METALLICA Secret Project?

My friends were completely confused by Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning at first. Only myself and my friend Dale "got it", all our other friends thought it was "too intense". About 6 months later they had all changed their minds and Metallica was suddenly everyones favorite metal band.

I thought they were as intense as you can get, but then I remember one fateful Friday night when my friend Rodney brought an LP he wanted to trade...Slayer's Haunting The Chapel EP. It was too much for him, but I fell in immediate love with their sound...about halfway through Chemical Warfare, when it gets to the fast(er) section and Araya yells "CRANK IT UP!" I was sold. I think I traded a Krokus LP for it. LOL.

Shortly afterward I bought Venom's Black Metal and Celtic Frost's Morbid Tales, forever cementing the more underground metal stuff as my favorite.

Who could listen to crap like Motley Crue, Ratt, Krokus, Helix, etc. after being turned onto Metallica, Slayer, Venom & Celtic Frost? The mainstream metal stuff sounded immediately dated and "quaint" by comparison.

I appreciate your sides to this matter SD & FF and I can easily understand and had I been more than 3 or 4 at the time I'd fully agree but proly not to the extent most Metallica fans do. My question though is how did they overshadow every other Thrash Speed band out there to the extent that they did? Was it the fact that they were more accessible and more promoted? I still think they are totally overrated as musicians and James as a lyricist.

Because they were the first "thrash" band any of us heard. They got major label distribution through Elektra earlier than any of the other groups (1984). Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer were all on independent labels at the time and most of them remained that way until 1986.

There really wasn't anything else to compare them to at the time, they sounded like they had dropped in from another planet with a totally unique sound.

I don't think the instrumental chops had much impact at the time, because the whole "package" combined ended up being something very unique. We over-analyze and dissect things WAY more now than we ever did at the time.

The internet has bred an entire generation of "critics" and most of them wouldn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

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There really wasn't anything else to compare them to at the time, they sounded like they had dropped in from another planet with a totally unique sound.

This nails it. For those of us whom "metal" at the time was stuff like Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, etc. hearing Metallica for the first time was like having your ears scrubbed out with a Brillo pad. You either loved it, or you were like "What the fuck is this crap?" Haha

Fat Freddy wrote:

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There really wasn't anything else to compare them to at the time, they sounded like they had dropped in from another planet with a totally unique sound.

This nails it. For those of us whom "metal" at the time was stuff like Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, etc. hearing Metallica for the first time was like having your ears scrubbed out with a Brillo pad. You either loved it, or you were like "What the fuck is this crap?" Haha

This is so true! When I first put on Kill 'Em All and when Hit The Lights faded in, I was like yeeeeeaaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! It was raw, dirty, fast and (more importantly at that time) LOUD.


The only thing other music that I heard that was like that was Fast As A Shark from Restless and Wild (that I dubbed from my library around that same time period..........probably just slightly before).


I was lucky enough to know someone who wanted these albums transferred to cassette:
Armored Saint - EP
Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Raven - Break The Chain 12"
Mercyful Fate - Melissa


So it was either late '83 or early '84.

....and the rest is history.............

Fat Freddy wrote:

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There really wasn't anything else to compare them to at the time, they sounded like they had dropped in from another planet with a totally unique sound.

This nails it. For those of us whom "metal" at the time was stuff like Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, etc. hearing Metallica for the first time was like having your ears scrubbed out with a Brillo pad. You either loved it, or you were like "What the fuck is this crap?" Haha

Yep! First Metallica song I heard was Fight Fire With Fire and I loved it and became an instant fan. ly

theJOKERiv wrote:

Yep! First Metallica song I heard was Fight Fire With Fire and I loved it and became an instant fan. ly

That was my first experience with Metallica as well. I bought the album on a whim because when Elektra first picked it up they released it for a sale price of like $5.99 or something, it was too tempting to not take a chance. Mind immediately blown when Fight Fire With Fire kicked in.

I'll admit I really like KEA and RTL...

I wrote a Hubpage entry about the first time I heard Kill'Em All quite some time ago... sums the experience up nicely if I do say so myself

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Great read, FF. Makes me envious that I never had that experience as mt older bros never really got past the likes of Crue, Def Lep, etc. so I had to discover Metal pretty much on my own. I really do like the first two Metallica albums but the next two not even close. They became redundant in their lyrics and music IMO. I fell the need to crank out KEA and RTL now...

Akeldama wrote:

Great read, FF. Makes me envious that I never had that experience as mt older bros never really got past the likes of Crue, Def Lep, etc. so I had to discover Metal pretty much on my own. I really do like the first two Metallica albums but the next two not even close. They became redundant in their lyrics and music IMO. I fell the need to crank out KEA and RTL now...

I agree except I think the song "Disposable Heroes" from MOP is one of Metallica's best songs, I also think "Orion" from that same album is their best instrumental. However, I cannot listen to side One of that album any longer, it just sounds like a much weaker variation on RTL.

I also think Metallica's cover songs during that era are some of their best stuff. The Garage Days Re-Revisited EP is much better than And Justice For All...as are the cover tunes they released along with that album...Breadfan and The Prince blow away any of their original songs from that album.

S.D. wrote:

Akeldama wrote:

Great read, FF. Makes me envious that I never had that experience as mt older bros never really got past the likes of Crue, Def Lep, etc. so I had to discover Metal pretty much on my own. I really do like the first two Metallica albums but the next two not even close. They became redundant in their lyrics and music IMO. I fell the need to crank out KEA and RTL now...

I agree except I think the song "Disposable Heroes" from MOP is one of Metallica's best songs, I also think "Orion" from that same album is their best instrumental. However, I cannot listen to side One of that album any longer, it just sounds like a much weaker variation on RTL.

I also think Metallica's cover songs during that era are some of their best stuff. The Garage Days Re-Revisited EP is much better than And Justice For All...as are the cover tunes they released along with that album...Breadfan and The Prince blow away any of their original songs from that album.

I remember snagging Garage Days when I was about 9 or 10 and liking it better than MOP, I don't remember if I'd heard AJFA at that time. I'll take a listen to "Disposable Heroes" as well. I'm not much for "Orion" much less Cliff Burton...KTULU BABY!!!!!

Akeldama wrote:

I'm not much for "Orion" much less Cliff Burton...KTULU BABY!!!!!

The middle section of that song is one of Metallica's most "musical" moments.

KTULU annoys me (not just because of the butcher job they did misspelling the Lovecraft name) but because it's just too repetitive.

I don't mind repetition as long as it's good. I know "Ktulu" is not necessarily a groove but I like a lot of tunes with repetitive groove.

I thought they spelled it KTULU to add to the fact that one must not even mention the name as the legend goes...

Akeldama wrote:

I thought they spelled it KTULU to add to the fact that one must not even mention the name as the legend goes...

More likely they were trying to avoid having to pay royalties to Arkham House books for using the name with the accepted spelling.

I am a huge Lou Reed fan, own 15 CD's and have an almost complete discography collection with Velvet Underground, own every Metallica album out, but still have not been able to bring myself to buy 'Lulu', I think sometime next month when I have a bit more cash on hand, I shall finally buy this damn disc.

Save your money to buy something good. I never could make it all the way through that album.

manny wrote:

I am a huge Lou Reed fan, own 15 CD's and have an almost complete discography collection with Velvet Underground, own every Metallica album out, but still have not been able to bring myself to buy 'Lulu', I think sometime next month when I have a bit more cash on hand, I shall finally buy this damn disc.

If you must subject yourself to that crap sandwich, for the love of God at least don't pay full price for it!! It can be had for around five bucks used at GoHastings.com ...

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Metallica to play Antarctica:

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After unleashing "Through the Never" 3D film, metal behemoths Metallica have confirmed yet another pioneering effort for this year - a concert on the Earth's southernmost continent Antarctica. The band has officially announced a partnership with Coca Cola Zero and a December 8 performance near the heliport of the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini. In case you were wondering about the concert crowd part, the group has it covered as well. Starting October 28, fans in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico will be able to enter a contest and get a chance to win tickets for an Antarctic cruise sailing from December 3 through 10. As for the concert itself, Metallica will be playing inside of a dome and transmit the music to the audience through headphones with no amplification. Furthermore, the show will also be streamed live in Latin American countries. "Pack up those warm clothes and we'll see you at the bottom of the planet!" the announcement reads. As the press release further reads, "Coca-Cola Zero will donate equipment for the new laboratory at the Carlini base which concentrates the largest number of Argentinean scientific investigations and international cooperation. Coca-Cola Zero will likewise contribute to disseminate the marvels of this continent through a documentary and the entire "Musica Zero" experience will be broadcasted previously and during the event. "Antarctica is under the special stewardship of the Antarctic Treaty and various international forums which, among other aspects, contemplate the possibility of fostering cultural activities to create awareness on the importance of this continent, safeguard Antarctic biodiversity and as an example of international cooperation." So it would seem that the "another frontier" announcement has been made.

Through The Never flopped only managing to bring in a little under $4 million at the box office...the film cost $18 million to produce and that doesn't include advertising/marketing costs.

I see what they are trying to do by releasing that and "Lulu" but I just cant help but think they are bored and lazy to say the least all the while trying to stay relevant.

I'm pretty sure the film was a "Lars vanity project".

I'll watch the film once it comes out on DVD, I sure as hell ain't going to buy it though.

Oh yeah, a "Lars Vanity Project" no doubt! I'll watch the film too and I was excited at first about a band playing Antarctica cuz I'm a nerd like that but I don like how they are going about it but I'm sure the sub-zero temperature could cause a lot of damage to their gear.

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