History On Metallica Essay Research Paper The

History On Metallica Essay, Research Paper

The History of Metallica

Tommy Andriopoulos

College English II

ENGL-1202-LC

Professor Brugger

As the nineteen seventies came to a close so did many of the musical styles of that decade. While some faced what seemed to be extinction others went through a sort of evolutionary process. The bands that were at the top of the heavy metal ladder during this time were such acts as Motorhead, Iron Maiden, and Tygers of Pan Tang. These groups would be just some of what the new crop of heavy metal bands would consider inspirational. This style, which is typically referred to as “The New Wave of British Heavy Metal,” would fuel and empower many acts to stardom. (Marshall 3)

At around this time, almost halfway across the world, Lars Ulrich got his first drum set in his home in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was eleven years old and had just been to his first heavy metal concert. The entire idea of being a drummer was viewed as just being a hobby, his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a professional tennis player. As nineteen eighty came around Lars’ parents decided that he needed to be in a different environment in order to hone his tennis skills. They decided to move to Newport Beach, California because they believed the sunny climate would be more conductive to Lars’ tennis practices. (Doughton 13)

As these events were taking place in Lars’ life halfway around the world James Hetfield, the future front man of Metallica, was attending Downey High School in Downey, California. This would be the beginning of a bumpy road for James. In his second year of high school his mother died of cancer. His parents, being Christian Scientists, shunned medical treatment and this caused a deep resentment in James in the upcoming years. After his mother’s death James was forced to move to La Brea with his brother-in-law. This was only temporary; he would stay there until he finished high school. After graduation James moved back to Downey and was offered a place to live by his friend Ron McGovney. Ron’s mother owned several houses, and the vacant one James would be moving into was doubled as a rehearsal space since Ron was learning how to play the bass guitar. (Doughton 15-16)

As nineteen eighty one rolled around both James and Lars were looking for musicians that shared the same taste in music they each had. Lars decided to place an advertisement in a South California paper called “The Recycler.” The only other ad that came close was James’ and so the two decided to meet. Their first practice together was anything but smooth, considering the fact that Lars was still learning and could not even keep his drum set upright. (Krgin 51) Even though Lars was clearly unprepared to make a career out of music he had made some connections. He befriended a man named Brian Slagel, who was in the process of forming his own record company named Metal Blade Records. Brian was in the middle of doing a compilation project where his goal was to expose up and coming bands to the general public. He pretty much guaranteed Lars a spot on his project if Lars could form a band. Lars got the information back to James and so they decided to give it a try. James, Lars, Ron, and a friend, guitarist Lloyd Grant went into a recording studio and recorded what would be Metallica’s first song, “Hit The Lights.” Slagel was clearly impressed and did not hesitate to place the song on his compilation project. (Crocker 25-26)

Soon thereafter though several small problems became evident. First of all James did not feel that Lloyd could keep up very well. James turned to another friend, Dave Mustaine, to fill in the void and Dave soon took over the role of lead guitarist for Metallica. Another problem was that Ron did not really want to play and had to be coaxed into helping James, Lars, and Dave record a few more new songs. Ron stayed but was not very enthusiastic about the situation. The recording in question was finished in April of nineteen eighty-two and became very popular in the underground metal scene. This led to another demo recording being released called “No Life Till Leather,” which caught on even better than the first one. (Doughton 19-22)

An important moment in the band’s history came in August of nineteen eighty-two. James and Lars were in attendance at a club called “Whiskey-A-Go-Go” where they saw an amazingly talented bass player named Cliff Burton. Both almost immediately pursued Cliff, they saw him as the missing piece in what would otherwise be a remarkable band. Cliff was not as optimistic as the other two and held out for a while. It was not until the end of that year that Cliff agreed under one condition, Metallica would have to relocate from Los Angeles to San Francisco. This was not a problem to James, Lars, or Dave considering that Los Angeles was the center of a totally different genre of music. The band moved to San Francisco in December of nineteen eighty-two and, in the process, parted ways with Ron McGovney. (Krgin 52-53)

Change still seemed to be the vibe that surrounded the band. In April of nineteen eighty three the band got a call from a heavy metal producer in New Jersey named Johnny Zazula. He was interested in Metallica and wanted to produce their first album. The band enthusiastically accepted the invitation and set to go across the country from S