Back in the day when I was but a wee youngin' I was surrounded by Metal music, but back then I didn't know that there were what seems like almost endless amounts of genres, it was basically Death Metal or just Heavy Metal to me. I didn’t know what Thrash Metal was, what Power Metal was, or what Progressive Swedish Techno BombasticBlack Metal(too my knowledge I just made this up) was. Wasn’t until I was about 14 when I learned what the proper names for the majority of Metal Genre'swere, by watching the show Metal Evolution, on Much More up here in Canada, and VH1 in the States.
But anyways, growing up I always listened to Metal, thanks to my father. When he'd drive us around we'd always listen to stuff like Metallica, Anthrax, Iron Maiden, Guns 'N Roses, and Motley Crue, etc. So I was just always exposed to the stuff and loved it. During Elementary School and even into Junior High Motley wason my favourite bands list. The Hair Metal stuff is great when you're young and not an angst filled teenager, which is when I started to gravitate towards stuff like Metallica and Anthrax, just because it had the aggression I wanted from my music, but I would still listen to Motley Crue, and GnR every now and again.
Hair Metal bands always looked interesting to me growing up especially Motley Crue, they weren't as girly looking as bands like Poison or Warrant, they looked cool, basically a more colourful version of KISS. They also personified what it meant to be a Rockstar, banging tons of hot chicks, doing tons of drugs, and drinking lots of whiskey. What 12-year-old boy doesn’t want to do that. I always like watching Motley Crue videos because of the hot chicks in 'em. I loved the long legs and burgundy lips(Girls, Girls, Girls – Motley Crue)with the 80's fashion. When my ex would ask me what colourlipstick I thought she should get I'd always say burgundy red, because of this, she never did, said it was too fancy(that's why strippers in the 80s wore it).
So Motley Crue had the look and sound for me, which is probably why, Dr. Feelgood was the first ever CD I bought. My father had taken my younger sister and myselfto a flea market one day when I was still in Elementary School I can't even remember how old I was, would've been at least 10. I never had the same affection for them as I did with Metallica where when I first really listened to them I had this eye opening experience, but it was just something I always liked. Except for their Bass player and founder of the band Nikki Sixx. I don't know why but I've always gravitated towards Nikki. I guess I just thought he looked cool with the Road Warrior shoulder pads, big boots, and I always thought his hair looked the best, which is pretty important if you're in a Hair Metal Band.
Among my friends at school when I was in Grade. 12 for another time, because I was bored of just working and wanted to hang out with my friends who were all younger than me the bastards, I was known as the Metal guy and in this time I had my second coming around with Motley Crue, and this is when my obsession with Nikki started to show. I would sit in the counselingcentre, and work on stuff for my Art class and listen to Motley Crue and Iron Maiden. This was the greatest time of my life, didn’t have anything to worry about except for getting my school work done, and listening to music.
This was also around the time I started to make my moves on that ex that I mentioned earlier. We hung out quite a bit, we were already really good friends at that point and I just felt that it was the next step in our relationship kinda thing, so when I would drive us and our friends around 'cause I was the only one at the time with a license so I would make them listen to Motley Crue because it was easier to listen to, but I did also make them listen to Metallica, and Anthrax from time to time. There were also times when I would sit in my car with my buddies Connor, and Steve during Steve and I's photography class, and talk about chicks and listen to Motley Crue, good times being a teenager with nothing better to do, which is what the a lot of themusic was about, just being young and stupid.
After all that stuff I started to date that girl and we would listen to Motley Crue all the time, when we would go to the beach, when we would go for drives, or even when we were just chilling at her house. And when we started dating I knew I was gonna start getting some, and I was like I wanna lose my V-Card while listening to Motley Crue, and I did. We were at her dad's place over summer break, and things were getting hot not temperature wise even though it fucking was. I managed to undo her bra, keep making out with her, and get my playlist going, I'm very skilled if I do say so myself. I was more excited about the fact that I was losing it while listening to Motley Crue then actually losing it. She found it pretty funny that I was like "Hell ya lost it while listening to Motley Crue!"
I'm such a fucking nerd.
Other than that I would offer to pick her up at her dad's food truck quite a bit over the course of that summer vacation and I would tell her stuff about Metal Bands, and my experiences with them, and one time I was telling her about how I almost bought "Girls, Girls, Girls" instead of "Among the Living" and her and a friend went to Ottawa, and she was going to get me a replacement copy of "Among the Living" because I foolishly lost mine, but they didn’t have it so she got me "Girls, Girls, Girls" instead which I thought cool, she was actually listening to my dumb stories.
Then when she broke up with me later on I had trouble listening to Motley Crue, I just couldn't. But recently I was watching a short documentary on Nikki Sixx(don’t worry my obsession with him didn’t end with my relationship) itmade me want to go listen to them again, which I was hesitant of doing but I did anyways. I went and grabbed my copy of "Girls, Girls, Girls" which I had thrown to the bottom of my bookshelf with the intentions of never listening to it again, I put it in my car's CD player and I went for a drive and listened to Motley Crue, I just didn’t worry about anything. I was just like next time I'm doing the do I'll do it to Motley Crue.
Motley Crue is a band I grew up listening to as a child, and listened to as I went into adulthood. They will always be an important part of my life, and I will never no matter the reason stop listening to them again.f
Meallica: Hardwired… To Self Destruct Album Review
By Calvin Parsons
Nov. 21, 2016
Introduction
On
Nov. 18, 2016 Metallica released ‘Hardwired… To Self Destruct’ their first new
album in eight years. The album was officially
announced on Aug. 18, 2016 with the release of the first single for the album ‘Hardwired’. The album was released on the bands own
record label Blackened, and is available worldwide at any record store near
you, or if you’re like it any Wal-Mart near you, and is also available for
download on Spotify and iTunes.
Review
The album opens with the song ‘Hardwired’ which I said
earlier was the first single for the album, and it was a good choice to open with. It’s a nice return to the bands Thrash Metal
roots. The song is fast and aggressive,
and is also the shortest track on the album, clocking in at about three minutes
long.
The next song on the CD is ‘Atlas, Rise’ the third single
to come out leading up to the albums release.
This song was my least favourites of the three singles to come out, its
still a really good tune. I’ve heard
some people describing it as sounding like an Iron Maiden song, I don’t really
hear it myself but. The song is catchy
and easy to sing along to I can see it being one of the songs they play live
quite a bit due to its popularity among Metallica fans.
Next song I’m going to cover is ‘Moth Into Flame’ it was
the second single to come out, and is one of my favourite songs on the album. The song is about fame and fortune, and it
getting to people’s heads, hence the lyrics, “Seduced by fame, like a moth into
the flame.” Just like ‘Atlas, Rise’ the
tune is catchy and easy to follow along to, and it still retains some of the
bands older Thrash Metal roots, but not quite the amount that I would
like. I was really hoping that this
album would sound more like ‘Ride The Lightning’ or ‘Master Of Puppets’ but you
can hear in some of the other songs on the album it sounds closer to the ‘Load’,
‘Reload’ era of Metallica instead.
Let us switch CDs, if you didn’t know this album was a
dual album, releasing with two CDs, six songs on each disc, with the average length
of each song being a little more then six minutes each, reaching about 80
minutes in length.
The first track on the second disc is ‘Confusion’ which
is a very OK song, one of the weakest in my opinion on the album, the meaning
behind it is good but the song isn’t a good Metallica song. It’s about a woman who is a veteran and is
trying to fit in with society again once she is back home, but suffers from
PTSD. The thing is they already have a
song with this theme and it’s a thousand times better, and that song is ‘One.’ ‘One’ is just a better Thrash Metal song than
this one not much else to say. This song
sound more like it should be on ‘Load’ or ‘Reload.’
The next song on the second disc is ‘manUNkind’ which
after a couple of listens it has become one of my favourite tunes on the
record. It starts off slow but picks up,
still not quite to the speed I want from a Metallica song but it has the right
kind of energy, it combines new Metallica with old almost perfectly. I’d also like to mention that this is the
only song on the album that bass player Rob Trujillo had a hand in working on.
Throughout
this whole album you can hear the changes in James Hetfields vocals, he’s the
standout point of the record in my opinion, usually it’s the guitar for me in
Metallica songs, Kirk Hammett being one of the best lead guitar players in Metal
in my opinion.
Let’s skip ahead a couple of songs to, ‘Murder One.’ ‘Murder One’ is the only song I listened to
before the albums release besides the three single they put out, and that’s because
it’s a tribute song to Rock Legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. This song is my favourite one on the album
even though there are songs on here that are more of the kind of Metallica that
I was hoping this album would be. This
song sounds like a mix between ‘Black Album’ and ‘Load’ eras of Metallica, it
having more of an melodic approach then what the band is known for. I feel this song is a good send off to the
late Lemmy Kilmister, and will be a tune I listen to on the anniversary of his
passing along with Motorhead songs like ‘Ace Of Spades’ and ‘Overkill.’
The last song on the record is ‘Spit Out The Bone.’ Now this is the song that I wanted this whole
album to be. It’s pure 80s Thrash and it
knows it, this is also the only track on the record that it seems like Lars
Ulrich is actually trying to play his drums at an above average skill
level. Everybody but Lars gives it their
all on this album, but we all knew Lars is the weakest drummer in the Big
4. This song also features a distorted
bass solo, which is probably a tribute to the late Cliff Burton, the bands
original bass player(not including Ron McGovney), who died in a tragic bus
accident while touring in Sweden with Ozzy while promoting ‘Master Of Puppets.’ This song just kicks ass and is a great way
to finish a record.
Verdict
This album is not what I was hoping it would be, but it
still lived up to my hype. I didn’t walk
away disappointed by it, and I’m not upset that I bought two copies of it. Is it worth the buy if you’re just a casual
metal fan or Metallica fan, probably not, I’d just download it on Spotify if
you have premium, but all the die-hard Metallica fans would have already
purchased it on release along with me. I
feel that this album would be a good entry point for newer fans, with many of
the song being easier to listen to, not quite as raw as say ‘Kill ‘Em All’ or ‘Ride
The Lightning.’ But if you long live for
those days sadly they’re still gone, and I’d recommend listening to the new
Testament album, ‘Brotherhood of Snakes’ if you wanted some classic old school
80s Thrash, or even to check out one of the younger bands out there like Dust
Bolt, they are exactly what the older guys used to be.
I would give this album a solid 7/10. It’s good but
it’s still not the Metallica I yearn for, even though it will remain in the CD
player of my car for the next while, and will be what I listen to on my commute
to school everyday, I still think the album is good but not amazing.
'How Metallica revitalized American Metal and changed my life'
By Calvin Parsons
Oct. 31, 2016
A Brief History of Metallica
In the 80s Hair Metal was the big kid on the block, with bands like Motley Crue, and Poison being on top. Many American Metalheads weren't fond of this style of music, it lacking the power and aggression that Metal music had been known for with bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. This sparked a movement called the Thrash Metal Movement, and bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer were at the helm of movement. These bands drew inspiration from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands(NWOBHM), and Punk. Harnessing the emotion of Punk music and the technical prowess of the NWOBHM bands.
Metallica was formed by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield in 1981. The two originally employed Ron McGovney on bass, and Dave Mustaine on lead guitar. The group originally from Los Angeles, California, but due to McGovney'sdeparture from the group they formed an agreement with their new bass player Cliff Burton, that if Hetfield, Ulrich, and Mustaine moved to San Francisco he would join their band. The band later on recorded a demo tape titled 'No Life Till Leather', which circulated the underground tape movement and made its way to Johnny Zazula, founder of Megaforce records. Zazula loved Metallica's frantic take no prisoners style of metal they labeled Thrash or Speed Metal, and paid for them to come to New York and record an album.
Metallica packed up their gear and headed for the east coast to record their first album. During the road trip Ulrich and Hetfield listened to other bands demo tapes to look for a new guitar player since they planned on kickingMustaine out of the band due to his excessive drinking and on stage behaviour. When the band arrived in New York they were greeted by members of a local band by the name of Anthrax, which was another band that helped pioneer the Thrash Metal sound. During Metallica's time in New York Anthrax helped the band out with giving them a place to sleep, a toaster oven which they would use to heat up cans of soup, and Scott Ian would even let them use the shower at his mothers apartment.
Shortly after the bands arrival in New York they kicked out Mustaine. One morning the other members woke him up and drove him to the nearest bus stop and sent him on his way back to L.A. Mustaine would later form a band of his own to rival the likes of Metallica, Megadeth. With Mustaine gone the band flew in young Exodus guitar player Kirk Hammett, for an audition to join the band, he's been the bands lead guitar player ever since.
Now with the bands line up set, they could record their first album, 'Metal Up the Ass', but due to the albums crude name, they wouldn't have been able to sell it on store shelves, and when Burton heard this news he just said "Fuck it, lets call it Kill 'Em All" and that’s just what they did. The band recorded Kill 'Em All in May of 1983, and released it in July of the same year. The album being a huge hit among the American Metal scene, it selling 17,000 copies in the US by the end of 1983, and selling a total of 60,000 worldwide. The band toured the US with the British band Raven, and then getting to tour Europe with the band Twisted Sister.
During their tour in Europe they began writing songs for their next album Ride The Lightning. During the writing process for the album Ulrich said they were having trouble coming up with songs, and that the members from the band Mercyful Fate helped them come up with the last couple tracks they needed to work on. The band recorded the album atSweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, in February and March of 1984, and the album coming out in July of the same year. By the end of 1987 Metallica had sold 500,000 copies of the album.
In 1985 the band signed with a new record label, Elktra Records, and started recording their third album, and the one many consider their best, Master of Puppets, in September of 1985. Not only is this considered their best album, but it was also the last Metallica record Cliff Burton worked on. While touring with Ozzy Osbourne in Europe their bus driver claims to have hit a patch of black ice, causing their bus to roll ejecting Cliff out of the window, getting crushed by the bus. Clifford Lee Burton was only 24 at the time of his death. Hammett says he can remember sitting up in their hotel room in Copenhagen, Denmarkand being able to Hetfield down in the streets drunkenlyshouting, "Where's Cliff?!"
The Band canceled the rest of their tour with Ozzy, and shortly after, Burton's funeral they started to audition for a new bass player. After auditioning many players they decided on Flotsam and Jetsam bass player Jason Newsted. Newsted was greatly accepted by the fans of Metallica, he had a certain kind of energy to him that the band didn’t have before. Lars has stated that he was a people person, that he would try to meet with every fan that came up to him at shows.
In January of 1988 the band hit the studio to record their next album, ...And Justice For All. This was the first album to feature Newsted, and this album was not a good way to show off his abilities. Ulrich admitted back in 2015 that they lowered the bass during the production of the album making it almost non-existent. This didn’t make it a bad record by any means though, many fans saying it is there favourite Metallica album. It's single "One" earning the group it's first Grammy, and the album selling 8,300,000 copies in North America by 2003.
The Music Video for One, from the album ...And Justice For All
So by the time the band members were 28 they proved that they already were a force to be reckoned with and they weren't done. In October of 1990 they entered the studio again to record their best selling record to date, the Black Album(or Metallica depends on who you ask but all the members of the band call it the Black Album). The record debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200 and stayed there for four consecutive weeks, it making the top 10 of the longest running albums on the Billboard200, for a total of 363 weeks, and the album winning the band a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the year it came out. It was received incredibly well, selling 17,400,000 copies in North America alone.
Many fans loved this album but also there were many that thought it had stepped away from the bands Thrash Metal roots, and went for a more melodicapproach for the record. Many of the records tracks feature power ballads, which were seen as a big no-no in Thrash. But it still retained Hammett's, lengthy solos, and dark imagery that Metallica had in their prior albums.
With the albums success they decided to do a large North American tour with Guns 'N Roses. The bands had to constantly cancel shows due to Axl Rose, lead singer for Guns 'N Roses, various health issues. Then during Metallica's set in Montreal, James had accidentally step over one of the pyrotechnics during the intro to the song Fade To Black. Hetfield went up in flames, burning his left arm and side of his face. Metallica had to cut their set short, due to Hetfield's injuries, but Guns 'N Roses could have saved the day. They could have went on did their set and give all the kids a good show, but Rose decided half way through their set to cancel the show. Riots ensued, kids were turning over cop cars, causing fires in the streets, and causing fights, Metallica had no clue that all this was going on while they waited in their dressing room to hear back from the hospital.
Video of Jame's Hetfields accident at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec.
The two bands ended up canceling the rest of the tour dates, and once Hetfliedwas well enough to sing they finished the tour by themselves, with one of their guitar techs, playing Hetfield's parts. After they finished that tour they figured they should take a short break from Metallica.
Hetfield took up things like working on cars, motorcycling, and hunting with his father. Newsted worked on other musical projects during his break. Hammettattended San Francisco State University, and studied Film and Asian Arts. And Ulrich started up his own record label, which went under in 2002.
In May of 1995 the band went back into the studio to record the first album in a two part record, Load. Load had moved almost completely away from their Thrash roots and moved to a more Alternative style. Metallica didn’t just change their sound, but their image as well, all the members cutting their long hair, which confused many fans. Metallica looked more like a boy band than a Metal band. All the members said it’s because they got older, they had no need to have their long hair anymore. When the album came out in June of 1996, it sold 680,000 copies within the first week, this being the bands largest launch, it selling 5,400,000 copies in North America, and it debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. It's critical reception was mixed at the time of its release, and many fans feeling that the band sell out.
There next album, Reload is the second part of their two part album release. Parts were recorded along side Load, and they finished the rest of the album in July - October of 1997. Reload released November. 18, 1997, with mediocre critical reception, and poor fan reception. But despite this it still 4,200,000 copies in North America during its run, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Even though fans and critics alike didn’t like these past two CDs they sold really well, reaching platinum four times in North America.
For the next couple of years the band had been on rocky grounds. In 2001 when the group was about to hit the studio again Newsted left the band to work on his own projects. Hetfield said in their documentary, Some Kind of Monster, that he feels he pushed Newsted away by trying to control his actions.
Metallica decided to hit the studio in January of 2001, with no bass player. During the recording of St.Anger they had producer Bob Rock do the bass for the album while they looked for a new player. In July of 2001 all worked stopped on the album due to Hetflield leaving the group for a short period of time, while he went to rehab for alcoholism, and the abuse of pain killers from his accident in Montreal. After spending some time in rehab, he returned to the studio to record his parts for the St.Anger album. While the band recorded the album they hired personal enhancement coach, Phil Towle, to help the group get back on their feet. During the recording Hetfield could only be in the studio from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as requested by his doctors. The group hadthe events filmed and made into a documentary called Some Kind of Monster, which is the name for one of the tracks off the St.Anger album, it being about Hetfield's battle with alcoholism, and drug abuse.
Metallica finished recording St.Anger in April of 2003, and was released in June of the same year. The album received mix reception from the critics, but the vast majority of fans hated the album. St.Anger didn’t feature any of Hammett's famous guitar solos, which is what Metallica's music had been built off of, as well as Hetfield's vocals feeling phoned in, you could tell he wasn’t giving it his all during this album, and Lar's drumming felt uninspired. The whole album just felt kind of bland. But despite this the album's single, St.Anger won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance, as well as the album selling 2,000,000 copies in the US during its run.
The music video for Metallica's St.Anger
Metallica didn’t enter the studio again until March of 2007, to start production of their next album Death Magnetic. They didn’t finish production on the album until May of the next year. Fans and critics alike felt like Death Magnetic was a step in the right direction, it sounding more like Metallica of yore. This was also the first album new bass player Robert Trujilo worked on. He had joined the band after they finished production on St.Anger. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, and 2,320,000 copies in North America.
In May of 2010 Metallica announced that they were going to do a tour with the other three metal bands that helped pioneer Thrash Metal. On that day the Big 4 was born, it consists of Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. After that tour the bands still have yet to all get together and do another tour like that. But Metallica, continued to tour solo, and do shows for another eight years.
In June of 2016 the band started to slowly release information of a new album in the works. On August. 18, 2016 the band released the first single from the new album, Hardwired... To Self Destruct. From the sound of the single, Hardwired, and their second single they've released, Moth Into Flame, it seems the group has come completely back to their Thrash Metal roots. The album has a release date of November. 18, 2016. Lets all hope it will be as good as it's shaping up to be.
Metallica's first single off there upcoming album, Hardwired... To Self Destruct
Metallica's Influence On Me
Metallica was something that I was always exposed to as a child but, never really got into until I was about 12. My father had bought me Guitar: Hero Metallica for my birthday, and that's where it all started. I was consumed by the power and aggression of Metallica, I started to look up to James Hetfield the most.
But it wasn't until I started Grade. 7 when I saw my first Metallica show. My father had won tickets to see them play in Quebec City. I remember the show was the day after Halloween that year, I can remember staying up all night until my dad's girlfriend at the time had to drive us to get on the bus, I stayed awake the whole bus ride there, and didn’t sleep until the next night after the show. It was one of the best experiences I ever had, especially because it was somebody I looked up to. After that show I was even more hooked than before, I went out and bought all their CDs, and I wanted to be like James, but I knew I couldn’t so I had to be patient and wait till I got older.
In Junior High I loved Metallica, they were pretty much the only thing I would listen to at that point in time. I was even referred to as the Metallica guy at school, which I thought was cool more than anything else. I would listen to all their stuff even the albums people said were bad like St.Anger, Load, and Reload, fucking hell some of my favourite Metallica songs are from those albums. Until It Sleeps is a beautiful song, just because it's not a Thrash Metal song doesn’t mean it's a bad Metallica song. That song in particular has helped me cope with my current depression even. Fuel is another song from that era of Metallica that I like. I thought it still had that sense of aggression and speed that Metallica was known for. I'm just of the belief that a bad Metallica song is still better than most modern music.
When I started high school, I cut my hair short like his, started wearing tight jeans, and band shirts like James. I even went as far to try and imitate his singing voice when I would sing. Now that I type this out I've realized I sound like a psycho, but anyway. I always wanted to be like James, not be him exactly. I just thought I was similar to him, he has said that when ever he was younger he was shy, but when around friends he would be loud, which is what I was like when I was younger as well.
I did however knock Metallica down to my number two spot for favourite band, but I can't deny what influence they've had on my life style. I've listened to all their albums numerous times, I own more Metallica shirts than any other Metal Band shirts, and they're the reason I picked up a guitar and started to sing. Metallica has been there for me for the best of times and the worst of times. If I'm feeling down I'll put on the Black Album or Load, if I'm angry and need to let off some steam I put on Master Of Puppets, or Ride The Lightning, if I'm getting ready to go out to a party I'll listen to ...And Justice For All or Reload. Metallica's music is something that will always be there for me when I need it, even after the band retires, god only knows when that will happen.
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