Its ramshackle mixing kills the dynamic frisson: Hetfield and Hammett’s dueling riffs collapse into a static, mind-numbing roar Ulrich’s fills hit like raindrops instead of the usual mortars Newsted’s bass lines are nearly impossible to make out, positioned so far back in the mix that a group of fans took it upon themselves to release a bootleg, bass-boosted version of the album titled. Between its extensive runtimes, unusual time signatures, and arcane arrangements, it remains a fan-favorite whose genius is often overshadowed by the fact that it sounds like it was recorded through a tin can. Shortly after Burton’s death, they’d recruited a new bassist, Flotsam and Jetsam frontman (and lifelong Metallica fan) Jason Newsted and two years later, they released. By identifying the genres’ cathartic common ground and amping up the drama, Metallica reframed the heavy metal revival as a serious movement, as opposed to a perennial retread.īurton’s tragic death in September 1986 intensified Metallica’s ambition. Their din bears traces of blues, punk, hard rock, progressive jams, and-thanks to bassist Cliff Burton’s virtuosic strivings-even classical music. The group’s first studio three albums-1983’s Kill ’Em All, 1984’s Ride the Lightning, and 1986’s Master of Puppets-are a trio of bloodthirsty, whip-smart chimeras. Metallica’s rapid ascent throughout the latter half of the decade-from Golden State basement fiends, to Big Four figureheads, to Grammy nominees-shattered the cultural status quo. In her 1992 book Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology, Deena Weinstein compared thrash metal to the Protestant Reformation, framing it as a reaction to corruption: “Both movements ,” she wrote, “charged that the established form had become corrupt through extravagance, and both supported a return to the essential message, stripped bare of all adornment.” Throughout the ’80s, Metallica and their Big Four peers-Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax-challenged metal’s emergent portrait of pomp by way of extreme fundamentalism. Though Metallica were neither unknowns nor underdogs when they recorded their fifth studio album Metallica, the status quo as dictated by music critics, disc jockeys, and MTV framed them as such. Few bands have achieved such ubiquity so that if you know literally one thing about metal music, it is the six-note opening riff to “Enter Sandman.” Even if you handed out three Black Albums to every citizen in Ulrich’s native Denmark, you’d be left with a warehouse full of CDs. or Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon. It’s the best-selling album of the past 25 years, with currently over 20 million copies sold worldwide, more than Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The U.S.A. Naturally, Metallica will name this declaration of war and independence after themselves. They’ll even tap Bob Rock-the man behind Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, an anti-Metallica album if there ever was one-to ensure the heist goes off without a hitch. Granted, Metallica’s approach up to this point has proven hugely successful, a byzantine war machine powered by a spartan tactic Ulrich will later outline to critic David Masciotra as simply: “not fucking up.” Judging from their generous album sales, sold-out tours, Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental Grammy nomination, and hard-won laurels despite crickets from the establishment, “not fucking up” should ensure that their wallets remain as stuffed as the arenas.īut these are the guys who gave us Kill ’Em All they won’t stop until they’ve slayed Poison, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, and every last one of those platinum-blonde, spandex-wearing false heirs to the heavy metal throne with their own weapons: massive riffs, clean vocals, sharp arrangements, and layered mixes that gush from the speakers like knife wounds.
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