Metallica Thread

[MirrorMask]

My way of discovering Metallica were through compilation tapes made by a classmate that was using me for his musical experiments 

On one hand it's cool to have lived in the cassette tapes era, on the other hand I never have an answer for those "what's the first album you heard from your favorite bands?" questions because my introduction to hard rock and foreign music first (Bon Jovi, Guns n' Roses) and to heavy metal then (Iron Maiden, Metallica) came through these cassettes my classmate was doing for me, all greatest hits - like styled so there were songs from all the albums up until that time.

My first new album as a Metallica fan was Load so imagine the confusion from going to what I barely knew until then, to Load  I mean, I became a metalhead as a teen in 1995, Load was out in 1996, my musical tastes and even knowledge of music were still in development then so I didn't have a "musical maturity" to properly appreciate whatever Load had to offer.

[cfmoran13]

I found Metallica back in 1988 in high school.  I used to share and copy tapes with a friend of mine I used to drive home.  One weekend, he let me borrow Operation: Mindcrime and ...And Justice For All.  I sat in my room all Friday night with the volume cranked, listening to them from start to finish.  Getting introduced to 2 of my favorite bands at the same time was amazing.  From the beginning guitar tones of Blackened to the absolute brutality of Dyer's Eve, I just remember feeling like I was getting pummeled by AJFA.  I was hooked.  They were amazing on the Grammy Awards the following year (Fuck You, JT!).  After that, I went back to get the rest of the back catalog.  In 1991, I got the cassette single for Enter Sandman before the album came out (Stone Cold Crazy as the b-side) to tide me over until I was able to get my first album on release day with the Black Album.

As a side note... Fast forward to the 2007 Grammy Awards.  I'm sitting there watching it on TV and that kid I used to drive home and share tapes with was now standing on the stage (sporting a big Rick Rubin beard) with the Dixie Chicks accepting a Grammy award.  Turns out, he became a record engineer who has worked with Springsteen, Billy Joel, P!nk, Beyonce, The Black Crowes and others.

[Zydar]

My introduction to Metallica was the release of The Black Album. I was 10 years old in 1991, and it was my introduction to heavier music overall. I grew up with dad's 60s rock singles, so it was quite a departure for me with that kind of music. Like I said in the "Favourite Metallica album" thread, I rank TBA as my #1 and a lot of it has to do with nostalgia. A couple of years later I got Load when it was released. I even bought the first single on CD, Until It Sleeps, before the album. So between 1991-1996 the only Metallica I knew was TBA. It wasn't until the late 90s that I discovered their 80s albums and really enjoyed them too.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I discovered Metallica when I was three years old. My mom was finishing up my bath while my dad was cleaning up dinner. He was listening to Master of Puppets while cleaning and my mom took me out of the bathroom as the melodic interlude of the title track came around. It’s my first true musical memory and I’ve been a die-hard Metallica fan ever since.

[Stadler]

First listen was Master Of Puppets, but being in a Maiden/Rainbow/Deep Purple/MSG/Sabbath mode, the vocals were a let down.  First album I heard in full was ...And Justice, which I liked, but there were still problems with the vocals.   Then The Black Album and James was actually SINGING. That's the first I bought, and I've bought almost everything since.   They are a band I respect more than I like.

By the way, TAC, "Ronnie Rising" is from a Dio tribute record, and was also released on the Hardwired... bonus CD.

[TAC]

Thank you. I figured it out. 

[pg1067]

My introduction to Metallica. . . .

Ride the Lightning was released during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school.  My best friend bought it without having heard anything -- probably because he thought the cover looked cool.  He was a cassette guy, so we were able to listen to it right away.  To say I HATED it would be an understatement.  Could not stand Fight Fire with Fire, including James's voice.  The title track didn't suit me much better.  Unfortunately, my friend liked the album a lot, so he insisted on playing it during our commute to and from school during our senior year.  I think it wasn't until after graduation that I decided to give the album another shot and asked him to borrow it.  I probably had heard Fade to Black on the radio enough that I knew the band was capable of making music I didn't hate.  It clicked -- especially Creeping Death (although I never did embrace FFWF).  This was around the time I started playing bass, and Fade to Black was one of the first songs I learned.  I remember when MOP was released, and I remember being at work (Baskin Robbins in a mall) and hearing the news that Cliff had been killed.  I was fortunate to see Metallica with Cliff opening for Ozzy just a few months before he died.

[ZirconBlue]

I would go so far as to say that Mick Jagger sounds better now than he did 40 years ago.

That's a really low bar to clear. 

[Sebastián Pratesi]

I discovered Metallica when I was three years old. My mom was finishing up my bath while my dad was cleaning up dinner. He was listening to Master of Puppets while cleaning and my mom took me out of the bathroom as the melodic interlude of the title track came around. It’s my first true musical memory and I’ve been a die-hard Metallica fan ever since.

Best anecdote ever!

I discovered Metallica in the year 2000, with "I Disappear". Then, in 2003, MTV did their 'Icon' special, and I became a fan.

Last Metallica I bought was St. Anger, in 2019. I thought it was high time I listened to that album in full. Now it's my favourite.

[Adami]

I probably became a fan around or before the release of reload. Maybe that’s why I don’t hate those two albums.

[TAC]

The first time I heard Metallica was in 1983. The summer of 1983 was the summer between my 9th and 10th grades.
Sometime in 1983 the local rock radio station, 94 WHJY in Providence, had a DJ named Doug Frye who started a Heavy Metal Hour on Saturday nights at either 11 pm or Midnight. I remember when he started the show, and I used to record them each week. It was there that I first heard Metallica, Queensyche, and Accept, among others.

One night the show began with a song that had the most incredible intro. That song was Hit The Lights. I was blown away.

I ended up buying the cassette from 1-800 Hot Rock. I just did a google search of it, and there's a youtube commercial peddling 80's pop hits. The company I remember in 1983 was more metal oriented. I think it could've been an East Coast thing, because when I called, it was in New York. I ended up talking to the guy about bands like Talas and Anthrax.

[cfmoran13]

I discovered Metallica in the year 2000, with "I Disappear”.

Last recording with Jason. 

[Revenge319]

I miss the way you discovered music when you were  younger and didn't have a thousand bands to try to keep up with. I could never devote the time to one band now, like I did back then. I can picture where I was the first time I listened to all those Metallica albums and they hold such a special place in my heart.

I know there's so much music out there Revenge, but if you can put time aside to really savour these albums I think you'll be glad you did.

It is nice that I've been exposed to so many artists within the past year, though I agree that being able to really absorb one band's discography at a time was a great approach as well. I've listened to different albums from different artists in the past few months, but with a few exceptions, I haven't absorbed much because there's just so much I want to listen to. I know I want to savor these first four albums soon, and hopefully I can say the same about the rest of 'em.


Also, I've been reading everyone's stories here about how they got into Metallica, and I feel so boring in comparison.    I just got sent some songs, liked them, and then eventually decided to look up all their albums... and all this in 2021, at that! Oh, well... better late than never, right?

[Sebastián Pratesi]

Also, I've been reading everyone's stories here about how they got into Metallica, and I feel so boring in comparison.    I just got sent some songs, liked them, and then eventually decided to look up all their albums... and all this in 2021, at that! Oh, well... better late than never, right?

I think every way of getting into a band has its charm. What you are experiencing is actually pretty cool! Not focusing on specific albums or their importance, but all of the discography at once. And seeing (or hearing) for yourself which songs resonate with you.

I discovered Metallica in the year 2000, with "I Disappear”.

Last recording with Jason. 

Oh, yeah. Awesome song, by the way.

The M:I-2 soundtrack was my second CD ever. So, I grew up with Metallica being criticized a lot: for their position on piracy, for their approach with St. Anger, for the sound of Death Magnetic, etc.

Did people really hate them that much throughout the '90s? Or was it something that has been overblown in time?

[cfmoran13]

I discovered Metallica in the year 2000, with "I Disappear”.

Last recording with Jason. 

Oh, yeah. Awesome song, by the way.

The M:I-2 soundtrack was my second CD ever. So, I grew up with Metallica being criticized a lot: for their position on piracy, for their approach with St. Anger, for the sound of Death Magnetic, etc.

Did people really hate them that much throughout the '90s? Or was it something that has been overblown in time?

Not really overblown.  Napster hate was a real thing.  People just considered them rich assholes who were concerned with losing out on more money because of people "stealing" from them.  In actuality (according to them), they were more concerned with the impact on newer/younger bands (who hadn't made any money yet) than themselves.  Napster was just the surface of what really turned the music industry sideways - the internet.  File sharing certainly hurt the revenue stream of a lot of artists.  However, the internet and the new ways of getting people their music that were introduced played a larger part in things going crazy.  At the time, most record contracts never included streams, downloads or other digital transfers of music when it came to compensating artists since it hadn't existed before.  It's why artists like AC/DC and Def Leppard held out on releasing their music on the digital platforms for as long as they did.  They didn't want to lose out on being properly compensated for their music.  I'm down with that.

As for St. Anger and Death Magnetic, I'll only speak for myself.  I can't really listen to St. Anger.  The overly abrasive production style, along with the trash can snare sound, is simply not enjoyable to me.  I'm sure I could be missing out on some hidden gems.  I just can't get past the sound.  And, I like the songs on Death Magnetic.  However, I choose to listen to the two other mixes of the album I have over the released version - Guitar Hero Remix and Deceifer Remix.  They have more of a dynamic spectrum to their sound quality.  Death Magnetic is comparable to Rush's Vapor Trails to me.  There are good songs  However, the production is so compressed/brickwalled that I can't listen to them and really enjoy them the way they were originally released.

[Revenge319]

I finished listening to The Black Album, meaning I'm already halfway through their discography! Well, I am planning on listening to S&M and Garage Inc. at some point, so maybe technically not halfway yet. Anyway, this album is yet another impressive one. What I really like about this album is how diverse it is compared to the first four. It's still dominantly metal, but there's some more unique material, like "The Unforgiven" which is the best song on the album for me (Hetfield's soft vocals sound way better than I expected). Other songs I really enjoyed were "Enter Sandman", "Wherever I May Roam", "Don't Tread On Me", and "Nothing Else Matters". While it's hard to rank the last three albums, I think in a way Metallica has gotten progressively better with each album. I'm more curious than ever as to what these next five albums have in store for me. Even if I end up not liking some of them, I can say with confidence that this marathon will have been worth it anyway for these first five albums alone.

[twosuitsluke]

The Black Album just sounds huge. It is easily the album of theirs I've listened to most, and probably my most listened to album of all time (if I factor in the fact my older brother pretty much had it on constant repeat from 91-94).

I used to class it as my favourite all time album, obviously, but I just hardly revisit it now as I know it inside out.

This album though, has got to be the perfect gateway metal album. It is the album that converted countless thousands of kids to metal. I have lost count of the people who have told me that this album, or Enter Sandman as a song, got them into metal!

[MirrorMask]

Did people really hate them that much throughout the '90s? Or was it something that has been overblown in time?

Yeah, the "hate" / dislike was real. Different era, dawn of the internet, different mentality.... it was a combination of things.

As I said before, looking back I can see how I wasn't "musically mature" in 1996 when Load came out, I haven't really heard that much stuff to properly understand all the ins and outs of music. I discovered metal the year before, I enjoyed Creeping Death, Master of Puppets, One and the likes, and Metallica come out with Load. And the year later with ReLoad.

They also cut their hair, became big on MTV with specials dedicated to them.... yeah, looking back it all seems silly to focus on the looks, but definitively the general idea is that Metallica "sold out". Also Napster.... hindsight is 20/20, it was the dawn of the internet, were they right in retrospect? AT THAT TIME they came across as rich assholes persecuting kids.

Garage INC and S&M aside, it took them 6 years after ReLoad to make an album to "repair" the wrongs of Load / ReLoad, and what they came up with? St. Anger... ouch, ears bleeding. That was the nail in the coffin for many people, probably the same people they tried to win back with Death Magnetic.

As I said, looking back you can see how certain things were silly, but AT THE TIME, all that combination of change of style + change of looks + mainstream exposure + Napster was definitively a set of factors that brought Metallica to be considered asshole sellouts.

[MirrorMask]

Double post to justify better the situation: in the mid '90s there has been a tectonic shift in music. The '80s (and relative poofy hair) were over, grunge came and "killed" glam and that '80s brand of hard rock and metal, and so I would assume that people would look for guidance from "the gods". Let's remember the situation in the first half 90's: grunge reigning supreme, Black Sabbath were once again going through lineup changes with Ozzy and Dio gone, Bruce Dickinson left Maiden, Rob Halford left Priest, the power metal resurgence was yet to come.... me personally I was still figuring out my tastes, but I bet that in this scenario people were expecting Metallica to be their "saviors" and a reminder that classic metal was still goind strong, but all they got was a weird album and the change of style and the mainstream appeal (endorsed by MTV) and the Napster debacle. That probably was a factor as well.

[Stadler]

I finished listening to The Black Album, meaning I'm already halfway through their discography! Well, I am planning on listening to S&M and Garage Inc. at some point, so maybe technically not halfway yet. Anyway, this album is yet another impressive one. What I really like about this album is how diverse it is compared to the first four. It's still dominantly metal, but there's some more unique material, like "The Unforgiven" which is the best song on the album for me (Hetfield's soft vocals sound way better than I expected). Other songs I really enjoyed were "Enter Sandman", "Wherever I May Roam", "Don't Tread On Me", and "Nothing Else Matters". While it's hard to rank the last three albums, I think in a way Metallica has gotten progressively better with each album. I'm more curious than ever as to what these next five albums have in store for me. Even if I end up not liking some of them, I can say with confidence that this marathon will have been worth it anyway for these first five albums alone.

I'm having a hard time posting the link (I'm at work) but find the 2008 appearance on Jools Holland where they play Cyanide and Enter Sandman.   If you don't know, the show - "Later with Jools Holland" - usually has four or five artists who are all in the same room, in a circle, and each plays in turn, with the biggest band getting, usually, two or three songs and the others, usually, one.  During each act, the other acts usually sit or stand patiently waiting for their turn, and sometimes the camera will capture them.   It's common to see them sitting on the drum risers and what not.    During "Enter Sandman", they destroy the place.  The other bands are clapping along, singing along, and, if memory serves, in one case actually PLAYING along.   I've only ever seen that with Paul McCartney. 

It's probably my favorite appearance on that show and I watch it a LOT (I used to download the audio from my cable box to rip it to my iPod, but I can't do that anymore).   

[Stadler]

As someone who was a casual Metallica fan then, I saw the hate, but it always seemed to me to be something similar to what happened with REM and The Police.  They were a niche band with a devoted following who got a little bigger, and most fans went along with that, albeit grudgingly, but then they hit a whole new plateau and the hard-core fans got resentful.  That was compounded by the change in image - look, let's not beat around the bush, sexuality was still a little dicey in '95, '96.  Halford had not come out yet, for example - and people were confused, and angry.   I think the music was made to suffer for other things, but the backlash WAS real. 

Add to that the Napster thing, since I don't think today we appreciate how much of a pariah the band - and Lars especially - became after that.  It was hard to look at that as anything other than a money grab, even if he was right, and even if he did see the future accurately.   I know I was so thrilled with Napster, and once I got broad band it was "kid, welcome to candy store".  I had fake rules for myself - I didn't download anything I either didn't already have in some format (vinyl/cassette) or that was unavailable otherwise (I think I have about 25 versions of Raving And Drooling ("Sheep"), You Gotta Be Crazy ("Dogs") and Shine On You Crazy Diamond from their '74 tour floating around somewhere) - but it still smacked of running afoul of the ethos that Metallica stood for.  I remember reading articles about Lars making cassettes of songs from Diamond Head and others early on, and I didn't see the difference, then. 

[Revenge319]

I finished listening to Load just now. Compared to what came before it, this is a step down in overall quality. It's somewhat inconsistent in terms of quality, too. There's some pretty good songs here (Until It Sleeps, Mama Said, The Outlaw Torn), but there were also a few tracks I didn't really care for. I'm not sure what the issue I have here is, exactly. The album cover and the first track make it seem like it'd be all overly edgy and stuff, which is something I don't usually like, but that doesn't seem to be a recurring thing for the whole album. I guess it's just that the songs aren't as strong as past albums were. I also feel like the album was just too long. Maybe if it was of the quality of the first three, I wouldn't mind, but it's 79 minutes and 14 songs that gave me the general impression of "it's okay". Like I said, there were some tracks I liked, I just found this to be weaker than everything else they've done thus far.

[MirrorMask]

Like I said, there were some tracks I liked, I just found this to be weaker than everything else they've done thus far.

Just wait for Reload, it's even worse 

[fadetoblackdude7]

I prefer Reload over Load these days. I just love how weird and experimental it gets, especially in the second half. There are some one-of-a-kind Metallica songs on that album for sure!

[Adami]

I prefer Reload over Load these days. I just love how weird and experimental it gets, especially in the second half. There are some one-of-a-kind Metallica songs on that album for sure!

Where The Wild Things Are i wish got more appreciation. 

[fadetoblackdude7]

I prefer Reload over Load these days. I just love how weird and experimental it gets, especially in the second half. There are some one-of-a-kind Metallica songs on that album for sure!

Where The Wild Things Are i wish got more appreciation.

Yes. And Fixxxer. Glad they started to play Carpe Diem Baby though 👍

[Adami]

I prefer Reload over Load these days. I just love how weird and experimental it gets, especially in the second half. There are some one-of-a-kind Metallica songs on that album for sure!

Where The Wild Things Are i wish got more appreciation.

Yes. And Fixxxer. Glad they started to play Carpe Diem Baby though 👍

Oh yea. Fixxxer is my fav but it gets a good amount of love. I rarely see any for WTWTA.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Load is more consistent but I think Reload’s high points are better. Where the Wild Things Are, Low Man’s Lyric, and Fixxxer are especially amazing.

[MirrorMask]

Load is more consistent but I think Reload’s high points are better. Where the Wild Things Are, Low Man’s Lyric, and Fixxxer are especially amazing.

But the low points are even lower.

Better than Thou, Bad Seed (especially this one), Attitude and Slither are very bad and annoying. And Prince Charming rips off Creeping Death's chorus.

[twosuitsluke]

It's all about Low Man's Lyric and The Unforgiven II on Reload.

[nobloodyname]

Load is more consistent but I think Reload’s high points are better. Where the Wild Things Are, Low Man’s Lyric, and Fixxxer are especially amazing.

But the low points are even lower.

Better than Thou, Bad Seed (especially this one), Attitude and Slither are very bad and annoying. And Prince Charming rips off Creeping Death's chorus.

Never realised that before so listening now... still can't hear any resemblance. What am I missing?

Also, Better than Thou

[fadetoblackdude7]

Load is more consistent but I think Reload’s high points are better. Where the Wild Things Are, Low Man’s Lyric, and Fixxxer are especially amazing.

But the low points are even lower.

Better than Thou, Bad Seed (especially this one), Attitude and Slither are very bad and annoying. And Prince Charming rips off Creeping Death's chorus.

Agreed with those being the weaker points, but I don’t mind them at all. I’ll still listen to them.

[MirrorMask]

Load is more consistent but I think Reload’s high points are better. Where the Wild Things Are, Low Man’s Lyric, and Fixxxer are especially amazing.

But the low points are even lower.

Better than Thou, Bad Seed (especially this one), Attitude and Slither are very bad and annoying. And Prince Charming rips off Creeping Death's chorus.

Never realised that before so listening now... still can't hear any resemblance. What am I missing?

The choruses uses, if not the same chords, the same progression. Go to Prince Charming's chorus and sing over it the chorus of Creeping Death, it works. It's not a perfect match but once I saw it pointed out and the similarities are there.

[TheCountOfNYC]

It's all about Low Man's Lyric and The Unforgiven II on Reload.

I quite like The Unforgiven II, but I’ve noticed that both sequels are pretty polarizing on these forums.

[twosuitsluke]

It's all about Low Man's Lyric and The Unforgiven II on Reload.

I quite like The Unforgiven II, but I’ve noticed that both sequels are pretty polarizing on these forums.

I think all three are great. Yes, I love the OG the most, but all three are strong in their own right!