MetaLLica Biography

tarafından **lovesickmelody** Paz Ekim 05, 2008 12:09 pm

In the '80s — when big hair and small ideas dominated heavy metal —
Metallica's dense blend of brains and brawn gave the genre a
much-needed charge. By 1991, fans had responded to Metallica's message
in droves, buying 6 million copies of the group's fifth full-length
album, Metallica, and elevating their previous LPs to platinum.
In the process, grim-faced guitarist-singer James Hetfield became not
only a hero for the nation's largest fraternity of misfits — suburban
metalheads — but also a critically respected songwriter and bandleader.
Metallica ended the decade as the biggest-selling rock act of the '90s.

Hetfield and Lars Ulrich came from different worlds to form
Metallica in the L.A. suburbs in 1981. Hetfield, whose father was owner
of a trucking company and mother a light-opera singer, was raised in a
strict Christian Science home; Ulrich, a recently transplanted Dane,
had intended to become a professional tennis player like his father,
Torben Ulrich. What the two teenagers shared was an interest in the
gritty music of U.K. hard rockers Motörhead. Adding guitarist Dave
Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney, the band started writing songs and
recording demo tapes. Metallica's lineup solidified after Clifford Lee
Burton replaced McGovney in 1982, and the Bay Area guitarist Kirk
Hammett replaced Mustaine the following year. Mustaine, who was booted
out for excessive substance abuse, went on to form Megadeth.

After gaining a solid cult following among fans who could not
identify with contemporary pretty-boy pop-metal combos such as Van
Halen and Bon Jovi, Metallica became known for their sophisticated,
often complex song structures and serious lyrics that reflected teen
obsessions with anger, despair, fear and death. In sharp contrast to
those of other death-obsessed metal bands, Metallica's lyrics pose
deeper questions about justice and retribution, drug addiction, mental
illness and political violence. The group's debut album, Kill 'Em All,
is an anarchic catharsis of gloom, with songs like "No Remorse"
decrying the insanity of war and "Seek and Destroy" looking at mindless
street violence. (Rereleased in 1986, the album went to Number 155.) On
subsequent albums, the subject matter alternated between the political (...And Justice for All) and the personal (Metallica).

In 1986 Metallica's tour bus skidded off an icy road in Sweden, killing
bassist Burton. The surviving members took some time off before
regrouping with ex–Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Jason Newsted. Newsted's
more solid playing style brought a thicker, tighter sound, which
contributed to the group's massive success in the late '80s and early
'90s. On August 8th, 1992, the band experienced another near-tragedy
when their pyrotechnics went awry during an ill-fated performance with
Guns n' Roses (it was the same night of G n' R's notorious riot show)
at Montreal's Olympic Stadium; Hetfield wound up walking into a wall of
flames and suffering serious burns, but recovered fully.

Metallica had developed their following without the benefit of radio play, so it came as a bit of a surprise when Master of Puppets reached Number 29 in 1986. The follow-up EP, Garage Days Re-Revisited,
a collection of covers of songs by various punk and metal bands
including Killing Joke and the Misfits, made it to Number 28.
Metallica's first Top 10 album was ...And Justice for All,
which reached Number Six in 1988 with its single "One," breaking in to
the Top 40 at Number 35. Its striking video included clips from the
1971 antiwar film adaptation of Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun, the tale of a faceless quadruple-amputee World War I veteran. After a three-year hiatus, the much-anticipated Metallica
(a.k.a. the Black Album) entered the charts at Number One. The album
contained a string of hits, including "Enter Sandman" (Number 16), "The
Unforgiven" (Number 35) and "Nothing Else Matters" (Number 34).
Metallica's first official live album, Live Shit

In 1994 Metallica sued their longtime label, Elektra, seeking escape
from a contract that locked the band in to a modest 14 percent royalty
rate. The suit was settled out of court, and the band re-signed with
the label. By then, Metallica recognized the changes on the rock
landscape epitomized by Nirvana, and in 1996 the band fully stepped
away from its early lyrics of blood and guts and explored some nonmetal
influences for an updated, almost alternative-leaning sound on Load
(Number One). The album continued the band's string of hits with "Until
It Sleeps" (Number 10), "Hero of the Day" (Number 60) and "King
Nothing" (Number 90). Metallica also sought to change their image: Band
members cut their hair, and the abstract album cover by controversial
photographer Andres Serrano (famous for his work Piss Christ) depicted
a mixture of blood and semen. Not all fans were pleased.

More confusion followed when Metallica headlined the
alternative rock-themed Lollapalooza Tour in 1996. That year, the band
also made a surprise stop at the Whisky-a-Go-Go in Hollywood for the
50th birthday party of Lemmy of Motörhead, appearing at the club all
dressed like the metal veteran and performing a full set of Motörhead
songs. In 1997 Metallica finished songs left over from the Load sessions for the heavier ReLoad
(Number One), which included vocals by Marianne Faithfull on "The
Memory Remains" (Number 28). The album also contained "The Unforgiven
II" (Number 59). The next year, Metallica combined the original Garage Days Revisited EP with 11 new covers and various B sides for the two-disc set Garage Inc.
(Number Two). A live collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony
(arranged and conducted by Michael Kamen) was recorded for 1999's S&M.

In 2000 Metallica led a battle over the rights of recording artists
against Napster, a popular music file-sharing Website where fans could
download music (including Metallica's) for free. Metallica not only
responded with copyright-infringement suits against Napster but
demanded that the estimated 335,000 Napster users who had ever
downloaded a Metallica track be permanently barred from the service. To
critics it was a confounding strategy that inevitably targeted some of
the band's most rabid followers. Despite a fan backlash, the
controversy failed to derail that year's successful stadium tour with
Korn and Kid Rock.

In 2001, Newsted left the band, citing his tension with Hetfield. That same year, directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Paradise Lost) began filming the band for a documentary, which would later be released in 2004 as Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster.
The movie chronicled a turbulent two-year period in Metallica's
history, during which Hetfield went to rehab, the group's management
hired a motivational coach and the three remaining members struggled to
record St. Anger (Number One, 2003). Produced with Bob Rock (who also played bass), Anger
was a belligerent and sometimes tinny-sounding effort that put off some
longtime fans. The title track was a moderate success, winning the band
a Grammy.

With new bassist Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies),
Metallica embarked on a two-year tour; upon returning, they entered the
studio with Rick Rubin for their ninth album. Their only notable
release in the interim was cover of Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of
Gold," the original recording of which has opened nearly every
Metallica concert for decades, for the 2007 tribute album We All Love Ennio Morricone.

Metallica returned in 2008 with Death Magnetic, an album seen as a return to form after the divisive St. Anger.
It went to Number One on the album charts during an abbreviated week
(it was released on a Friday), and the band embarked on another world
tour.
(Number 26, 1993), was recorded in 1993 over five shows in Mexico City.

Quarter:RoLLing Stone

tarafından **Secret** Paz Ekim 19, 2008 4:45 pm

Thank you so much.

Love Metallica

tarafından **lovesickmelody** Ptsi Ocak 19, 2009 1:19 pm

np =)

MetaLLica Biography

MetaLLica Biography

Geri: MetaLLica Biography

Geri: MetaLLica Biography