Metallica

METALLICA

Formed: 1981, Los Angeles, California

Members: Kirk Hammett, lead guitar (born San Francisco, California, 18 November 1962); James Hetfield, vocals, rhythm guitar (born Downey, California, 3 August 1963); Lars Ulrich, drums (born Gentofte, Denmark, 26 December 1963). Former members: Cliff Burton, bass (born Castro Valley, California, 10 February 1962; died Ljungby, Sweden, 27 September 1986); Ron McGovney, bass; Dave Mustaine, guitar (born La Mesa, California, 13 September 1961); Jason Newsted, bass (born Battle Creek, Michigan, 4 March 1963).

Genre: Heavy Metal, Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Metallica (1991)

Hit songs since 1990: "Enter Sandman," "Until It Sleeps," "The Memory Remains"

Equal parts punk and heavy metal, Metallica pioneered the darker and faster genres known as speed and thrash metal in the early 1980s. As the decade progressed, they emerged as the premiere underground metal band and sold millions of records despite minimal airplay on radio and MTV. After adopting a slower, simpler sound in the 1990s, the group reached a mass audience. By the decade's end, Metallica was one of music's most successful acts but had alienated much of their original core audience.

Origins

When drummer Lars Ulrich and guitarist James Het-field met in Los Angeles in 1981, they decided to form a band that reacted against the style-over-substance glam metal, which was quickly gaining popularity on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. They recruited guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney and began making music influenced by British heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and the lesser-known Diamond Head. The latter band's driving irregular rhythms and dark tone were the most direct influence on Metallica's sound. They took Diamond Head's heavily distorted but technically precise rhythmic guitar style and sped it up to a blistering pace. By using two bass drums simultaneously, Ulrich augmented the tempo to unthinkable speeds. These elements of extreme velocity combined to develop Metallica's distinct version of speed metal.

Los Angeles was not quite ready for them, but similar-sounding metal was gaining popularity in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band relocated there to get Cliff Burton, the bassist of local band Trauma, to join them. A solid fan base grew rapidly. Their widely circulated demo-tape, No Life 'Til Leather, prompted a record deal with underground label, Megaforce, on one condition: They must move to New York City.

Shortly after arriving on the East Coast, the band dismissed Mustaine because of behavioral problems. He went on to form Megadeth, one of the top speed-metal rivals of Metallica throughout the 1980s. The competition between the two bands was often heated and personal because of Mustaine's unceremonious departure. His replacement was Kirk Hammett.

With the lineup of Ulrich, Hetfield, Burton, and Hammett in place, Metallica released its debut album, Kill 'Em All (1983). The album creates an ominous and mesmerizing world with lightning-quick rhythms, Hetfield's coarse growl, and the use of the notably eerie Phrygian musical scale.

Underground Stardom

The band's next two albums, Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986), were more accomplished. Having Hammett from the beginning of the creative process allowed him to develop a more melodic and classically virtuosic guitar sound to complement Hetfield's pounding strums. Hetfield's vocals remained abrasive, but he introduced more melody and showed an aptitude for more conventional singing during the balladlike verses of "Fade to Black" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)." The songs dealt with suicide and mental illness, respectively, and represented a major step forward in lyrical maturity. Master of Puppets was hailed a masterpiece by even the unlikeliest critics. It cracked the Top 30 of the Billboard album chart and became the first platinum speed-metal album.

As the band's career soared to new heights, tragedy struck during a tour of Sweden in November 1986: The group's bus was in a horrible accident, and the band's bassist, Cliff Burton, was killed. After an anguished hiatus, Metallica chose to continue. Jason Newsted, a fervent Metallica fan and leader of the Phoenix-based band Flotsam and Jetsam, took Burton's place. Following a five-song EP of covers, Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987), the group released their most ambitious album to date, . . . And Justice for All (1988). With its bleak outlook at a decaying society, thin production, epic songs averaging more than seven minutes, and sophisticated compositions, it is a challenging listen. It cracked the Top 10 and swiftly went platinum.

After years of resistance, Metallica finally decided to shoot their first music video for "One," near the end of 1988. The song is based on the Dalton Trumbo novel Johnny Got His Gun, about a hospitalized war veteran who loses his sight, voice, hearing, and limbs but maintains total consciousness. Using scenes from the film version of the book and stark black-and-white performance footage, "One" was a disturbing tour de force. Medium rotation on MTV pushed the song to become one of the most unlikely Top 40 hits in Billboard history. Despite the crossover success, Metallica's uncompromising methods kept them in solid standing with their longtime fans.

Blockbuster Success

Having difficulty reproducing the complicated songs from . . . And Justice for All onstage, and uncertain how to refine its complex sound any further, Metallica decided to scale back on its self-titled 1991 release. With shortened, simplified, and significantly slower songs, it was a more straightforward album that was destined to reach a larger audience. Though the first single and video, "Enter Sandman," was ominous, its throbbing, repeated riff and verse-memorable chorus structure made it a hit. Selling a half million copies and peaking at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100, it became the group's most popular anthem.

The album's next two singles, "The Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters," demonstrated a commercial side of Metallica not seen before. The former features a hefty guitar crunch in the verses that leads to a gentle pop chorus. The latter is the band's first love song, complete with a string section. Only "Holier Than Thou" and "Through the Never" approach the velocity of past efforts, while "Sad but True," "Don't Tread Me," and "The God That Failed" forge new territory with bass-heavy grooves and plodding guitars. Those characteristics were indicative of much of the nu-metal to follow in the 1990s and thereafter.

Metallica's new direction naturally disappointed some die-hard fans, but it introduced the band to a substantially larger audience. Metallica debuted at number one, sold 3 million copies in its first two months, 6 million by the end of 1992, and 12 million by the end of decade. Its tremendous success generated new interest in previous albums and pushed all of them to multiplatinum status.

After incessant touring and some much-needed time off, the band felt heavy pressure to follow up their self-titled album. Instead of fearlessly trailblazing as they had always done, Metallica chose to assimilate to the 1990s alternative rock look and sound with Load (1996). The album's first video, "Until It Sleeps," presents all four members with short hair, with Hammett and Ulrich donning glam makeup. Similar images fill the album's liner notes, and the cover sports an updated, less menacing logo. They toned down the threatening, doomsday attitude and replaced it with a safer, more transparent, and occasionally bluesy sound. This distancing from the Metallica of the past surprised and disappointed many, but it did not prevent the album from debuting at number one, quickly selling 3 million copies, and yielding another gold single, "Until It Sleeps." The next year the group followed with Re-Load, a collection of songs that did not make it onto Load and some newly written material. Though somewhat of a rehash of the previous album, it offers a few new twists and found similar success.

After a five-year gap between albums in the middle 1990s, Metallica kept up an album-a-year pace in the late 1990s. Garage Inc. (1998) was a double-album of covers, some previously recorded and some new, paying tribute to artists ranging from Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd to early, more direct influences such as Diamond Head and the Misfits. S&M (1999) was another double disc that captured the band performing Metallica classics and two new songs with the San Francisco Symphony. The album once again attracted a new audience while acknowledging their classical influences. Both sold millions, garnered solid airplay, and reaffirmed the band's immense popularity, establishing them as one of the top-selling acts of the 1990s.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Metallica's headlines shifted from its music to its legal battles. The group garnered a litigious reputation by suing companies like Victoria's Secret and Pierre Cardin for trademark infringement over the use of the band's name. They also sued Amazon.com over sales of a bootleg album and released Garage Inc. partially as an attempt to prevent unauthorized dissemination of their rare material. It was no surprise then, when they filed suit against the online music distribution company Napster in April 2000 for facilitating the illegal trading of their copyrighted music. Lars Ulrich hand-delivered thirteen boxes of legal paperwork containing the names of over 300,000 users who had traded Metallica's music illegally. Though legally justified, Ulrich's antics seemed unfashionable and greedy for a rock star who had sold nearly 50 million albums. His actions caused a major backlash among some fans and fellow musicians. Metallica settled with Napster and praised them for attempting to run a legitimate business that thwarted the sharing of unauthorized, copyrighted material.

With all the distractions stalling Metallica's musical growth, and a longstanding ban on side projects, Newsted became frustrated and left the band. He promptly formed Echobrain, released an album with them, and then joined Canadian progressive metal legends Voivod. In April 2001 Metallica entered the recording studio to start work on a new album without a bassist. Three months later all progress ceased as James Hetfield entered rehab for alcoholism and other addictions. Five months later he returned to the group, and they readied an eighth studio album for 2003 release. Galvanizing speed metal into a viable underground institution, Metallica transcended its genre to become one of rock's most enduring forces. After years of boldly defining new directions in heavy metal, the band eventually made mainstream concessions to maintain longevity. Thriving long after most of their contemporaries had floundered, Metallica has left a legacy as one of the greatest rock bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Kill 'Em All (Megaforce/Elektra, 1983); Ride the Lightning (Elektra, 1984); Master of Puppets (Elektra, 1986); . . . And Justice for All (Elektra, 1988); Metallica (Elektra, 1991); Garage, Inc. (Elektra, 1998).

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

M. Putterford, Metallica: In Their Own Words (Chester, New York, 2000); K. J. Doughton, Metallica Unbound: The Unofficial Biography (New York, 1993).

WEBSITES:

www.metallica.com; www.metclub.com; www.encycmet.com.

dave powers