Hotel rooms and motorways / Life out here is raw / But we will never stop / We will never quit / cause YOU'RE Metallica
Metallica. ...And Justice For All. They had just lost arguably the driving force behind their musical evolution into the nine-minute epic-writing band we know them as today and were pissed at having to hire a replacement (the perpetual Butt Monkey Jason Newsted). They somehow channeled that into an album that had enough sheer force behind every song to make every song, from the opening reversed-guitar intro to Blackened to the last thrash-tastic moments of Dyers Eve, an expression of the raw fury they felt at the time. They even managed to score a Grammy off One, which cemented their meteoric rise to fame.
One is also #3 on best Solo and #5 on best song according to Top Ten.com anyway.
Speaking of Grammys, arguably their Moment of Awesome really came when ...And Justice For All LOST to Jethro Tull for the Best Hard Rock Album Grammy. The upset, more than anything else, put Metallica on the mainstream map.
This troper would also like to nominate Master of Puppets if only for the titular song, and Battery.
This troper considers their entire musical career as one gigantic Moment of Awesome. Yes, even St. Anger. Haters can go die in a fire.
Add Orion and Welcome Home (Sanitarium) to the fray.
Moment of Awesome related to Metallica, and no one has taken the time to mention ENTER SANDMAN, arguably Metallica's most famous song?
This troper hereby picks their debut album, 1983's Kill 'Em All, which - in his opinion - blows Master of Puppets clear out of the water. "Hit the Lights" is just fucking awesome: not even rabid metal fans had heard a song that fast before! "Motorbreath" is similarly insane, and "The Four Horsemen" is just plain spooky.
Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra's "S&M" performance. See The Call of Ktulu.
This troper prefers the S&M the thing that should not be over the original version.
Actually the whole performance is basically a Crowning Concert of Awesome.
On the subject of Metallica, Orion, from Master of Puppets is one hell of an instrumental. In fact, that whole album reeks of awesomeness, give Battery a listen and try to tell me otherwise.
By having a listen to all applicable tracks, I think you'll find the words "Metallica instrumental" to be sufficient qualification for the Crowning of a song.
While we're on Metallica instrumentals, never forget the aforementioned "Call Of Ktulu". It raises the feeling of being with a Cosmic Horror without saying a word.
The S&M version of The Ecstasy of Gold is just breathtaking and sends chills up the spine. It's unbelievable.
The S&M version of Battery is absolutely amazing. This troper considers it their best song to date. Not only is it an absolutely intense song, the intro is complemented to perfection by the Orchestra. Finally, the intensity of the vocals combined with the excellent instrumentals on both sides is absolutely orgasmic.
The "Big Four Live" European mini-tour with Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, with the performance in Sofia, Bulgaria on 2010-06-22 being shown in theaters worldwide that same night.
Pretty much ALL of the "Master of Puppets", and "...And Justice For All" albums. "Death Magnetic" also has a few.
HUNT YOU DOWN WITHOUT MERCY!!! HUNT YOU DOWN ALL NIGHTMARE LONG!!!
WHAT DON'T KILL YA MAKE YA MORE STRONG!!!
"Leper Messiah", and even "The Memory Remains", from ReLoad.
Being that Load was such a stylistic change for Metallica, it contains several excellent songs that frequently get overlooked - but the crowning music of awesome off that album would have to be "Hero of the Day". (With an honorable mention to "Bleeding Me" and "The Outlaw Torn")
Ride the Lightning deserves a mention, if only for the title track and "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
Alternatively, every song. Except maybe Escape. But only because it's not really Crowning in any way. Least interesting song on the album? Maybe. Still a good fucking song? Duh. It's Metallica.
This troper just listened to the Beyond Magnetic EP. These four songs were cut from Death Magnetic, and finally released in their rough mixes. The song "Shine" finally got released as "Just a Bullet Away" and is totally epic. Also, "The Rebel of Babylon" is a tearjerking tribute to Layne Stayley. This should set aside all doubts about Metallica that stem from LuLu.