History Music / METALLICA

* VocalDissonance: Watch any early interviews with James. That deep, powerful-speaking voice should not come from a zitty, skinny blond-haired kid, especially one that still sung like a spotty teenager. Progressively averted between the times of ''Justice'' and ''Load'' however, due to James aging and bulking up, growing into the voice.

* CoolOldGuy: It's commonly accepted that Metallica handled their aging pretty well. James Hetfield in particular has embraced the "Papa Het" persona in later years.

* BadassBaritone: Hetfield pulls this trope off nicely. Notable in interviews due to the relatively high voices of Lars and Kirk.

** The other members of the band have some too, like Lars' Jesus beard, Kirk's mustache or Jason's goatee.

* OverlyLongName: Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Perez de la Santa Concepción Trujillo Veracruz Batista. Fans prefer to call him "Rob", for obvious reasons.

In the heady days of the '80s, 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 third album, ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' (1986), created the band's first notable commercial success, and was and is hailed by critics as a metal masterpiece. Unfortunately, on their subsequent tour, Burton was killed in a bus accident. Choosing to continue on in spite of their grief, the band 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 mix of their next album, ''...And Justice For All'' (1988), being seen as the first major instance. It was also 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, they realized that the general consensus was that songs were "[[EndingFatigue too fucking long]]", though the rise of {{grunge}} and {{alternative rock}} probably also had something to do with it), first coming out with their massively successful [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled album]] ''Metallica'' (aka "The Black Album") in 1991, then the rock-, country- and blues-tinged alt-rock pair ''Load'' and ''[=ReLoad=]'', respectively released in 1996 and 1997.

Metallica were then mostly quiet for a while, and when they finally set about making a new album, they had a full-on breakdown, with a fed-up Newsted leaving the group (from a combination of his continued hazing treatment, Hetfield's refusal to allow him to become a full songwriting partner, and a neck injury that needed rest), Hetfield going into rehab for alcoholism, and the entire future of the band in doubt. ''Music/StAnger'', 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]], was released in 2003. It's [[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.

* SongStyleShift: "Fade to Black", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)", "One" and "The Day That Never Comes". Furthermore, their instrumentals after ''Ride'' mellow out considerably two thirds in before becoming heavy again.

** The Unforgiven Trilogy comprises of ''The Unforgiven'' from their 1991 self-titled album, ''The Unforgiven 2'' from 1997's ''ReLoad'', and ''The Unforgiven III'' from 2008's Death Magnetic.
** ''Lux Æterna'' can be viewed as something of a successor to ''Hit the Lights''. The song's name means "Eternal Light" in [[GratuitousLatin Latin]], and both songs are short, punk-y affairs with a very similar structure and tempo.

** Kirk's horror movie themed guitars.

* LyricalColdOpen: "Gimme fuel, gimme fire, gimme that which I desire- uh!"

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

** ''Lots''. They covered "Remember Tomorrow" by Music/IronMaiden for the ''Maiden Heaven'' tribute album. They also did a cover of "Ecstasy of Gold", one of the songs Ennio Morricone did for ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', and usually open their concerts with the original piece. There's also a heavier version of "Stone Cold Crazy" by Music/{{Queen}}, which they even played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. It was one of the earliest metal songs, and numerous metal bands have played covers as a way of tribute. Their latest is a version of Music/{{Nazareth}}'s "Please Don't Judas Me" in ''Helping Hands...''

* OverlyLongName: Roberto Augustin Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz. Fans prefer to call him "Rob", for obvious reasons.

* EpicRocking: They frequently have songs over 5 minutes long, but some really fit the trope, such as "One", "To Live Is to Die", "The Outlaw Torn", "...And Justice for All" (the song), "Suicide & Redemption", and the [[Music/KingDiamond Mercyful Fate]] medley "Mercyful Fate".

* 1998 - ''Music/GarageInc'' (cover album)[[/index]]

* 2008 - ''Death Magnetic''[[/index]]

* 1998 - ''Music/GarageInc'' (cover album)

* 1987 - ''The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited'' (cover EP)

* 1998 - ''Music/GarageInc'' (cover album)

* 2011 - ''Lulu'' (collaboration with Music/LouReed)
* 2011 - ''Beyond Magnetic'' (EP of B-sides from ''Death Magnetic'')

* 1998 - ''Music/GarageInc.'' (cover album)

* AnimatedMusicVideo: ''72 Seasons'' has three: the borderline {{Animesque}} "Shadows Follow" and "Room of Mirrors", and "Crown of Barbed Wire".

* 1988 - ''...And Justice for All''

* 2008 - ''Death Magnetic''

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.

* MinimalisticCoverArt: ''Metallica'', aka the "Black Album", consisting only of an extremely dark Metallica logo and coiled snake on a black background.

** Bob Rock on all albums from ''The Black Album'' to ''Some Kind of Monster'' (even playing bass on ''St. Anger'').

* RefugeInAudacity: The band originally wanted to call their first album "''[[{{Squick}} Metal Up Your Ass]]''" (complete with metal spike coming out of someone's toilet), but the record label wouldn't have any of it. So they changed it to ''Kill 'Em All'', which the company apparently had no problem with, and then made an ''Ass'' t-shirt with the original concept art.
** Ironically enough, [[WriterRevolt the record executives were the ones they wanted to kill all off.]]

** On the back of their ''S&M'' album, in lieu of a track listing, they just added a picture of the set-list they used for the show. All the song names have been shortened this way. ("Puppetz")

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Kill 'Em All'' has a muddier sound compared to every album that followed and two HeavyMeta songs that heavily contrast to the thoughtful lyrics James usually writes.

* IntercourseWithYou / HormoneAddledTeenager: Mostly averted. However, "The Four Horsemen" was originally called "The Mechanix", filled with {{double entendre}}s about sex in an [[AutoErotica auto mechanic shop]]. It was released in the original form on Music/{{Megadeth}}'s debut album,''Killing is My Business... And Business is Good''. Additionally, "Jump in the Fire", a song sung from {{Satan}}'s perspective, was originally about teenage sexual frustration; this version can be heard on the ''No Life 'Til Leather'' demo. Notably, this one also had its origins with Dave Mustaine. Meanwhile, the only publicly released Metallica song that is clearly about sex is "Devil's Dance," which uses the image of Satan tempting followers as a metaphor for somebody soliciting sex.

** About every other line on ''The Black Album'' starts with "You".

* WordSaladLyrics: Sometimes they are just strings of cool-sounding phrases. James [[http://www.guitarworld.com/interview-james-hetfield-discusses-metallicas-death-magnetic admitted]] the lyrics' crypticness aims for "anonymous but powerful", making sure they resonate with listeners. ("I'll put two powerful words put together, and sometime I won't know what they mean, but I'll apply them to my life somehow.")

* CoverVersion: ''Lots''. They covered "Remember Tomorrow" by Music/IronMaiden for the ''Maiden Heaven'' tribute album. They also did a cover of "Ecstasy of Gold", one of the songs Ennio Morricone did for ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', and usually open their concerts with the original piece. There's also a heavier version of "Stone Cold Crazy" by Music/{{Queen}}, which they even played at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. It was one of the earliest metal songs, and numerous metal bands have played covers as a way of tribute. Their latest is a version of Music/{{Nazareth}}'s "Please Don't Judas Me" in ''Helping Hands...''
** CoverAlbum: The EP ''The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited'', including songs from Diamond Head, Killing Joke and The Misfits (this was also Newsted's debut). Later, an entire double album of them, ''Garage Inc.'', with one disc being reissues of their older covers and the other being new covers, including Music/BobSeger's "Turn the Page", Music/ThinLizzy's version of "Whiskey in the Jar", and Music/LynyrdSkynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone".
** They also have tribute albums of their songs covered by other artists; ''Metallic Attack: The Ultimate Tribute'' by other metal artists and one by punk artists, ''A Punk Tribute to Metallica''.
*** There's also a ''quadrilogy'' of cover albums from the Cleopatra Records label. If you've ever wondered what Metallica would sound like through a gothic rock / industrial lens, ''The Blackest Album'' 1, 2, 3 & 4 may be for you.

** Downplayed in ''Hardwired... to Self Destruct'', where the first disk ends with the longest overall track, "Halo on Fire" (8:16).

In late 2016, the band released their 10th album, ''Hardwired... to Self-Destruct'', which marked [[RevisitingTheRoots another clear return to their '80s thrash/speed metal roots]]. The effectiveness of the stylistic throwback at this stage in their career became a topic of debate, but it was a commercial success regardless. The album became Metallica's sixth to debut at #1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, making them the second band in music history to have that many consecutive #1 debuts after Music/DaveMatthewsBand. Their 11th album, ''72 Seasons'', is set for release on April 14, 2023.

* 2011 - ''Lulu'' [[note]] A collaboration with Music/LouReed [[/note]]
* 2012 - ''Beyond Magnetic'' (EP)

* UrExample: ''Kill 'Em All'' is generally believed to be the first full-length ThrashMetal album ever released. Thrash metal had previously been included on various compilation albums, but ''Kill 'Em All'' was the first album entirely devoted to thrash. Others argue that ''Welcome to Hell'' by Venom was the first thrash metal album, but ''Kill 'Em All'' was [[TropeCodifier the first one to sell a lot of copies]].
* VerbalTic: James LOVES to add extra syllables-ah to his vocals-ah, with the shining example coming in "All Nightmare Long":
--> "You crawl back in, but your luck runs ou-TAH!"

--> "You've reached the end of the LIIIINE-AHHHH!"
* VocalDissonance: Watch any early interviews. That deep, powerful speaking voice should not come from a zitty, skinny blond-haired kid, especially one that still sung like a spotty teenager. Averted more and more however, due to James aging, and bulking up, growing into the voice.
* VocalEvolution: Starting with ''Justice'' and consolidated with the Black Album, the change in Hetfield's singing style is notable. Compare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mLDoLWJKZw 1984 James]] to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvp5z4z2biw 1991 James]]. While the way he sings in ''Death Magnetic'' sounds like a combination of the two ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeE1Y8S6jVc exhibit A]]), he still uses mostly the lower vocals live.

[[folder:Lyrics/Themes/Concepts]]
* AffectionateParody: The EvilLaugh at the end of the song "Master Of Puppets" was meant to parody Iron Maiden.

** Not a particularly bad offender but the use of "Master of Puppets" in the film ''Film/OldSchool'' is a little odd during the scene where Beanie, Mitch, and Frank are kidnapping the pledges, seeing as the song is about drug addiction.

* ShoutOut: A (very off-key) bit of Music/IronMaiden's "Run to the Hills" plays at the end of the "Last Caress / "Green Hell" medley. They replied [[http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/?url=single23_bequick/lyrics23_bequick&link=singles&lang=eng#track3 in a more jokey manner]].

* VocalEvolution: Along with James having more melodic singing instead of just shrieking like in the early days, he certainly sounds different due to all the screaming (he even blew his voice recording "So What") and smoking.
** To put this in perspective - Kill 'Em All era James voice was extremely high, and sounded basically nothing like James Hetfield. Just five years later he had already grown into a low-register baritone, which is basically the opposite to his high tenor vocals just years earlier.
* WarIsHell: "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "One" and "Disposable Heroes."

* YourMom / WouldHurtAChild: The {{cover|Version}} of "Last Caress / Green Hell" from the "[[CoverAlbum The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited]]"

** CoverAlbum: ''The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited'', including songs from Diamond Head, Killing Joke and The Misfits (this was also Newsted's debut). Later, an entire double album of them, ''Garage Inc.'', with one disc being reissues of their older covers and the other being new covers, including Music/BobSeger's "Turn the Page", Music/ThinLizzy's version of "Whiskey in the Jar", and Music/LynyrdSkynyrd's "Tuesday's Gone".

* ContinuityNod: "The Unforgiven III" seems to be more like this than strictly the latest part of the "Unforgiven" trilogy (at least "II" still borrowed some elements from the original; "III" is a completely different composition).

*** They've written only 6 songs shorter than 4 minutes: "Motorbreath", "Holier Than Thou", "The Struggle Within", "Wasting My Hate" "Hardwired" and "Lux Æterna".

Metallica were then mostly quiet for a while, and when they finally set about making a new album, they had a full-on breakdown, with a fed-up Newsted leaving the group (from a combination of his continued hazing treatment, Hetfield's refusal to allow him to become a full songwriting partner, and a neck injury that needed rest), Hetfield going into rehab for alcoholism, and the entire future of the band in doubt. ''StAnger'', 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]], was released in 2003. It's [[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.

Metallica were then mostly quiet for a while, and when they finally set about making a new album, they had a full-on breakdown, with a fed-up Newsted leaving the group (from a combination of his continued hazing treatment, Hetfield's refusal to allow him to become a full songwriting partner, and a neck injury that needed rest), Hetfield 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]], was released in 2003. It's [[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.

* 2003 - ''St. Anger''

In the heady days of the '80s, 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 third album, ''Music/MasterOfPuppets'' (1986), created the band's first notable commercial success, and it was and is hailed by critics as a metal masterpiece. Unfortunately, on their subsequent tour, Burton was killed in a bus accident. Choosing to continue on in spite of their grief, the band 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 mix of their next album, ''...And Justice For All'' (1988), 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.

Metallica were then mostly quiet for a while, and when they finally set about making a new album, they had a full-on breakdown, 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 songwriting 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]], was released in 2003. It's [[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.