FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
PHOTO CREDIT: Ross Halfin
Part Twenty-Six: Metallica
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QUITE a shift from last week’s A Buyer’s Guide….
I am going from The Supremes to Metallica! I love the band, and I have been a fan of their music for many years now. Metallica were formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding ‘big four’ bands of Thrash Metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current line-up comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. With no end in sight for the Metal legends, I wanted to put together a guide to their best albums, an underrated album of theirs and a book that will give you more information. If you are new to Metallica, enjoy this spotlight of one of the music world’s…
HEAVIEST and best bands.
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The Four Essential Albums
Kill 'Em All
Release Date: 25th July, 1983
Label: Megaforce
Producer: Paul Curcio
Standout Tracks: Hit the Lights/Jump in Fire/Whiplash
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-Kill-Em-All/master/6387
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6FMPDVTm8l5IrEQla46VQl
Review:
“The true birth of thrash. On Kill 'Em All, Metallica fuses the intricate riffing of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Diamond Head with the velocity of Motörhead and hardcore punk. James Hetfield's highly technical rhythm guitar style drives most of the album, setting new standards of power, precision, and stamina. But really, the rest of the band is just as dexterous, playing with tightly controlled fury even at the most ridiculously fast tempos. There are already several extended, multi-sectioned compositions foreshadowing the band's later progressive epics, though these are driven by adrenaline, not texture. A few tributes to heavy metal itself are a bit dated lyrically; like Diamond Head, the band's biggest influence, Kill 'Em All's most effective tone is one of supernatural malevolence -- as pure sound, the record is already straight from the pits of hell. Ex-member Dave Mustaine co-wrote four of the original ten tracks, but the material all sounds of a piece. And actually, anyone who worked backward through the band's catalog might not fully appreciate the impact of Kill 'Em All when it first appeared -- unlike later releases, there simply isn't much musical variation (apart from a lyrical bass solo from Cliff Burton). The band's musical ambition also grew rapidly, so today, Kill 'Em All sounds more like the foundation for greater things to come. But that doesn't take anything away from how fresh it sounded upon first release, and time hasn't dulled the giddy rush of excitement in these performances. Frightening, awe-inspiring, and absolutely relentless, Kill 'Em All is pure destructive power, executed with jaw-dropping levels of scientific precision” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Seek & Destroy
Ride the Lightning
Release Date: 27th July, 1984
Label: Megaforce
Producers: Metallica/Flemming Rasmussen
Standout Tracks: Ride the Lightning/Fade to Black/Creeping Death
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-Ride-The-Lightning/master/6440
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/598TjVn8sD26AmmU6aFjvj?iqid_The=
Review:
“At its best, metal provides a distinctly different – but no less important – escape. While other genres rely on the interpersonal to forge connections with listeners, metal relies on bigger and broader issues, ones that require a bit more attention to find. It's why I'm never surprised to see people who listen to metal and nothing else. The genre is so unbelievably deep and so easy to get lost in, and a mere one or two albums can forge a lifelong search for the next great metal album. It's also why I'm surprised when those who love music for emotional reasons can't seem to get into the genre, or rather, aren't willing to put in the effort. When I think of a “metalhead,” I think of someone who only listens to metal, and I don't fit that definition. But I love metal. No matter how long I sometimes go without listening to it, it always holds a high place in my heart. Metal is strength, metal is solidarity, metal is acceptance. It is “For Whom The Bell Tolls” - the knowledge of mortality, the unstoppable tolling, yes, but also it is the means with which to reckon with unchangeable facts – a strike of electricity in the darkest nights” – Sputnik Music
Choice Cut: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Master of Puppets
Release Date: 3rd March, 1986
Label: Elektra
Producers: Flemming Rasmussen/Metallica
Standout Tracks: The Thing That Should Not Be/Welcome Home (Sanitarium)/Disposable Heroes
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-Master-Of-Puppets/master/6495
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5gzLOflH95LkKYE6XSXE9k
Review:
“Even though Master of Puppets didn't take as gigantic a leap forward as Ride the Lightning, it was the band's greatest achievement, hailed as a masterpiece by critics far outside heavy metal's core audience. It was also a substantial hit, reaching the Top 30 and selling three million copies despite absolutely nonexistent airplay. Instead of a radical reinvention, Master of Puppets is a refinement of past innovations. In fact, it's possible to compare Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets song for song and note striking similarities between corresponding track positions on each record (although Lightning's closing instrumental has been bumped up to next-to-last in Master's running order). That hint of conservatism is really the only conceivable flaw here. Though it isn't as startling as Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets feels more unified, both thematically and musically. Everything about it feels blown up to epic proportions (indeed, the songs are much longer on average), and the band feels more in control of its direction. You'd never know it by the lyrics, though -- in one way or another, nearly every song on Master of Puppets deals with the fear of powerlessness. Sometimes they're about hypocritical authority (military and religious leaders), sometimes primal, uncontrollable human urges (drugs, insanity, rage), and, in true H.P. Lovecraft fashion, sometimes monsters. Yet by bookending the album with two slices of thrash mayhem ("Battery" and "Damage, Inc."), the band reigns triumphant through sheer force -- of sound, of will, of malice. The arrangements are thick and muscular, and the material varies enough in texture and tempo to hold interest through all its twists and turns” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Master of Puppets
Metallica
Release Date: 12th August, 1991
Label: Elektra
Producers: James Hetfield/Bob Rock/Lars Ulrich
Standout Tracks: Sad But True/Wherever I May Roam/Nothing Else Matters
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-Metallica/master/6651
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6QdCohkHKNTVoaSx1ZzitH
Review:
“Sure enough, accusations that they had sold out came from the rump of hardcore fans within seconds of their fifth album being released in 1991. Several years later thousands of fans signed an online petition calling on the band to sever its links with Bob Rock such was their conviction that their beloved Metallica had strayed from the straight and narrow.
Yet his involvement gained them mass sales (number one on both sides of the Atlantic) and earned them the Grammy they’d missed out on, having lost out to Jethro Tull’s Catfish Rising the previous year. With millions of new fans going on to discover their back catalogue, Metallica moved from cult metal gods to bona fide rock stars, straddling the airwaves with the psycho-dramatics of “Enter Sandman”, whose terse motifs served notice that things were changing. The spaghetti western set dressing of “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters” with its sensitive lyrics and string section embellishments, as well as the widescreen dynamics of “My Friend Of Misery” demonstrated how keen they were to move things on.
In “The God That Failed”, vocalist, rhythm guitarist and principle writer, James Hetfield deals unflinchingly with parental loss and the contradictions of faith in a mature and considered manner. The confidence exuding from almost every track isn’t due to a clichéd, puffed-up HM swagger but a result of literate and articulate artists breaking free of generic expectation” – BBC
Choice Cut: Enter Sandman
The Underrated Gem
St. Anger
Release Date: 5th June, 2003
Label: Elektra
Producers: Bob Rock/Metallica
Standout Tracks: Frantic/Some Kind of Monster/The Unnamed Feeling
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-St-Anger/master/6607
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4kwN2OnnrwY2ZBcm379Ahn
Review:
“Now, though, the slate’s been wiped clean. Newstead, a constant reminder of the loss of Burton and always punished for it, has gone. Hetfield’s sorted through his insecurities, finding strength in the realisation that there’s a difference between sadness and depression. And with a new bassist Robert Trujillo, formerly with Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne, injecting a fresh sense of purpose, Metallica can finally face up to what everyone else has known all along: that anger is their lifeblood, their motivation, their ultimate saviour.
Hence the title. Named after the St Christopher pendant that Hetfield was given in 1984, ‘St Anger’ is Metallica setting themselves up as the patron saints of rage. Anger isn’t just used as an outlet and energy here, but romanticised as a full-bloodied emotion. The title track is a love song to anger itself, the pivotal line “I want my anger to be healthy” just on the right side of self help, while elsewhere there’s the feeling in its many righteous hues: the slow burn of resentment through to the flashpoint of defiance.
Musically, the songs are a stripped back, heroically brutal reflection of this fury. You get the sense that, as with their emotional selves, they’ve taken metal apart and started again from scratch. There’s no space wasted here, no time for petty guitar solos or downtuned bass trickery, just a focussed, relentless attack. ‘Dirty Window’ could almost be a demo, hewn straight from granite. ‘Frantic’ rages with the catharsis of walls being demolished. Lars’ recent summation says it all: “No fucking shit this is heavy metal!”
What makes Metallica the greatest metal band of all time, though, is the fact that, despite this focus, ‘St Anger’ is not a simple album. Each song mutates and heads off in a new direction at the exact point lesser mortals would finish up. It takes 73 minutes to play 11 tracks, stretching time and endurance, until you have an immense statement of superiority. Nu-metal minnows, you may return to your cubbyholes. The true masters have finally awakened from their slumber” – NME
Choice Cut: St. Anger
The Latest Album
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
Release Date: 18th November, 2016
Label: Blackened
Producers: Greg Fidelman/James Hetfield/Lars Ulrich
Standout Tracks: Now That We're Dead/Moth into Flame/Halo on Fire
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Metallica-HardwiredTo-Self-Destruct/master/1083868
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7LwifLL1anaEd9eIIfIkx7
Review:
“The second half of the album is more of a mixed bag. “Confusion” bears a strong similarity to Death Magnetic, in how it tries to find an even ground between atonality and melody, but it succeeds mightily thanks to the very strong interplay between the lead riff and vocal melody. Despite its unfortunate title, “ManUNkind” is a wicked Southern rock jam that features Trujillo’s finest bass work, and echoes the better deep cuts from Load and Reload two decades ago. “Here Comes Revenge” swings hard, alternating between creeping menace and anthemic vitriol, while “Am I Savage” neatly releases its building tension with a clever ascending riff in its chorus. “Murder One” is arguably the album’s weakest moment, as the band’s heartfelt tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister falls slightly flat, but the ship is righted immediately after as the dystopian “Spit Out the Bone” closes things with another ferocious, angry blast of speed.
With no ballads, no meandering instrumentals, a renewed focus on honest-to-goodness heavy metal, and a keen focus on songwriting restraint, Hardwired… to Self Destruct is strong enough for longtime fans to ask, “What took you so long?” As much time as it took for Metallica to rediscover that old magic, though, upon hearing the end result it was well worth the wait. More than anything, Metallica sounds like they’re having fun again. You hear it in those little touches throughout the record that pays homage to their old favorites, and even in those extended passages where they keep going just a little longer because the groove feels too good. The subject matter might be bleak, but there’s a lust for life on this album that will leave a smile on the faces of their millions of fans, and even on a few of those grumpy old ones” – Popmatters
Choice Cut: Atlas, Rise!
The Metallica Book
Metallica: Back to the Front: A Fully Authorized Visual History of the Master of Puppets Album and Tour
Authors: Matt Taylor (author)/James Hetfield (foreword)/Ray Burton (afterword)
Publication Date: 2nd August, 2016
Publisher: Insight Editions
Synopsis:
“Looking through all the memorabilia photos was a thrill, especially the handwritten lyric sheets. If I were to express one extremely minor disappointment with this offering it would be that I wish they had included more details on the inspiration of the song lyrics. There’s a lot of talk about how they composed the music; how riffs and solos were created; and how they handled production in the studio, but it seems like delving into the meaning behind the lyrics was not a priority. They do talk about the concept of the album itself and its artwork, which became the basis for their first major stage set.
Metallica: Back To The Front is an impressive, in-depth written and visual documentation of Metallica’s formative years that focuses in on every detail of the Master Of Puppets era. Fans of the band will undoubtedly flip through this book with delight in all it has to offer – Geeks of Doom