Thursday, 17 July 2014

That's Entertainment : Metallica 


When I was a kid, there was two types of music - mainstream and alternative.

Mainstream was basically your Top 40 popular stuff, released on a 'major' label.  Alternative was anything that got released by smaller labels.  As a kid, I had no idea.  The polemic raged and I was forever being told by older kids to ditch the pop stuff and check out this or that.  Eventually, I realised, every one has their bent, their guilty pleasure, and it was a useless exercise planting my feet in either camp - I would just sit on the fence, with a foot in both.  I liked what I listened to, and I listened to what I liked.

Eventually, ironically, many of the so-called alternative bands ended up being mainstream in the 1990's…bands like R.E.M and Nirvana, as well as a thrash heavy quartet that hailed from San Francisco - Metallica.

Metallica built up a ferocious reputation based on speed, thrash metal that blistered ear drums and made long hair, denim clad youth of the 80's raise their fist, bang their head and mosh like there was no tomorrow.  They had a much-copied band logo, thousands of black band t-shirts (Pushead was the major designer) with catchy slogans and toured relentlessly to showcase their raucous skills.

Now up to 1990, Metallica was seen as the pinnacle of alternative, releasing four albums that became templates for the heavy metal scene.  They were considered the greatest metal band never to sell out.  Yet by 1988, with the release of ...And Justice For All, two things happened.  Their song One gained major radio play and earned them positive kudos.  However, with only 8 tracks, the sixty-five minute opus was long and riff laden, and the band  found some of the long song structures had begun to bore them, and having to play the songs on tour each and every night became a slog.

So the band locked themselves away.  Hot Metal magazine (this is wayyyyy before the instant internet era) used to glean month old rumours from overseas and each month, pretty much devoted a column or a page to what Metallica were doing - all just hearsay.  Seriously, along with Guns N Roses recording their Appetite For Destruction albums, the world waited anxiously to see what Metallica did next.  For many, the cardinal sin - before an inch of tape had been heard - was they had signed producer Bob Rock, hot off producing Motley Crue's Dr Feelgood album.  As perfectionists, the band toiled, not caring that the rumour mill was angst ridden and impatient.

And then it arrived.

I still remember sitting up sometime in June/July 1991 because I'd heard Metallica's new song was being debuted on RAGE.  A group of boarding mates waited for it, and then it arrived.  The intro started, the crunch was delivered and somehow one of the biggest metal songs (well, it's now 'hard rock' really) in Enter Sandman was unleashed.  And the funny thing was, lots of people went nuts.  When the new album - Metallica (The Black Album) hit stores, it set sales records and stormed the charts the world over.  Hot Metal printed page after page of release news, tour diaries, live appearances and 'will they, won't they' tour Australia articles.  

For the bong in hand, hard core Metallica fans, this was the moment when Metallica 'sold out'.  However, for the millions who bought it, nobody cared.  And for someone like me, one thing Metallica always did was record great heavy metal/rock covers for their CD singles (Queen, Black Sabbath, Budgie, Misfits, Killing Joke, Motorhead).  In 1992, Metallica hit the zeitgeist and became one of the biggest bands of all time.  Touring relentlessly for three years, Metallica became a household name.  They played the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, they conquered awards shows, they travelled to all four corners of the globe and the men in black took on the world and conquered.  By the time they toured Australia in 1993 with the Snake Pit - an area for fans to get real close to them whilst they blew audiences away - you couldn't avoid them.

The album would glean five MASSIVE singles in Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven (the first - gasp - quasi-ballad!!!), Nothing Else Matters (the first - gasp - real ballad!), Wherever I May Roam and Sad But True.  All lean, riff-a-rolla classic tunes that could blare on the radio and be belted out live each and every night, or sung along to, cigarette lighter held aloft.  But the album still contained Holier Than Thou, Don't Tread On Me, Through The Never, Of Wolf And Man, The God That Failed, My Friend Of Misery and The Struggle Within all bonafide classics.  The album is a corker from start to finish - all 12 tracks and an hour's worth of metal heaven.

After this, Metallica were 'stars'.  They'd tour continuously and release solid 'hard rock' albums in Load and Reload [about the time I said they'd started to sell out].  The single Until It Sleeps (the last Metallica 'classic' IMHO) was remixed by Moby!  By the turn of the century, they were counting their cash, kicking out their bassist, writing song sequels, taking on Napster and selling themselves exclusively to the fans who were willing to part with their cash to join the Metallica online fan club.  I used to be the kind of guy that would buy all 3 versions of a CD single, then look overseas for other 'limited' releases, ending up with at least 100 CD singles and EPs from the band, as well as the limited edition ultra expensive Live box set which was numbered but when it sold out, they just printed more, pi$$ing off heaps of fans.  And when the documentary Some Kind Of Monster came out, detailing their lives, I lost complete interest in them as an entity.

But the Black Album [and the four before it - all huge sellers in the Black Album's wake] continue to succour me when I need a heavy metal fix.  It takes me back to being 15-16, and scratching the Metallica logo on to school desks and dunny doors.  There was an energy, an excitement and 'my' music was leading the charge.  I can only imagine how much money I spent on Metallica paraphernalia, but I'm sure it's enough to keep Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield comfortable in to old age.









If you don't own them - at least buy the album Master Of Puppets - just brilliant.  Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning and …And Justice For All are fantastic too.  Oh, and download Until It Sleeps   [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WIHtOmkBg ] and One [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzgGTTtR0kc ]





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