Metallica is one of the most successful (metal) bands from the United States. Metallica consists of four members and was founded in the early 80s in Los Angeles by the Dane Lars Ulrich and the American James Hetfield. Since its inception, the band has sold more than 100 million copies of its albums. In 1980, Lars Ulrich placed an ad in the magazine The Recycler because he wanted to start a metal band with like-minded people. James Hetfield responded to this ad and soon Lars and James had their first meeting, but it was only in the summer of 1981 that the foundation of Metallica was laid. Ulrich had successfully tried to contribute to Metal Massacre, a Metal Blade compilation, and now had to quickly form a band to record this track. Besides Hetfield, Lloyd Grant played lead guitar.
27 September 1986 is a black day in Metallica's history. Near the Swedish town of Ljungby, one of the tour buses overturned, costing the 24-year-old Cliff Burton his life. The rest of the band survived the accident. Kirk Hammett: I turned around and saw Cliff's feet sticking out from under the bus. In the process of coping, alcohol became their support and refuge. Metallica continued as a group in tribute to Cliff. James Hetfield: Cliff would be the last person to want us to give up. In October 1986, Cliff Burton was succeeded by Jason Newsted, bassist of Flotsam & Jetsam, after auditioning.
Metallica toured Europe in 2012 and that year played at Werchter Boutique, the only Benelux date for this tour. The festival was completely sold out, with 65,000 fans. The band played The Black Album in its entirety.
In 2014, Metallica toured the world with their Metallica by Request Tour. Fans could choose their own favourite songs for Metallica to play. On 9 June, they performed at Pinkpop as the closing band. On 18 August 2016, Metallica announced that their new album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct would be released on 18 November that same year. The single Hardwired was released as a download and on YouTube on the day the album was announced. Hardwired... to Self-Destruct consists of two CDs with studio tracks. There is also a digipack with three CDs. The third contains some other tracks and especially live recordings. Between 10 and 18 November, Metallica gradually uploaded all the album tracks as music videos on YouTube, including the track Murder One, which is dedicated to Lemmy Kilmister, who passed away in December 2015.
At the end of September 2019, the band cancelled the WorldWired Tour dates in Australia and New Zealand because James was admitted to a rehab clinic.
Top 2000
In the Top 2000 of 2020, there is a fairly impressive list of Metallica tracks:
And of course...
Sunday Morning Classic: Metallica The Black Album
On 4 April 2021, the men of Metallica were our guest of honour as Sunday Morning Classic with the album Metallica (The Black Album).
Metallica absolutely excelled here and shocked the metalheads who were not used to this calmer approach. Some of the riffs are so good they should be illegal.
When I think of this album, I remember how lyrical I was about Metal Shows on the radio and how often they played tracks from it. It was indeed so good that every track was an instant classic. Immediately the highlights come to mind: Enter Sandman, Sad but True, The Unforgiven, Wherever I May Roam, Through the Never, Nothing Else Matters, My Friend of Misery - all brilliant and instantly recognisable as soon as Metallica starts playing them live.
The album tracks became the most played live concert songs from any album, and there are some great versions of the orchestrated “S and M” that are worth listening to.
'Nothing Else Matters' was one of the most inspired tracks in the Metal World. Hetfield sang from the heart and Metal Heads had their hands burning with lighters held high every time it was played live.
Essential listening, even if you hate Metal. But forget that, it’s simply great music and some of the best in the annals of rock history. Of course, the album was the pinnacle of their success and the only way was down and Metallica virtually collapsed on later releases; Load, Reload and the dreadful St Anger - which brought them under the earth’s crust. Death Magnetic brought them back up to par but nothing was as good as this album.
The Black Album stands the test of time and will be remembered and honoured for decades as Metal’s shining moment. Every band has a landmark album and for Metallica - this is it. Worship it or hate it, you cannot ignore it. It was more influential and important than any other Metal album in the early 90s, when Metal was almost dead. Metallica rose again and reinvented the Metal corpse with The Black Album and everyone sat up and took notice again.
Source: Jan Liebregts Wikipedia Photo: Kreepin Deth
