“Metal Up Your Ass”
– the original title of their debut album.
 |
| From Left to Right: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, & Robert Trujillo |
Metallica! Who
hasn’t heard of these guys? The band was formed in 1981 by Lars Ulrich and James
Hetfield. In over 35 years, they’ve sold over 110 million albums worldwide
and were inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. They had tours
that spanned the globe and were the first artist to play in all seven
continents. They were one of the major bands that expanded the boundaries of
Metal Music both artistically and geographically and broke down the barriers to
perform throughout the world so other bands could follow.
Everybody and I mean everybody who likes metal, loves
Metallica’s first three albums. These albums Kill ‘Em All, Ride
the Lightning and Master of Puppets are the
cornerstone of Thrash Metal. From great crowd pleasers like “Seek & Destroy” and “Creeping Death” to Cliff Burton’s bass solo “(Anesthesia)--Pulling
Teeth”, Metallica has a song for
every metal fan.
When it comes to Metallica’s
albums four and five, heavy metal fans know the controversies surrounding those
albums. Metallica’s fourth album, …And Justice for All, was the first
to feature bassist Jason Newsted
after the tragic bus accident that killed Cliff
Burton. The controversy is regarding the poor mixing of the instrumentals. Whoever
screwed it up (some fingers are pointed at drummer Lars Ulrich), it doesn’t really
matter as the album still had a huge impact and set Metallica up to dominate the world of Heavy Metal.
Their fifth album’s controversy doesn’t involve the mixing
of the songs, but rather in the change of style. You have to go back and listen
to the albums in sequence in order to understand what I am talking about.
Imagine listening to four albums of Thrash Metal and when you’re expecting more
of that you get something dramatically different, Thrash Metal to Regular Metal.
Metallica’s fifth self-titled album was
their biggest success and it really was no surprise because of their excellent
song quality and the momentum that they had been building. Again, what makes so
many fans sour is that it was an unprecedented change in style and an abandonment
of the genre they spearheaded. Of course, they take pride in what they’ve accomplished
and with their most recent album, Metallica
is continuing their return to their Thrash Metal roots as they had done in
their previous album “Death Magnetic”.
Despite their musical directions, Metallica has garnered many new fans around the world. Even though
they have multiple platinum selling albums, they still play a lot of their music
from those first three albums. So, fans of their older and newer music can
still go to a Metallica show and
have a good time. They have been one of the bands breaking new ground and leading
the way for other metal and hard rock bands. Metallica has such a rich history and their impact is one thing
that you cannot deny. They spearheaded Thrash Metal and took Metal into the
mainstream. Metallica is now the
token band to represent this genre and they wear their influences on their sleeves.
Metallica is one of the most
important bands in Metal culture and without them Metal would look a whole lot
different.
Personally, I am not a fan of their fifth album and the
albums released afterwards, but I can understand why others do like those
albums. I discovered Metallica right
around the time I was running out of new Megadeth
albums to listen to. So, to hear something which now I can consider the gold
standard, was great to experience. Metallica
is already legendary, but for me some of their songs now sound generic as Metal
music has evolved past these classics. Sometimes it’s good to look back and
listen to and remember why Metallica
as a band is the best at what they do.
Top Favorite Albums:
1) Kill ‘Em All
2) Ride the Lightning
3) Master of Puppets
4) …And Justice for All
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