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The history of Metallica is a long and almost stereotyped one: a band starts with a couple of guys jamming in a basement somewhere, then they move up to playing covers in seedy bars, then they get a lucky break and sign a record deal, and before you know it, they've struck it rich.
Metallica's road to fame was a bit more complicated than that. The band did start with a couple of guys jamming in a basement though: Lars Ulrich, a Danish drummer, placed an ad in an LA paper looking for some guys to form a band with. James Hetfield, an aspiring guitarist/vocalist/bassist, had coincidentally placed an ad in the same paper, and after meeting and listening to each other the two decided to form a band of their own. They settled on the name "Metallica" (the name was stolen from a magazine editor friend of Lars').
The first real working lineup for Metallica consisted of Ulrich on drums, Hetfield on rhythm guitar, Dave Mustaine (a friend of Hetfield's) on lead guitar, and Ron McGovney (Hetfield's roommate) on bass. In mid-1982, Metallica recorded "No Life 'Till Leather," a seven track album featuring songs from their first demo plus "Seek and Destroy," "Metal Militia," and "Phantom Lord." Later that year, Hetfield and Ulrich heard a bassist by the name of Cliff Burton play, and, being moderately impressed with his ability, they recruited him away from his current band and into Metallica. He joined on the condition that Metallica relocate to San Francisco, which they did.
In 1983, Metallica took a quick 3000+ mile trip across country to tour on the east coast. Along the way, Mustaine fought a great deal with the other members regarding his alcoholic tendencies. Upon arriving in New York, the other members kicked Mustaine out of the band, and they poached a young guitarist named Kirk Hammett to take his place.
You really gotta wonder what it's been like for Mustaine and McGovney over the past 17 years. At the time, being dropped from the band probably didn't mean much . . . but when they look at Metallica's popularity now, they must mentally kick themselves until they bleed. To have been so close to a lifetime of fame and fortune, then to lose it because of lack of skill (McGovney) or lack of willpower (Mustaine) . . . that's harsh.
Metallica certainly didn't shed too many tears over the departure of Mustaine. They lost no time in recording a new, full-length CD (genially entitled "Kill 'Em All"), which was very well-received by critics and fans alike.
After touring for over a year, Metallica's second album, "Ride The Lightning," was released in 1984 after being recorded in Denmark (which, as we all know, is a veritable hotbed of metal music . . . huh?). At this time, they also signed a new record contract with Elektra. Then went back on tour, and started work on yet another album.
"Master of Puppets," was released in 1986. While on tour, Hetfield broke his wrist while trying to skateboard down a hill, and for the rest of the tour, he was forced to just sing while a roadie played rhythm guitar in his place. The kicker is, a year later he does almost exactly the same thing, breaking his arm in an identical accident.
An even greater tragedy than Hetfield's broken wrist occurred in 1986: on September 27, Cliff Burton was killed in a bus accident in Sweden. The remaining members of Metallica returned to the US, and resignedly began auditions for a new bassist. The job fell to Jason Newsted.
After more of the ever-popular touring, Metallica recorded "...And Justice For All" in 1988. By this time, "Master of Puppets" had gone platinum, practically ensuring the band's success. Metallica also made their first music video - "One." They performed the song at the Grammy Awards . . . they had been nominated in the Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal group. They lost to Jethro Tull (?).
The Justice tour lasted for more than a year. Metallica played in a few stadium shows, then in October of 1990 they started recording "Metallica" (aka The Black Album) with Bob Rock producing. The album was remixed three times, and wasn't released until July the following year. Also in 1991, Metallica won a Grammy . . . for a cover of an old Queen song. Huh?
Metallica spent three years touring for The Black Album. Over 300 shows in 37 countries . . . TBA was insanely popular, selling over 600,000 units in the US alone during its first week. In Febuary of 1993, Metallica recorded the Live Shit: Binge and Purge box set. It consists of a three-CD set from Mexico City, a double VHS tape concert from San Diego, a VHS tape from Seattle, a book that includes live photos, and a Snake Pit Pass.
"Load" was recorded in 1995, and released in 1996 to the usual good reviews. Metallica was invited to play at the MTV Europe Awards Show (they were nominated for Best Rock Video), and instead of playing the song they had been told to do, they launched into the ludicrously obscene "So What?", a British punk metal song best known for the measures governments took to prevent its release and distribution. Metallica's fans loved them for it; their enemies continued to hate them. Win-win situation.
On November 11th, 1997, Metallica made cunning use of a free concert to gain support for their new CD, "Reload." The concert went off well, and the money lost financing it was more than repaid by the incredible sales of the album.
In November 1998, Metallica released "Garage Inc.," an album composed entirely of cover songs. They revisited their past as well as added some newly recorded songs.
In April of 1999, Metallica ventured to a place where no other bands have gone before, they got together with conductor Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony and they performed for two nights in Berkeley, California. The concert was proven to be a huge success and it was released to the public in the form of a CD and VHS video. The sales of the unique concert were incredibly high, proving that Metallica is still thought of as one of the greatest rock bands ever!
Metallica headed into the new millennium, the only way they new how...by touring. The New Years Eve celebration was inside of the gigantic Poniac Silverdome in Detroit. The band was joined by the members of the other acts as they jammed to a unforgettable version of "Detroit Rock City."
Unfortunately Metallica hit the wall in January of 2001. Bassist Jason Newsted decided to leave the band after fourteen years of being a part of the group. Personal reasons, as well as miscommunication with James, led Jason to his decision.
Metallica finally returned to the studio in the summer of 2001, with James and Bob Rock filling in on the bass parts. Unfortunately, Metallica was faced with another setback when James entered into a rehab center in the summer of 2001. He recovered quickly and rejoined Lars and Kirk in the fall of 2001. The year soon ended and it became the first year in Metallica's history that the band did not play a single live gig.
The band is currently back in the studio (still without a replacement bassist) working on some new shit for their new album, hopefully it'll be released by the end of 2002. Kirk did say not to expect to hear songs that sound like "-Human" and "No Leaf Clover," which were written during the Load era, but to expect to hear music along the lines of "I Disappear."
