who became an advocate for me. He wrote a rather stinging letter to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but anyway he and Bruce Springsteen have spoken out for me.

We would be surprised if doesn't turn out to be Elvis Costello who inducts her. As Jackson mentions, Costello was one of the squeaky wheels that got the Nominating Committee's attention. Jackson's husband / manager also started actively campaigning for her "a few years ago," which might explain how she received her first nomination in 2005 after being overlooked for 20 years.

James Hetfield of Metallica feels a little guilty about his band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year, when so many of his greatest influences haven't been recognized yet. Hetfield mentioned earlier that he would like to see Motörhead get in someday, and now he's stumping for arguably two of the biggest snubbed bands out there, Rush and Kiss.

Hetfield expressed some embarrassment at being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before some acts who were an inspiration for Metallica. Metallica will be made a member of the illustrious club on April 4.

"We've been nominated and we are still alive," he said.

"It's ironic that a band that has been inspired by all of these other ones are getting in there before them. We are going to go up there and kick some ass and kick the door down for some heavy bands that have not been recognized, like Rush and Kiss."

Hetfield will have the chance to influence future inductions because as a Hall of Famer he gets to be on the Voting Committee. However, the importance of the voters has greatly diminished over the last few years because there are fewer artists placed on the ballot by the super-influential Nominating Committee. This year, two thirds of the artists who were on the ballot will be inducted.

Jimmy Page will induct his former Yardbirds bandmate Jeff Beck into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the April 4th induction ceremony in Cleveland.

It is also being reported that Aerosmith will have the honor of inducting Run-DMC at the ceremony.

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels made the rounds with the local media yesterday, talking about Run-DMC's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he managed to make a little news during one interview. Appearing on radio station WAAF-FM, DMC was asked who should induct the rap act. "It's a no-brainer if Aerosmith does it," said McDaniels. "I hope they're listening. It's their hometown." Wisely, the station immediately rang up Joey Kramer, and asked the Aerosmith drummer if he might do the intro. Of course, Kramer said. Run-DMC's 1986 LP "Raising Hell" was one of the biggest-selling rap albums of all time, thanks to the cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way."

There is still no word on who the presenters will be for Little Anthony & the Imperials, Bobby Womack and Metallica.

Tickets to the ceremony sold out within minutes of going on sale to the public, but can be still be had for around $500 for a pair of seats on Ebay.

Thanks, Daryl.