everybody who knows me, is friends with me, or has at one time or another gotten an 'all about me' from me knows that metallica is my favorite band of all time. they are a very talented group within the heavy/speed metal genre, and frontsman james hetfield is known to have written some very catchy, very thought-provoking lyrics. recently, metallica has been getting some very harsh backlash from fans. from the napster controversy (where criticism is a little deserved) to the new album st.anger, fans have been tearing metallica up left and right.
the bitching started right after the black album (metallica's self-titled, 1991 album). the black album "wasn't hard enough", the songs were "too short", it was "too mainstream", metallica used a producer, blah blah blah blah blah. it is very typical for a musician to want to expand themselves creatively and want to experience new sounds within the music they play. metallica's first four albums kill em all, ride the lightning, master of puppets, and ...and justice for all are great albums and great representations of metallica's work. but fans have to remember that the band changed a great deal from 1983 to 1991. dave mustaine left metallica and formed megadeth, kirk hammett joined the band as the new lead guitarist, bassist cliff burton was killed in a tour bus accident, and jason newsted replaced cliff burton as bassist. it's only natural that their sound would change a great deal. reason: nobody's playing style is the same!!! of course jason newsted is going to play bass differently than cliff burton, and so on. but fans sometimes think that even if a person has left a band, that the person's replacement is going to be a carbon copy of them. but we know that's really far off from reality.
the black album was also a way for metallica to expand their audience. with their previous 4 albums, metallica could only target metalheads. the long, 10 minute songs with their 8 minute guitar solos were very tedious for a person who wasn't very interested in the genre to listen to. in my case, i became a metallica fan from the black album, and was turned on to their older works later on. songs like "nothing else matters" and "enter sandman" are more appealing to a pop music fan than a song like "...and justice for all." the earlier songs are just too long for someone who is used to listening to four minute songs.
the fans' bitching continued into the releases of load, reload, garage inc., and s&m. the albums sucked. the fans especially backlashed against load and reload. in my opinion, "the outlaw torn" and "low man's lyric" are just as good as older songs like "disposable heroes" and "fade to black." the style hasn't changed; it's still uniquely metallica. it's just more radio friendly now. the fans also complained that these albums weren't hardcore enough. so metallica goes back to their roots and after hiring ozzy's former bassist rob trujillo, they release st. anger. it's hardcore, they went back to the 10 minute songs with 8 minute solos. and still fans aren't happy. metallica's sold out, they're greedy. GET OVER IT. they're older now, they've got families and such to support. they might not stand for all the same things anymore, but it's still all about the music for metallica.
so to all you fans out there....quit your bitching. if you hate metallica so much because they're greedy and sold out, why are you continuing to support them by purchasing their merchandise? this looks like a job for scooby-doo and the mystery machine....no wait, i figured it out. YOU'RE A MORON.
just as soon as i belong, then it's time i disappear...back to the index....