The Cavern
Rock & Words
METALLICA
“A tired man they see no longer cares
the old man then prepares
to die regretfully
that old man here is me…”
“C”
Main Decade: 80’s
Main Eras:
Metal (1970-???)
Key Members:
James Hetfield, Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Kirk Hammett, Lead Guitar
Lars Ulrich, Drums
Cliff Burton, Bass (later replaced by Jason Newsted and Robert Trujillo)
Key Songs:
Enter Sandman, One, Fade To Black, Master of the Puppets, The Unforgiven, And Justice For All, Sad But True, The Four Horsemen, Blackened, For Whom The Bells Toll, Nothing Else Matters, The Call of Ktulu, Battery, Orion, Seek And Destroy, Wherever I May Roam, Until It Sleeps, Cyanide, Hero Of The Day, Whiskey In The Jar, Suicide & Redemption, Creeping Death
At first, I thought about excluding Metallica from the Cavern altogether. Not re-uploading any of the reviews I had already done. No concerts. Not even mentioning them. For those who don't know, thanks to Metallica, the first La Caverna blog, hosted on Blogspot, was shut down due to a copyright complaint regarding Ride the Lightning. The blog was closed even though I had removed all links to the band's albums months before, which is why my surprise and annoyance were immense.
The thing is, I already have the albums reviewed, so what the heck. As many people have told me, La Caverna ended up gaining a lot in terms of format, navigation, and image thanks to this new space. So here I am, writing a Metallica intro.
I'm not going to swear or tear my hair out. I'm not going to thank them either. I'm not going to lower the ratings their albums had, or the ones I had planned to give the ones I haven't reviewed yet. I'm not going to hold back on praise for their great albums, nor will I reserve my scatological language for what they did after Load. In fact, if I'm not going to be objective about the music, I might as well not even consider them. I'm not going to lower the C I gave them as a band. Ultimately, Metallica isn't here because they're a gold coin, but because they made tremendous, monumental metal albums. Albums that even I recognize, despite not being a huge fan of the genre. That has to be acknowledged; they're magnificent on their instruments and, with their mastery in their prime, they managed to bridge the gap between metal and rock, attracting people who weren't initially interested in the genre.
Nor am I going to say a single untrue word. Metallica, as a band, has already secured its place among the greats of Metal and Rock in general. Few metal bands achieve such an impact beyond their genre, and manage to draw such large crowds. Musically, they are geniuses, with incredibly complex songs, difficult structures bordering on progressive rock, multi-part arrangements, and guitar and drum solos (and occasionally bass) that leave us speechless. But they're also catchy. Mind you, not commercial, but with hooks strong enough to become memorable. Who doesn't recognize "One" from the very first arpeggio? Who doesn't get an adrenaline rush from the simple intro of "Enter Sandman"?
The talent of Hetfield, Hammett, and Ulrich is undeniable, despite their long creative slump. The problem, perhaps, is that while being one of the best bands in history, it's composed of some of the worst human beings with any musical talent. In that respect, Metallica is perhaps the worst band on the planet. And I'm not saying this because they shut down my blog. After all, they had every right not to lose 20 or 30 dollars because of me. They weren't about to go broke! Metallica has always been characterized by its selfishness and apathy, by pushing its way to the top at any cost, no matter who gets hurt or who gets hurt along the way. If you don't believe me, ask Dave Mustaine, who co-founded the band with Lars in 1981 (he only accepted him because he had expensive equipment), created the foundations of Metallica's sound, contributed the structures, riffs, and solos for the first album, and was fired in 1983 right before entering the studio, replaced by Kirk Hammett, who got all the acclaim. Kill 'Em All was Mustaine's. Point for the prosecution. But that doesn't diminish Hammett's merits. Hammett isn't considered a guitar virtuoso because of what he did on Metallica's debut album, but rather because of the skill and level he reached on subsequent albums.
Ron McGovney had already suffered the same fate a little earlier, when he was kicked out of the band and replaced by Cliff Burton on bass (whom they poached from the band Trauma). James and Dave had been impressed by Burton after seeing him play a solo (which would later become "Anesthesia") in a club. Hetfield himself was almost replaced because at the time Lars said his vocal style didn't fit the band's sound!
But anyway, Kill 'Em All shook up the metal scene in 1983 and laid the foundations for what would become true metal in the years to come. With Ride the Lightning in '84, the band's maturity and forging of its own style became evident, moving away from Mustaine's influence and with the classic core of James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich, and Cliff Burton fully in sync. While not a concept album, all the tracks revolved around the theme of death, and it enjoyed moderate commercial success. Perhaps these two albums didn't catapult them into the global spotlight, but they did help them build a massive fanbase across the USA, and Metallica began to stand out at the metal festivals where they performed. Throughout the rest of '84 and part of '85, they toured extensively, even in Europe, where they initially played to smaller crowds. But upon returning home, they began performing at festivals in front of crowds of up to 60,000 people.
The experience of touring allowed them to release the first of their masterpieces in '86. Master of Puppets is an album that showcases the band at their peak, both creatively and technically. The album reached number 26 on the charts (unprecedented for a band of that caliber) and propelled Metallica to headline status. The album features mature classics like "Master of Puppets," "Battery," and the instrumental "Orion." Around this time, James swore in a magazine interview that they would never do the stupid thing of recording a video for MTV. And well, we all know what happened, right?
Just when things were going so well for the band, tragedy struck. In the middle of the Master of Puppets tour, the band was in Sweden. They were still traveling from city to city in their tour bus. On September 27th, they drew lots for sleeping arrangements, and Cliff won Kirk's usual spot. The thing is, the truck skidded on the ice, overturned, and landed on top of Burton, killing him instantly. The others escaped with minor injuries. The bassist's death made the band consider continuing, but in the end, they said to themselves, "It's what Cliff would have wanted."
After auditioning some 40 bass players (including Les Claypool, who would later found Primus), they settled on Jason Newsteed, who learned Metallica's entire setlist in one night, and they continued touring for the rest of the year, "just as Cliff would have wanted."
In '88 came Metallica's masterpiece, the superb "And Justice For All," which reached number 6 on the charts, something truly unprecedented for real metal. A great album, featuring the classics "One," "And Justice For All," and "Blackened." Jason tried to contribute, but the others sidelined him creatively, and the bass lines, while good, are very quiet, drowning Jason out the other instruments. The album is SO good that it even earned a Grammy nomination in 1989, something truly unprecedented, although the award ultimately went to Jethro Tull. With this album, Metallica would succumb to pressure and end up eating their words by recording the first video for "One." Metallica spent the rest of '89 and half of '90 on the album's world tour. By this point, they were already the most important metal band on the planet.
In October 1990, they began sessions for their next album, simply titled Metallica, although it's better known as the Black Album because of its cover. The recording lasted for months, and the group became so obsessed with achieving a perfect sound that James, Lars, and Kirk ended up divorcing their respective wives because of the album. Well, I suppose that wasn't the only reason. Well, the Black Album is a perfect record. Fans would accuse it of being the band's first foray into commercialization. It certainly has more accessible melodies and riffs, but it's perfectly balanced with the power and darkness of the songs. Tracks like "Enter Sandman," "Sad But True," "The Unforgiven," "Whatever I May Roam," and "Nothing Else Matters" are truly flawless juggernauts, with not a single note out of place. The album debuted at number one and would eventually earn 15 platinum records, so at least the alimony payments to the ex-wives were covered. They released several videos that were constantly being broadcast, and at least during '91 and '92, while Grunge and the alternative movement were still taking shape, Metallica and Guns N' Roses with their Illusions were the masters of the universe, the most powerful bands on the planet, dominating radio and MTV with unusually powerful music, and even doing a joint tour in 1992, in which several fans died, and James even suffered serious burns due to a mix-up with the pyrotechnics of the show.
From then on, it was all downhill. 1996's Load, one of the most anticipated albums in history, was a crushing disappointment. Fans who had followed the band since the '80s had suffered a bit with the more mainstream sound of the Black Album, but Load was the final straw, with frankly commercial songs, weak melodies, and Metallica's typical "evil" barely more than a disguise for the tracks. Perhaps "Until It Sleeps" and "Hero of the Day" are worth salvaging, although songs like the latter could be performed by any run-of-the-mill band without making much of a difference. That's when you start to think, "Something's wrong with these guys." Reload in '97 was even worse, and the criticism began pouring in, not only from the specialized press but also from their own fans. The following year, lacking inspiration, they released Garage Inc., an album of covers of their favorite songs, including Queen's "Stone Cold Crazy," which they claimed inspired them to create thrash metal, Black Sabbath's "Sabbra Cadabra," Blue Oyster Cult's "Astronomy," and Thin Lizzy's "Whisky in the Jar," also made famous in the '70s. Those tracks save the album; the rest of the songs might resonate with classic metal fans, but not with me.
In '99, still wary of making a mistake with new, original material, they recorded a live album with the San Francisco Symphony, featuring several of their classic tracks, achieving results that were more impressionistic than impressive.
In 2000, they would once again show their true colors by suing Napster. They were furious that their catalog was available on the infamous P2P site of the late '90s. They ended up filing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Napster, which was eventually absorbed and transformed into a paid download site for songs; that is, from being a site where people shared files online, it ended up being an online store. I honestly don't know why they didn't sue the companies that provided the technology, the burners, the audio-to-MP3 converters… Although, well, those inventions would eventually backfire on their creators a little later. The point is that they won the Napster case, but they were left completely burned with the fans, harming the bands that had no problem distributing their music for free.
The band's defense presents a motion: the intellectual property belongs to its creators and they have the right to charge for it! The prosecution responds: True, but those files belong to whoever paid for the album. If they feel like sharing them, that's their problem. The intellectual property would end up on the physical disc that was paid for. Judge: No grounds for appeal. Intellectual property is the work itself, the music in whatever format. Prosecution: But Metallica's albums were so bad at the time that Napster was doing the band a favor by getting people to listen to them. Besides, they weren't going to starve; they were already filthy rich! Point for the prosecution!
The fact is, from any perspective, the Napster feud was a Metallica blunder. In 2001, Metallica was also one of the very few groups that wholeheartedly supported Bush in his imperialist… I mean, anti-terrorist campaign. In 2001, this was understandable after the trauma of the Twin Towers and all that, but later they supported the invasion of Iraq, despite immense public opposition and that of almost every other rock band. Subsequently, they would be among the very few to support Bush's reelection and promote militarism.
With the Napster scandal still fresh, and being ridiculed and parodied on television programs, they began planning a new album. Jason was fed up with not being allowed to participate in the songwriting, so he formed a side project, Echobrain, and in an interview mentioned that he wanted to release an album with his new band. Hetfield was furious and told him that if anyone released an album with another project, it drained Metallica's energy and was like cheating on his wife. Newsteed responded angrily, claiming that James had recorded songs for South Park and sang on two albums with Corrosion of Conformity. James's powerful counter-argument was that his name wasn't on them and he wasn't out on the street trying to sell them. OMG!!! Jason listlessly recorded what would become Metallica's next album, but even he himself would say in a pre-release interview that the material was garbage. After finishing the album, Newsteed officially left Metallica.
Robert Trujillo would join, and it must be said that they rewarded Trujillo's technical skill despite his Mexican heritage. Point for Metallica. The bad news for Trujillo is that many blamed him for the horrendous and nauseating St. Anger from 2003, on which he didn't play a single note, yet he was featured in the promotional videos and on tour. The album is a vomit-inducing mess that doesn't even include a Hammett solo or one of Ulrich's spectacular drum fills. Horrible is an understatement. You could say it was Instant Karma, Lennon-style. The album was a miserable failure that almost cost Metallica their career. Not only were the critics tearing it apart, not only were the band's '80s fans horrified, but even their younger fans, those who listened to Limp Bisquith, Korn, and other poorly made Metallica knock-offs, despised it. Metallica had already been sounding like a copy of one of their cheap knock-offs for some time, but St. Anger crossed all boundaries. If I ever review it, I'll probably have to establish new criteria, because a 5 wouldn't be enough for this atrocity. The band was forced to tour with Godsmack just to get anyone to show up. During this time, they began their online witch hunt, expanding the "Napster Effect" and suing and shutting down sites that shared their albums. I got caught in July 2011, four years after La Caverna started, even though I'd removed the links months before. Of course, it's not James or Kirk who go around checking the web, but they pay a hefty sum to people who do and file complaints through the DMCA. How lovely!
In 2008 they released their next album, Death Magnetic, where they attempted to return to the heavy, multi-part sound of the 80s. Of course, they didn't quite reach that level, but it's a decent comeback, perhaps the best material they've released since the Black Album. Tracks like "Cyanide" and "Broken, Beat & Scarred" recapture the power and fury of old Metallica. Although I still remember James' promise when I see him performing at the MTV Awards.
They're supposedly recording a new album, though there's no release date yet. Officially, they're recording a collaborative album with Lou Reed called Lulu, but I'm not sure if that's the album they were referring to or if they're going to record one entirely on their own. In any case, Death Magnetic and the collaboration with Lou Reed give us reason to have high expectations.
…Musically. As people, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high.
By Corvan
Sep/2/2011
