Metallica - such an interesting group: you could hear one of its songs or not hear them at all, but you definitely know its name; you know there is some old band out there that plays heavy music. And not in vain ...
In the photo: Metallica: Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo.
Personally, I have been a fan of this group for two years now, I know their work from the first to the last album, and I can say that these comrades have died down with dignity (and now they are thundering, but not as before).
The group was assembled in October 1981 drummer Lars Ulrich and vocalist-guitarist James Hetfield, who are the permanent members of the group to this day. There was a version that they found each other through an advertisement from the newspaper. However, as it later emerged from an interview with the band's first bassist Rona McGovney, James and Lars were introduced to each other by the band's lead guitarist Ron and James Leather Charm. Then they invited Ron to play bass. As for the guitarists, there were a lot of problems with them, and they changed often.
And the name of the group Metallica was stolen altogether! An acquaintance of Lars Ulrich will help him choose a name for a metal magazine. One of the options - Metallica - Lars liked it, and he decided to name the group that way, and Ron was dissuaded from taking this name. From now on, the magazine is called Metal mania, and the group ... Well, you know yourself.
In the photo: Young and funny Lars and James with a Gibson Flying V guitar, which was with James in the early years of creativity .
An interesting fact is that they knew how to play, to put it mildly, poorly (those who wish can find their 1982 demos and cry over James' squeaky vocals, sawing guitars Dave Mustaine and misses on drums at the right moments))) ...
By the way, about Dave. This guy impressed the whole band at the audition ... not even at the actual audition, he just wanted to "play out." He had the right technique. So a new guitarist has appeared. The demo "No Life Til Leather" was recorded with him. And in May 1982, Metallica made its debut at the school where Lars studied!
In the photo: James, Ron, Lars, Dave.
Then the bassist changed in the band. Cliff Burton also impressed the band with his technique and replaced McGovney (I'm not a bassist myself, but I think he has the right technique! I recommend listening and seeing, because there is something to look at).
After that, the band signed to Megaforce Records and moved to New York. All right? It would seem, yes. But even here it is not without problems. Don't drink alcohol, comrades. What am I getting at?
The group loved to drink, well, very much. (By the way, the ex-bassist McGovney drank least of all, who received a lot of jokes for it) We drank a lot, often diligently. But even Hatfield, Ulrich and Burton together did not drink as much as Dave Mustaine ... He destroyed alcohol almost along with the bottles. And as a consequence of all this, it exploded robustly. Besides, technique is technique, and the monotony of solo parts has nothing good in it. The group politely kicked out the guitarist (who later said that he had kicked everyone out), but he soon created the group Megadeth - a competitor to Metallica (which did not prevent them from performing on the same stage in 2010)). It was there that he opened up with his trademark solos in full.
Dave is replaced by guitarist of Exodus Kirk Hammett... He plays in the band to this day and boldly plays his guitars around the stage.
In the photo: Kirk, James, Lars, Cliff.
Finally, in 1983, the band recorded and released their first album Kill em all, with listening to which the roofs were torn off at all. The "Internet" operating at that time was immediately activated in the form of rewritable audio cassettes (on which they also wrote "do not turn on the low frequencies to the maximum" - apparently, so that the sound apparatus does not burst from the heavy sound))). Lars Ulrich said something like this - "The sound was terrible, people had cassettes rewritten 15 times, the quality deteriorated a lot, but there was something to be proud of - it was Metallica!" At the same time, new groups began to appear with the same heavy style as Metallica.
This is the catch, by the way.Large masses of people around the world can say - "Yes, I know Metallica, I love their songs!" ... And to the question "What are your favorite songs?" most have the answer: "Well, in fact, I only heard Nothing Else Matters / Unforgiven II / some other ballad"... One gets the impression that Metallica are boring guys who play only ballads with James's low voice, the ringing sound of acoustics and an orchestra in the background. Why? It's a shame, comrades!
THIS group you need to KNOW! Therefore, in order to know why Metallica really became so famous and for what many bands are grateful to her, listen to the 1983 album - "Kill 'em All".
A year later, in 1984, Metallica released the album Ride the lightning. It contained eight tracks. An interesting fact is that the album contains a ballad! The first ballad - Fade To Black. It was written after the band's equipment, including a very rare amplifier, was stolen after a January 1984 concert. It was almost a disaster for Metallica. The equipment had to be borrowed from another group.
Next comes the most famous Metallica album. After signing with Elektra Records, their first release (1986) was Master of puppets... Critics believe Master of puppets "One of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time."
But even here, not without problems ... On September 27, 1986, during a European tour, the group rode on a bus and played cards for a sleeping place. Bassist Cliff Burton got a window seat. On the way to Stockholm, the bus skidded on a slippery road (there are options that the driver was drunk) and it turned over. Cliff was thrown out of the window and crushed by the bus. This led to his death ...
Metallica decided to keep going forward and took on bass Jason Newsted... It was he who worked with them for a very long time. But here, too, there were some oddities.
In the photo: Kirk, James, Jason, Lars.
In the 1988 album ... And Justice For All Jason's bass lines were almost inaudible. There were versions that the group simply reacted negatively to the bassist himself (he practically did not appear on the recording), or he just exactly repeated Hatfield's rhythm guitar.
In addition, the debut video for the song was released One.
In 1991, an untitled album was released known as Metallica or Black Album... It is in this album that hits such as Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, The Unforgiven are present.
During one of the concerts of the 1992 tour, James Hetfield suffered burns from pyrotechnics and could not play the guitar (he was replaced by the guitarist of Metal Church).
After the support tour Black Album Metallica returns to the studio to create and record its sixth studio album Load (1996). After it, a year later it was released ReLoad as a continuation of the previous one. These albums were a turning point in the style of Metallica, because the music in these albums was not heavy thrash or even heavy, but rather hard rock. The listeners did not appreciate this, and the albums were sold less actively ...
In 1998, the group released a double compilation of cover versions of songs from other groups called Garage Inc. And in 1999 a collection with a symphony orchestra was recorded.
In 2000, Metallica recorded the song "I Disappear" for the film Mission: Impossible 2. Lars Ulrich noticed that this song is freely distributed on the Internet thanks to the Napster company. He raised the question: "Why should music be distributed for free if money was spent to record and release it?" This was followed by a trial with Napster. On this topic, many jokes, cartoons (including South Park), etc. have spread over the Internet.
A year later, Newsted left the group. The 2004 documentary Some Kind of Monster put the spotlight on this event.
In 2001, Hatfield had to undergo a rehabilitation course in connection with "alcoholism and other bad habits." The band was "stagnant", but then slowly and surely began writing the album. After the recording of the new album, Metallica held auditions for the permanent replacement of Newsted, which resulted in the selection of ex-bassist Ozzy Osbourne (and not only)) Rob Trujillo.
In June 2003, the album debuted St. Anger... The band's sound has changed again - "raw", deliberately unrefined sound, lack of solo. St. Anger was heavily criticized by fans. Despite all this, the song of St. Anger won a Grammy in 2004.
On March 12, 2007, Metallica began recording a new album.September 2, 2008 (ten days before the officially appointed date) in one store began (here's another unpleasant surprise) album sales Death magnetic... Further, as expected - an Internet leak. I had to move the album release date back a couple of days.
But this album was not very popular with some fans either. It should be noted, though, that the band returned to their old style - their native thrash metal. Naturally, interspersed with novelty.
Well, we are waiting for the new album, but for now we will consider collection of ballads.
1. The unforgiven... The song tells about a man who has devoted his whole life to others, and not to himself.
2. Mama said... It is about a boy trying to find his way through life without a mother. Hatfield dedicated this song to his late mother.
3. Nothing Else Matters... One of the most famous Metallica songs. The lyrics are dedicated to Hatfield's girlfriend.
4. Until it sleeps... As you know, James Hetfield's mom died of cancer. It is this theme that touches the song Until It Sleeps.
5. Unforgiven II... The second part of the song "Unforgiven", which also became one of the main hits. Similar to the first part.
6. Astronomy. This is a cover of a Blue Oyster Cult song from the Garage Inc.
7. Low man's lyric... The song is reminiscent of the ballad of a wandering traveler, ready to share thoughts inspired on the way.
8. Turn The Page. Also a cover from Garage Inc.
9. Bleeding Me. To some extent devoted to Hatfield's alcohol addiction.
10. One. The first video of the group was filmed for this song, it sings about the experiences of a soldier crippled by a mine.
11. Welcome Home {Sanitarium}. About the mental hospital and its suffering patients.
12. Fade to black - The first ballad of the group (in my opinion - the best). It is about the feelings of a person before committing suicide, to which he goes in connection with the monotony of his life.
Finally, I would say: I advise you to listen to everything, but do not limit your acquaintance with Metallica only with this collection. ;)
