Metallica

[Tony]

Metallica. One of the big four of thrash and one of the greatest innovators in metal history. Even though I don't like a lot of their newer stuff. They have had their ups and downs and twists and turns. New bassists in old bassists out. Good albums and bad albums. But enough with that, I am going to give a tribute to my second favorite bands first five albums \m/.

Kill 'em All​

This album was the one that kick started Metallicas career and for good reson too. Kill 'em All tought the world a new kind of thrash and introduced great songs such as Whiplash and Metal Militia. Kill 'em is one of the few albums I have heard in my lifetime in which every single track makes you want to get up and headbang. That punch you in the face attitude that everyone loves and desires in metal. It wasn't as complex as the later ...And Justice for all and is probably the most simple album they have but it still holds up to todays standards. I cannot count how many times I have listened to this album while playing some sort of FPS on the 64, every track energizes you like a battery [accidental reference]. They also gained a new rival when they fired Dave Mustaine before the album and the two bands Metallica and Megadeth would compete for years to come.

Ride the Lightning​

Going into more complex territory, Metallica made a bold new step with their new album which introduced great tracks such as Ride the Lightning, For Whome the Bell Tolls, Creeping Death, and Fade to Black. Speaking of Fade to Black, this was their first power ballad. Fade to Black was one of their more dark songs as it talks about suicide and was written during a time when James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich were suicidal. After the albums release some fans sent letters saying the discarded their thoughts of suicide because of Fade to Black. This album featured no bad track and vastly improved over the simple Kill 'em All. Ride the Lightning had the theme of death as almost every song on the album deals with death in some shape or form. This is one of my favorite albums and every time I listen to it I get a better opinion on it. This album also introduced the first song based on the Cthulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft. That song was called the Call of Ktulu. It's speculated that they spelled it out Ktulu because mortals are not supposed to say or spell Cthulhu in it's entirety or they had copyright issues. Now that's enough about Ride the Lightning let's go on to probably everybodies favorite album.

Master of Puppets​

This. Album. Is. Pure. Epic. This album got Metallica on the map and every single track on it was amazing. There is not much to say about Master of Puppets that has already been said so I will talk about my favorite tracks. The first track i want to talk about is the intro track, Battery. Battery has got to be the best intro track to any Metallica album. It starts off with an acoustic intro but then dives into some amazing shredding. The song is about committing battery and getting addicted to it. James Hetfield describes this song as thrashy, which is the only real way to describe this song. The second track is considered by many fans, myself included, to be the best Metallica song ever. That song would be called Master of Puppets. The classic tale of stay the Hell away from drugs. This song depicts the Master [Heroin or Cocaine both are referenced] persuading the Puppet [the addict] to taste him and he'll see more is all he needs. With quotes like "Darkest pumping clear" and ,"Chop your breakfest on a mirror," it's pretty clear that it's about avoiding drugs. And since it is about drugs I have to say, Metallica is the best anti-drug speaker ever. The third track is the second song based on the Cthulhu Mythos called the Thing that Should not be. It is based off the certain mythos the Shadow over Innsmouth. It has a quiet acoustic intro and then gets into a very thrashy sound. It sounds truely evil! Welcome Home to our dear Sanitarium. Ahh, Sanitarium, the song that got me into Metallica and their second power ballad. Based off of One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest and it surly shows in the song. Don't read the lyrics too much...they might haunt you! With that said I will move on to Orion. Orion is a very spacy and great sounding instrumental. Thanks Cliff for such a great track! Speaking of Cliff Burton. During the Damage Inc. Tour in Europe, Metallicas tour bus crashed. Cliff got shot out the window while the bus landed on top of him. R.I.P. Cliff Burton.

...And Justice for all​

The first album after Cliffs passing. Metallica had to get a new bassist. So they found Jason Newsted who is a great bassist and was a pretty good replacement for Cliff. AJFA had very heavy anti-war themes and currupt society themes. It asks you questions like what is justice? And is war good? There is not a weak track on AJFA but I'm only going to cover two of them. The biggest commercial success off of Justice was the song One. The song is about a soldier who steps on a land mine and loses his arms, legs, hearing, sight, and taste, smell, etc... and is a really disturbing anti-war song. It appealed greatly to many people and has become one of Metallicas most played songs. When ever I hear One I always get a surreal thought of what if I was that soldier? Now onto the second song I will talk about, ...And Justice for All. The titular track is an amazing masterpiece and describes a society where justice has ultimately failed and cannot be saved and it got people to start the question, what is justice? There can't be justice for all... but there is one more good album to cover!

Metallica [The Black Album]​

The songs are shorter and too the point. The beginning of the end for Metallica in my opinion. It had such classics as Enter Sandman and Sad but True. Black had more of a hard rock feel to it and Metallica didn't have many complex songs on this album as everything is simpler and to the point. The last great Metallica album. Black is a great album don't get me wrong, it's just not as good as the previous albums and it can't even be in the same legue with Master of Puppets. All in all I love this album it just was... too short for me [inner Iron Maiden fan screaming inside me].

Metallica still has a wonderful career and it has seen better days but the new Death Magnetic was on the right track to getting back to what they once were. I hope my post wants to make you listen to Metallica right now and I hope it makes you wanna slam your head against a wall! Because headbangings what we metalheads do! \m/

 

[xmajorax]

Metallica used to be my favorite band of all time, but then I started getting bored of and started listing to other bands. I liked most of their stuff, even Load and Reload and some of St. Anger.

But I really don't think that this album with Lou Reed is going to work out. I listened to the song they put on line, and... I just hated it.

I hope the album is better than what I've heard.

 

[insanity76]

There was also Garage Days Re-Revisited, the EP they released in '87 between Cliff's passing and Justice. While it's all covers, I loved all of them, most notably The Small Hours & The Wait. And speaking of covers, Kill 'em All had Blitzkrieg and Am I Evil? which were top notch, and were my 2 favorites off the album behind No Remorse. When I got the CD after finally getting a CD player somewhere in the mid 90's these 2 were left off (much to my dismay). Fortunately they did put them on Garage, Inc. along with all of GDR-R, of course with a 2nd disc of new covers that were a mixed bag for me as far as likability (the Mercyful Fate medley was my favorite of those).

Ride The Lightning's Escape was the song that introduced me to Metallica back in the summer of '85. I heard it at my friend's house, and the rest is history. I've bought all of their albums up to the self titled twice, once on cassette and once on CD. As far as my favorite album, Puppets gets the crown, and Orion is my favorite song. For me that one's almost like Cliff's last hurrah due to his (outstanding) bass solo toward the end of it.

 

[Tadock]

Only their first few albums are any good. I think they totally alienated their fans with St. Anger and tried to revive it with Death Magnetic. Unfortunately they threw it all in the trash with the Lou Reed collaboration.

 

[Reaca]

Metallica used to be my favorite band. That place now belongs to no one. I don't really listen to music much, but when I do, I don't care what I listen to. BTW, my favorite Metallica song is And Justice for All.