Songs On Metallica Albums example essay topic

A successful twenty years in the music industry is an amazing accomplishment. Bands come and go all the time. They shine brightly for a while, but eventually disappear. So how has the metal band, Metallica, stayed in the running? Metallica has been able to stay in the mainstream because of its members, music, and financial stability. This legendary band has broken new ground and continues to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

In the late 70's and early 80's, there was a new wave of music that was hitting the world. This was known as the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands such as The Ramones and Motorhead influenced a young, impressionable Lars Ulrich (P Ward). After attending many live performances, Ulrich aspired to form a band of his own.

In the summer of 81, Lars searched the LA area for fellow fans and musicians. After failing to find a band, Ulrich then decided to place an ad in a local magazine named Recycler (Hadland 1). The Recycler fell into the hands of a die-hard fan of heavy metal. James Hetfield came across the ad and contacted Lars. On May 9th, Lars and James met in Newport Beach, CA ("Biography"). At first, James was not impressed with Lars's drumming.

His timing was a little off and one of the cymbals on his drum set fell over every time it was struck. James did not want to pursue making a band with Lars at the time. Three months later, James received a phone call from Lars. "I've got a track saved for my band on Brian Slagel's new Metal Blade label". (Hadland 1). James could not refuse this enticing offer.

It seemed that joining forces with Lars might end up being a rather good decision for James. On October 15, 1981, Metallica was born. Hetfield and Ulrich then recruited Lloyd Grant. The three recorded "Hit The Lights" for the album "Metal Massacre". James provided vocals as well as rhythm guitar and bass guitar.

Lars covered drums and Lloyd played lead guitar. Later Ron McGoveny joins Metallica, as its bass player and Dave Mustaine replaced Grant on lead guitar. Not long after Ron was kicked out for not cooperating with the ideals of the band. James and Lars needed a new bassist.

Brian Slagel recommended a remarkable Cliff Burton. Both Lars and James were impressed by Cliff's playing and immediately offered him the job. Cliff cut a deal with Metallica and joined them shortly there after. Dave Mustaine was fired shortly after, and was replaced by Kirk Hammett. The band members would not change for another three years.

Within that three-year period Metallica relied on the writing styles of James for most of the songs. His lyrics are often traced back to a hard childhood. James Alan Hetfield was born into a strict religious household on August 3, 1963, in Downey, CA. Being a son of a truck driver, James saw little of his father growing up. At the age of nine he began taking piano lessons. "My ear developed quite a bit from the piano playing...

". (Rotfeld, The Art Of James Hetfield 10). His older brothers were involved in bands, which gave James easy access to the drums and guitar. James continues to write lyrics and songs for Metallica. Kirk Hammett says: "James is probably the driving creative force".

("James Hetfield"). He, along with Lars, creates and mixes the riffs and rhythms to produce a song. It all starts with a lyric or a riff. It all starts with James.

"Hetfield brings the pride. He stands a very tall and strong guy over all of, not just the music, but all of what is Metallica". says Jason Newsted, Metallica's up and coming bassist. ("James Hetfield"). Although Hetfield is credited for most of the guitar work in Metallica, no song would sound right without the lead guitar styling of Kirk Hammett. Though James is known to play lead on occasion, Hammett provides Metallica with a great deal of its spectacular guitar solos.

This amazing guitarist is structured on the playing of Jimmy Page, and the legendary Jimmy Hendrix. Hammett's style gives the band a musical and constructed guitar attack. ("Kirk Hammett"). On November 18, 1962, one of rock's greatest guitar players was born. The small town of El Sobrante became home to Kirk as he grew. "When I was 15 years old, I bought a book called Improvising Rock Guitar". says Hammett (Rotfeld, The Art Of Kirk Hammett 80).

He bought his first guitar at Montgomery Wards. It was on sale, and wasn't that great. He took his first job at Burger King to buy an amp for his band, Exodus. While Kirk was still in the band, Exodus opened for Metallica twice ("Kirk Hammett"). James and Lars liked what they heard coming from Kirk amp.

Soon afterwards, Kirk was asked to perform with Metallica. Kirk obviously accepted. Three weeks after replacing Dave Mustaine, Kirk followed Metallica into the recording studio. He was instructed to start each solo off the same way Dave did, and then make the rest up from there (Rotfeld, The Art Of Kirk Hammett 8).

Over his years with Metallica, Kirk has made his own style from other various ones. Lars says: "The thing that is so cool about Kirk is that he retains his feel". ("Kirk Hammett"). Metallica might have one of the greatest guitar players in the world, but they also have one of the greatest drummers in the world as well. Lars Ulrich was born to a Danish tennis player on the 26th of December 1963. He acquired his first drum set by begging his grandmother to get one for him.

He pursued his father's profession until the family moved to Newport Beach in California ("Lars Ulrich"). There his tennis skills were just average, and became less important to Lars. To fill the void, Lars followed his love for music. Lars followed the band Diamond Head on an English tour. Upon his return, Lars met up with Brian Slagel. And the rest is history.

Ulrich helps write and mix the songs on Metallica albums. "The detail that he pays attention to in music and things like that. That's where I learned allot from him that way". says Jason ("Lars Ulrich'). His hard pounding, rhythm-driving beats make up the backbone of Metallica. Ulrich had a dream over twenty years ago to form a band. He accomplished that dream and probably a good bit more than he ever expected Metallica to become and to stand for in the world today.

Like the drums, no band can be without a bassist. On February 10, 1962 Ron and Jan Burton gave birth to their baby boy Clifford Lee. As he grew up in San Francisco, Cliff followed his parent's hippy-like attitude. He was known to be a very carefree person. He would indulge in drinking alcohol and smoking pot. Cliff had fun pushing himself to the limits.

("Clifford Lee Burton"). In August of 1982, Cliff's band, Trauma, played at a local bar. James and Lars were in attendance. Both were very impressed with Cliff's bass playing ability. Because Ron McGoveny was not taking his duties seriously in the band, James and Lars asked Cliff to join Metallica.

Cliff was a little undecided about joining Metallica. Finally he agreed to join the fellow head banging, alcohol consuming maniacs only if the band relocated to San Francisco ("Clifford Lee Burton"). Metallica moved to San Francisco and Cliff joined. Cliff recorded three albums with Metallica. The band flew over-seas to tour Europe in 1986. One day, in the early morning hours of September, Metallica's tour bus wrecked.

It flipped and crushed Cliff, killing him instantly. He was only 24 years old. "We " ll miss him, all of us, his friends, fans and family". ("Clifford Lee Burton). After Cliff's death, Metallica chose to keep going on. James, Lars, and Kirk returned home to San Francisco.

The band tried out approximately 40 bassists in the San Francisco area. After all the auditions, one stood out. Metallica's new bassist was Jason Newsted ("The Band Bio"). On March 4, 1963, Battle Creek, Michigan was the first to hear Jason's cries. He was drawn to the bass because of Gene Simmons, the bassist for Kiss. Jason's first attempt at playing bass was unproductive.

Then after being given a bass years later, he decided to give it another shot. Good thing he did. Jason's third band, Flotsam & Jetsam, also was given a spot on the Metal Massacre compilation album. Brian Slagel suggested Newsted for Metallica's new bassist.

Although it seemed that Jason had scored a great job, his first year with the band was ruff. The other three members ridiculed him. Jason became the person Metallica took the painful loss of Cliff out on. They made sure he didn't get too comfortable too soon. But Jason took the hazing very well and continued on. After things cooled of, Jason was one of their own.

Jason continued with Metallica for 14 years to record six albums. On January 17, 2001, Jason Newsted left Metallica. "Due to private and personal reasons, and the physical damage that I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love, I must step away from the band", said Newsted ("Statement From The Members Of Metallica"). Metallica plans to continue without Jason by their side ("Statement From The Members Of Metallica"). Metallica plans to release their next album at the end of 2001 or the beginning of 2002. This will be their tenth album since "Kill 'Em All" debuted in 1983.

"Kill 'Em All" blew current heavy metal out of the water. Its fast strumming and powerful energy made the album stick out from the rest. Thrash metal was born, and Metallica was the proud father. In 1984, Metallica's second album was released.

The much-anticipated "Ride The Lightning" spent almost a year in Billboard's top 200 ("The Band"). It features such tracks as "Ride The Lightning", "For Whom The Bell Tolls", and "Fade To Black". Even with its success, stations refused to play the album because of its harsh attitude. The album goes gold in the same year. Metallica's third album, "Master of Puppets", showed a more melodious approach to metal. The album also contained a more relentless and overdriven feel.

The album was released in 1986. A million albums were sold within that year. Soon after, Metallica is signed on for a European tour to promote the album. After Jason Newsted replaced Cliff Burton, Metallica released a fourth album. "Garage Days Re-Revisited" consisted of all cover songs. The main reason for the release was to give fans a taste of Jason's playing ("The Band Bio").

The album was released in 1987, and is no longer in circulation. The material was later added to the album Garage Inc. "Garage Days Re-Revisited" is a big collectors item. Once Jason was warmed up to Metallica, the band got busy working on their next album. ."..

And Justice For All" was produced by Mike Clink, Guns N'Roses producer as well ("Biography"). The album was full of complete chaos and hysteria. Hetfield says: "Well, we finished the "Justice" album, which was the epitome of showing off, I feel, and just jamming as many riffs into one song as you can". (Rotfeld, The Art Of James Hetfield 12). "One" and "Harvester Of Sorrow" were released as Metallica's first singles. Metallica also made their first music video ever to promote the album.

Metallica then went on a world tour called the "Damaged Justice" tour (Hadland 1). With new producer Bob Rock, Metallica set forth to bring the world their sixth album. What has come to be known as "The Black Album", Metallica broke into the spotlight with the album's opening song "Enter Sandman". Released in 1991, it debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart, and marked Metallica's ability to diversify. The album remains true to Metallica's own style, but at the same time fuels a new type of metal. Metallica jumped ahead to fill the gap between mainstream metal and thrash metal The album will remain as one of the most legendary albums of all time.

(Palmer). Five years would pass until Metallica made another album. Released in 1996, "Load" was a big change in the band's musical style. The songs were simpler and more melodic than the ones in the past.

Metallica's follow-up album, "Re-Load", continued with the musical style of "Load."Re-Load" was released only a year later, because both albums were recorded at almost the same time ("Metallica-The Band"). Though the music changed a great deal, fans continued to grow. With a large fan base, Metallica felt like they could accomplish anything. In 1998, Metallica decided to go back to working on covers.

Eleven new cover songs were featured on "Garage Inc". . Accompanying the new songs was the covers from "Garage days Revisited" and "Garage Days Re-Revisited". In 1999, Metallica joined up with the San Francisco Orchestra. They released a live performance that included two new songs. "S & M", witch stands for Symphony and Metallica, was seen as both brilliant and a big mistake.

"S & M" sported both beautiful and yet uneasy transpositions of Metallica songs. In the spring of 2000, they released a single for the movie "Mission Impossible 2."I Disappear" was Metallica's first music venture in the new millennium, and proved they were not going to stop anytime soon. Of course Metallica would not have been able to make it so far in the business if they didn't have good financial stability. Record sales are a big part if a band wants to survive in the music industry. Metallica has been able to sell many millions of albums. Both "Re-Load" and "Kill 'Em All" have sold three million copies.

"Ride The Lightning", "Load", and "S & M" sold four million copies each. Five million copies of "Master of Puppets" and "Garage Inc". were sold. .".. And Justice For All" sold a total of seven million copies since its release.

The highest grossing Metallica album is "The Black Album". It has sold an amazing fifteen million copies, and has not yet left the Billboard top 200 ("Album Sales"). Without a record company to make a band's albums, there would be no album sales. In January of 1983, Jon Zazula, a record shop owner in New Jersey, asked Metallica to play a few gigs.

After hearing and meeting the band, Zazula tried to find Metallica a record deal. After many attempts, Zazula decided to found a record company of his own. Megaforce Records was born, and Metallica was the first to sign onto its label. "Kill 'Em All" was recorded and released under Megaforce Records in '83, and a year later "Ride The Lightning" was release.

Problems start to arise between Metallica and Megaforce Records, and the band signs with the management Q Prime. Shortly after Metallica signed a contract with their current label Elektra ("The Band Bio"). Ten years after being signed with Elektra, Metallica filed a lawsuit against them for more control and freedom with their music. Metallica had reached an agreement with Elektra's former chairman. Bob Krasnow agreed on giving Metallica better royalties and more freedom concerning records.

The joint venture was accepted, but Krasnow left Elektra before it was signed. After Krasnow left, the deal was cut. Now Metallica wanted to break free from Elektra altogether (Newman). Two months later, the lawsuit was settled. Metallica remained with Elektra Entertainment (Licht man). Six years later, Metallica is back in court.

This time they filed a lawsuit against the popular MP 3 sharing database Napster. Metallica charged Napster with copyright infringement, saying that it did not ask Metallica to share its music. After almost a year of battling, Metallica came out on top. Napster must now pay royalties to every artist that is shared on its database.

This is might be considered the first step into a whole new realm of artistic control of their music. This is just another first to be held by Metallica. One of there biggest firsts was made way back in 1981. Pointing the finger at any one band and saying that they are the geniuses that created thrash metal is not an easy job. But of course pointing at Metallica would be a great start. Metallica is the most recognizable thrash metal gods in the world today.

Although they have not been favored as of late, they are none the less legends in metal. Metallica played a gigantic role in developing and reengineering the metal genre. In 1981, metal was hit by a destructive blow that no one could recover from. Metallica started serving its beautiful creation known as thrash metal.

Aggression and speed was the name of the game. The faster and harder it was, the better. The winning combination was a pinch of blues, a cup of metal, and a lot of speed. After hearing Metallica, fans couldn't accept anything less. Fans needed thrash as much as they needed to breath. This being the case, the bar was raised to new heights.

(Kitts, 18). Metallica had now set the stage for a new genre in metal. All the other bands had to do were to match up to Metallica. This was not an easy job. Yet many bands did adopt thrash metal into their lives, they were not quite as effective as Metallica. Bands such as Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth are big successes from thrash.

With their releases of three more albums, Metallica seemed to keep reinventing thrash and themselves. A decade after thrash was unleashed onto the public; Metallica released "The Black Album". The success of the album created a bridge from metal to mainstream music. The songs on the album had a strong structure to them. A heavy metal edge, yet with a more mature sound. The album brought much respect and popularity to the metal genre.

(Dough ten, 35). As fan size grew, the music seemed to grow with it. Five years later, Metallica made yet another leap into mainstream music with the release of "Load". The album followed a completely different path from their past albums. The songs were even more structured and to the point than songs from their last album. Although they were not as complex as most Metallica songs, they dug deep into the heart of metal and came back up with a simplistic, yet still hard, refined felling to them.

Metallica had once again set the stage for metal. Metallica had now created a completely new breed of metal. Most know this breed as simply new metal. New metal follows the basic song writing composition techniques as most musicians. An intro, a basic riff, chorus, and perhaps an varied ending. Simple yet very effective, this music flourishes in the mainstream.

Bands such as Korn, Linkin Park, and Sum 41 are considered as new metal artists. The top selling metal bands in the world are new metal bands. Metallic has been through a good bit in the past. That is what has made them the legends they are now. Metallica has been able to adapt to the world around them in order to survive fro such a long time.

Its changing members, music style, and financial stability constantly help the band. As long as those key factors remain, Metallica will continue to endure well into the future.