Metallica Essay Research Paper If you came

Metallica Essay, Research Paper

If you came here to see spandex and big hair, this ain t your band , Metallica s war cry throughout the early eighties. While the rest of the hard rock bands wanted to get rich and a lot of women, Metallica, as in the words of former lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, Our hole existence pretty much was guitar, dominating the world and getting liquored up .

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a new wave a British Heavy Metal entering the cassette and 8-track decks of people everywhere. Over in Denmark, current Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, was a hug fan of this type of music. So obsessed with this music, Lars Ulrich wanted to start a heavy metal band… a band that he could play his favorite songs with.

On the other side of the globe, James Hetfield, Metallica s current rhythm guitarist and lead singer, was looking to start a band of his own. His current roommate had taught him how to play guitar and James was very motivated to get something started. In effect, James had put a listing in a worldwide music magazine, The Recycler under H for Heavy Metal . James and Lars, were the only ones listed, so it was obvious that the two should talk to each other.

In the fall of 1981, the band Metallica was formed. Playing drums was Lars Ulrich, on bass guitar was Ron McGoveny, playing lead guitar was Dave Mustaine, and rhythm guitar and lead vocalist was James Hetfield. During the song writing process over the next few months, the band became very addicted to Alcohol. When drunk, Dave Mustaine would get very violent, while the rest of the band would get happy. Happy and Violent people just don t mix. Ron McGoveny could not handle the situation with Dave, and so he left the band.

Lars, James, and Dave then went around to local clubs to check out bassists from other bands. At one club, they found Cliff Burton playing with a band called Trauma. Cliff Burton was a technical engineer and could do certain things on a bass that would make it sound like noises from a guitar. After the show that night, Lars, James, and Dave confronted Cliff asking him to join Metallica . Cliff said he would join, only if the band relocated from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

In Los Angeles, Metallica recorded their first demo tape entitled No Life Till Leather . This tape was quickly distributed across the country and landed in the hands of John and Marsha Zazula. John and Marsha owned a record store in New Jersey called Rock N Roll Heaven. Quickly, John and Marsha got in touch with Metallica and asked them to drive to Queens, New York, expenses paid, to talk about a record contract. After arriving in Queens, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich announced to John Zazula that they were kicking Dave Mustaine out of the band next week.

Within the next week of this meeting, Metallica kicked Dave Mustaine out of the band. In exchange, they offered Kirk Hammet, former Exodus lead guitarist, a job in the band. The same day that Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band, Kirk Hammet flew in by plane to try out for the band.

A week after Kirk Hammet entered Metallica, they began to record their first album, Kill Em All . The album was released in the fall of 1983 on Mega Force Records. At first, people had no idea of how to act when they heard Metallica. To help promote the album, Metallica did relentless touring to show that they knew the real meaning of Rock.

Early in 1984, Electra Records offered Metallica a record contract. Obviously, with a little bit of greed backing them up, Metallica signed the contracts with Electra. Later that year, they released Ride The Lightning.” From word of mouth, people everywhere bought the album.

Two years later, Metallica released Master Of Puppets in 1986. This album sold over a million copies without the benefit of a music video or any radio promotion. To help promote this album, Metallica toured for 6 months with Ozzy Ousbourne. This tour would be Metallica s last time as a support act.

Near the end of the tour, Metallica was making a few detours between Stockholm and Copenhagen to do some concert apart from the Ozzy tour. On September 27, 1986, early in the morning, Metallica s tour bus slipped on some black ice and toppled over. Every person on the bus escaped from the bus, except Cliff. The bus had fell on top of him. A truck had arrived to lift the bus up with a crane… at that point no one knew if Cliff was dead yet because the bus slipped back down on top of him. Cliff Burton died that night, at 2 a.m. (Rest In Peace)

Within a month, Metallica was already auditioning for a new bassist. James Hetfield comments, Cliff would be pissed if Metallica didn t go on . Auditioning for a new bassist was, in the word of Jason Newstead, Cold . A bassist would come in for only a few minutes and would be sent out right afterwards. Metallica ended up with Jason Newstead as their new bassist. To welcome in their new bassist, Metallica released Garage Days Re-Revisited (AKA: The 5.98 LP, the 9.98 CD, or The 5.98 Tape) in the summer of 1987.

In 1988, Metallica released there first real album with Jason Newstead, …And Justice For All. This album had been written with corrupt government in mind and guitar and bass wrifs that Cliff Burton had written before he died. This album went double platinum in record setting times. The album included the song ONE, based