History Music / METALLICA

If you really want to get an earful, round up three Metallica fans and ask them if and when Metallica sold out. It was after Cliff died. It was when they slowed down the music. It was trying to follow the alternative music trend in the '90s. It was the advent of the gimmicky stuff like ''Garage, Inc.'' and ''S & M''. It was trying too hard to get their old sound back after ''[=ReLoad=]''. It was everything after ''Kill 'Em All''. They never "sold out" at all, but got older and less angry and wanted to experiment in other styles, and besides, altering your artistic expression just to appease ''any'' fanbase, even your original one (thrash), is the very definition of "selling out." In short, there are likely as many possible answers as there are people who have heard of Metallica.

The band was formed in the early '80s when aspiring Danish tennis player/drummer Lars Ulrich placed an ad in a UsefulNotes/LosAngeles newspaper, which, in one of those moments of synchronicity, was answered by singer/guitarist James Hetfield. The roster was then filled out by lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron [=McGovney=] (soon to be replaced by virtuoso Cliff Burton).

In the heady days of TheEighties, they forged their way from being the supporting act at tiny club gigs to opening for and headlining stadium tours, with next to no support from radio. Their '86 album ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' was hailed by critics as a metal masterpiece, but on the subsequent tour, Burton was killed in a bus accident. Choosing to continue on in spite of their grief, they auditioned and hired Music/JasonNewsted, an intense young musician who became the perennial "New Guy" and the butt of 14 long years of hazing, with the [[NobodyLovesTheBassist bass being almost non-existent]] in the ''...And Justice For All'' album being seen as the first major instance. It was with this album that the band first started getting accusations of "selling out", after they put out a music video for the song "One", something fans claimed they had promised in the past they'd never do.

In TheNineties, the band moved away from thrash metal (according to Hammett, "Touring behind [''Justice''], we realised that the general consensus was that songs were "[[EndingFatigue too fucking long]]", though the rise of {{grunge}} and alt-rock probably also had something to do with it), first coming out with their massively successful self-titled album ''Metallica'' (aka "The Black Album"), then the rock-, country- and blues-tinged alt-rock pair ''Load'' and ''[=ReLoad=]''. The band were mostly quiet for a while, and when they finally set about making a new album, they had a full-on CreatorBreakdown, with a fed-up Jason leaving the group (from a combination of his continued hazing treatment, Hetfield's refusal to allow him to become a full song-writing partner, and a neck injury that needed rest), James going into rehab for alcoholism, and the entire future of the band in doubt. ''St. Anger'', the album forged in the midst of all this[[note]]The band's producer Bob Rock filled the spot of bassist for the recording[[/note]], is [[FanonDiscontinuity disdained by most fans]], though for others it's an interesting experiment hamstrung by its intentionally unpolished production and [[ContemplateOurNavels overly introspective]] lyrics. Luckily for the band, new bassist Robert Trujillo both helped them mellow out and encouraged them to mix up their set-list on a nightly basis, pulling out songs they hadn't played for the better part of 20 years.

At the time of its release, ''Death Magnetic'' was the most in-character effort they'd had in years. However, it's a casualty of the LoudnessWar, and whether it's any good depends entirely on [[BrokenBase who you ask]]. In 2011, they collaborated with Music/LouReed on ''Lulu'', which has been panned by just about everyone that has an opinion on it (except, strangely, Music/DavidBowie, who loved it and cited it as an influence on his own last album, ''Music/BlackstarAlbum''). In 2012, to tie into their 30th anniversary mega-reunion shows, they released ''Beyond Magnetic'', an EP consisting of four songs left over from the studio sessions for ''Death Magnetic''. On 30 November the same year, they left Creator/WarnerBrosRecords (where they'd been since being signed to subsidiary Creator/ElektraRecords in 1984), with the rights to all their studio albums, master recordings and videos, and formed a new independent label, Blackened Recordings. Its first release, a month later, was ''Quebec Magnetic'', a live DVD culled from two performances in Quebec City in 2009.

In late 2016 they released ''Hardwired ...To Self Destruct'' which is [[RevisitingTheRoots a clear return to their 1980s thrash / speed metal roots]] and is likely to appeal to their original fanbase--if that fanbase ever hears of it and / or gives it a fair listen after feeling burned by the 90s change of direction. Musically it is very much what those fans have asked for, though whether it will succeed in connecting with and re-energizing them remains to be seen. Some may be skeptical that such a return to form is possible or that it has taken place, feeling that the band has cried wolf with such claims before and dismiss the current one for that reason. Others may retain feelings of betrayal from the aforementioned events that led to accusations of selling out and be unwilling to listen to anything the band produces or has to say on principle. Regardless of any controversy, however, it is significant that the band--for better or worse--has returned to the style that once made them famous.

Metallica is perhaps best known for its somewhat turbulent relationship with its [[BrokenBase fans]]. Some of this is the result of their long career and their experimentation with other musical styles. The fan-base tends to divide thusly: "hardcore" metalheads that stay away from anything after ''Justice'', or after ''Master'' if they're not into prog-metal (Hetfield even mentioned in interviews that the band lost some especially vocal fans after the acoustic guitar intro on "Fade to Black"); fans who got into the band with the Black Album and like their anthemic '90s style better; those who uncritically love everything the band releases; and some who seem to exist solely to antagonise the band and other fans.

Further division among the fandom -- in particular those who play guitar, bass or whatever (of which there are many -- like probably half the audience at the average show) divide their material based on the band's line-up at any given time. Bass players tend to favour the Cliff Burton years, although Newsted has his fans as well, as does Trujillo (though even fans of Trujillo's work with other bands--mostly Ozzy or Suicidal Tendencies--split over whether his funk-influenced tone and style suit Metallica's material). Guitarists may debate whether Hammett's solos or Hetfield's riff-based rhythmic style are the true core of the band's sound. Others love to argue Hammett vs. Mustaine -- still.

If you really want to get an earful, round up three Metallica fans (bonus points for one token hater, for the lulz) and ask them if and when Metallica sold out. It was after Cliff died. It was when they slowed down the music. It was trying to follow the alternative music trend in the '90s. It was the advent of the gimmicky stuff like ''Garage, Inc.'' and ''S & M''. It was trying too hard to get their old sound back after ''[=ReLoad=]''. It was everything after ''Kill 'Em All''. They never "sold out" at all, but got older and less angry and wanted to experiment in other styles, and besides, altering your artistic expression just to appease ''any'' fanbase, even your original one (thrash) is the very definition of "selling out." Whatever. In short, Metallica fanboys are arguably worse than ''Franchise/StarWars'' fans in the way they love to argue. Metallica hasn't always helped this situation.

Lars Ulrich's [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil crusade against Napster]] left a bad taste in the mouths of many, who wondered if he hadn't just shot his own band in the foot. Ulrich has never outright apologised for some of the things he said during this time (though he did mention he regretted the way he expressed some of his beliefs at the time), although the band has been much more Internet-friendly since then, playing nice with iTunes, putting up old shows online for free, and allowing recent concert-goers to download a copy of the show they attended.

They also cottoned on with atypical shrewdness to the popularity of ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' and the potential that their guitar-driven songs had in the format. After licensing a few of their more popular tunes for the series, they went the whole hog by releasing their most recent album as downloadable content, and followed it up by co-developing ''Guitar Hero: Metallica'', [[RuleOfCool an entire game allowing players to perform as the band themselves]]. (The Metallica tracks in any given ''Guitar Hero'' or ''VideoGame/RockBand'' game are generally amongst the hardest, because... Well, it's ''Metallica'').

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: "Battery".

*** They've written only 5 songs shorter than 4 minutes: "Motorbreath", "Holier Than Thou", "The Struggle Within", "Wasting My Hate" and "Hardwired".

* KillEmAll

* IconicLogo: One of the most iconic in all of metal music. It's so widely recognised that if you see anyone's logo for ''any'' purpose, and the consonants at the ends have stretched-out uprights with barbed ends, you know exactly who they're ripping off.
** This was averted from ''Load'' through ''St. Anger'', which featured variants on the original logo.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: James, during the late 1990's. During the band's post-Black Album hiatus, Lars and Kirk had developed interests (art, drugs) that he wanted no part of. (him taking up hunting also kept him physically away from both during off-hours) During the ''Load'' period, they had been the primary forces behind the band's "new image." He had more in common with Jason Newsted, but the hazing that the band had given Jason effectively scorched that bridge to a crisp. As a result, being isolated from the rest of the band, he developed the "Doctor No" personality that led to Jason's departure and almost led to the band's breakup.

* TwoDecadesBehind: While the rest of the band had teased hair, wore tight fitting black jeans, metal studs, and other common fashions of 80’s thrash and speed metal. Cliff had long flowing hair, wore bell bottom jeans, and a jean jacket. He looked like we was straight out of the 70’s.

* MadLibMetalLyrics: In general, Metallica is noted for averting this, but they play it straight in "Metal Militia".

* NiceHat: Lloyd Grant has one sweet hat on during the 30th anniversary show.

** Music/JasonNewsted, treated as the [[ReplacementGoldfish new guy]] for 14 years, though ironically beloved both by fans and other musicians. Hell, ''Dave Mustaine'' praised the guy in multiple interviews.

* FilkSong: "The Four Horsemen," "Creeping Death", (both invoke ''Literature/TheBible''), "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" (''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest''), "One" (''Literature/JohnnyGotHisGun''), "The Memory Remains" (''Film/SunsetBoulevard''), "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Creator/ErnestHemingway) and four tracks inspired by Franchise/CthulhuMythos (the instrumental "[[Literature/TheCallOfCthulhu The Call of]] [[FunetikAksent Ktulu]]"; "The Thing That Should Not Be", which even quotes directly from Creator/HPLovecraft; "All Nightmare Long", about Literature/TheHoundsOfTindalos; and "Dream No More", featuring Cthulhu awakening).
* FindTheCure: "Cure"

* BigGuyLittleGuy: James is tall, Lars and Kirk are short, and (apart from Cliff, who was even taller than James) the bassists are average. Photos such as the one in our page image or the cover of ''[[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/Metallica_-_The_%245.98_E.P.-Garage_Days_Re-Revisited_cover.jpg Garage Days Revisited]]'' try to disguise it.

* ContinuityPorn: Their 30th anniversary shows. The only thing they DIDN'T have was Cliff's ghost. It featured Music/JasonNewsted, [[Music/{{Danzig}} Glenn Danzig]], [[Music/JudasPriest Rob Halford]], Music/OzzyOsbourne, Music/LouReed, Bob Rock, [[Music/{{Megadeth}} Dave Mustaine]], Ron [=McGovney=], Lloyd Grant, and Hugh Tanner and John Bush (who weren't even in Metallica; the former played with James in his previous band, the other is from local group Armored Saint) among others.

->''"You can always tell a Metallica fan; a fan of any other band, you ask them, 'What music do you like?' they say, 'I like Music/{{U2}}, I like Music/{{Genesis}}', you ask a Metallica fan, they're like '''Metallica, man!'' Oh, 'scuse me, I gotta get to work...'"''

+ Music/DeepPurple, Music/{{Motorhead}}, Music/BlueOysterCult, Music/BlackSabbath, Music/ThinLizzy, Music/LedZeppelin, Diamond Head, Music/JudasPriest, Budgie, Music/{{Queen}}, Music/KillingJoke, Music/{{Venom}}, Music/{{Rush}}, Music/IronMaiden, Music/MercyfulFate, Music/TheMisfits, Samhain, UFO, Angel Witch, Music/{{Saxon}}, Music/BobSeger, Music/TheRamones, Music/{{Aerosmith}}, Music/LynyrdSkynyrd, Music/JoeSatriani, Y&T

* TheSandman: "Enter Sandman" is a song about to deal with the concept of a child's nightmares and as the name says, plays with the mythical figure of Sandman. The music video goes further with a young boy being chased in nightmares by various dangers and in one scene where he's praying, an old man appears being Sandman himself as TheMan behind the nightmares (ported by R. G. Armstrong).

* AsTheGoodBookSays: "The Four Horsemen", about the characters of the same name, and "Creeping Death", about the final of the ten plagues of Egypt -- once the band was watching ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', Cliff reacted to the newborn slaughter with "Whoa, it's like creeping death!".

* ChartDisplacement: Their sole top-10 hit on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', "Until It Sleeps", is nowhere near as popular as "Master of Puppets", "Enter Sandman", or "One".

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Arguably the point behind ''Metallica''. Besides Hammett's comment about the songs being "too fucking long" and his claim that one of the band members swore that they'd never play "...And Justice for All" (the song) again after a grueling concert (he also mentioned "[[EndingFatigue seeing the front row start to yawn by the 8th minute]]"), Hetfield recounted that they were encouraged to actually pursue the direction when they saw that a previously HairMetal-infected Creator/{{MTV}} was showing harder {{Grunge}} stuff.

Formed in the early '80s when aspiring Danish tennis player/drummer Lars Ulrich placed an ad in a UsefulNotes/LosAngeles newspaper, which, in one of those moments of synchronicity, was answered by singer/guitarist James Hetfield. With lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron [=McGovney=] (soon to be replaced by virtuoso Cliff Burton), Metallica was one of the pioneering bands of ThrashMetal, and is considered one of the "Big Four" of thrash, along with Music/{{Anthrax}}, Music/{{Slayer}}, and Music/{{Megadeth}} (the last formed after guitarist Mustaine was kicked out of the band and replaced by Kirk Hammett, late of [[Music/ExodusBand Exodus]]).

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Every song in the 80's ranged from 6 ("Fade to Black", "One") to 9 ("Battery", "Disposable Heroes"). The Black Album's songs are mostly between 6-8, with "The Unforgiven" around a 4 and "Nothing Else Matters" at a 3. The ''Load''s were 6 and 7, with some 2-4s in there as ballads, and a couple songs (such as "Fuel" and "Wasting My Hate") bordering on 8. "Hero of the Day" has arguably the widest spread of any Metallica song, from about 2 on the softest parts to 8 on the hardest. ''St. Anger'', ''Death Magnetic'', and ''Hardwired...To Self-Destruct'' are back to mostly 6-9 range, while ''Lulu'' literally hits everything from 1 to at least 8.
** Live, hardness can vary thanks to differences of speed in the album versions. Notably, during the ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' tour, many songs were played much faster (and performed with gruffer vocals) than their studio recordings, making songs like "Fight Fire with Fire" even higher 9's.
** MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: The band also ranks pretty high on this scale, where aside the instrumentals nothing is below a 5 -- even the ballads are angsty self-reflections.

* ForgottenFallenFriend: Averted totally with Cliff, as James, Lars, and Kirk will still talk about him readily if prompted, and always lavish praise on his musical talents and uncompromising personal beliefs. Jason was a huge Metallica fan before joining the group and has admitted to breaking down in tears when he read of Cliff's death, and though the other three's failure to deal with their grieving laid the groundwork of his ultimately leaving the group, he has always spoken speak fondly of Cliff himself.

In the heady days of TheEighties, they forged their way from being the supporting act at tiny club gigs to opening for and headlining stadium tours, with next to no support from radio. Their '86 album ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' was hailed by critics as a metal masterpiece, but on the subsequent tour, Burton was killed in a bus accident. Choosing to continue on in spite of their grief, they auditioned and hired Music/JasonNewsted, an intense young musician who became the perennial "New Guy" and the butt of 14 long years of hazing, with the [[NobodyLovestheBassist bass being almost non-existent]] in the ''...And Justice For All'' album being seen as the first major instance. It was with this album that the band first started getting accusations of "selling out", after they put out a music video for the song "One", something fans claimed they had promised in the past they'd never do.

* TakeThat: During one of their early tours, James dissed Music/{{Exodus}} fans as "freaks" just before the band played "Phantom Lord". Also an example of BitingTheHandHumor considering the other guitarist, Kirk Hammett, came to the band ''from'' Exodus.