Metallica

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Finally a Black Album pick, and this one is Big. Big arrangements, big lyrics, big length, big hit, big live staple. A James showcase here with his gravely voice giving a maturity to this performance that they didn't have back in '82. Heavy in its use of acoustic guitar, with a more standard verse chorus structure and heavy intro and outro essentially, James also wrote the guitar solo in the middle which sings and soars in the middle of the track

The video is also notable from being from their first documentary "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" and has playboy pinups which are censored these days. I've never watched it, but I should. The black album is often considered to be when Metallica sold out, and the increased commercialisation, demonstrated by the documentary, makes this a very interesting chapter in their history

Anyone who's seen Metallica has seen this track, and with many artists covering it, who's seen it covered instead live?

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A 2025 rendition of a Master of Puppets classic. And our first instrumental as a listening party. And another Cliff Burton track from me. And correcting the lack of MoP tracks.

The track is a multi-part harmonised masterpiece featuring another non-standard song structure. Part 1 with a guitar riff and bass repeating motif that lays groundwork for seemingly endless solos both bass and guitar. Part 2 slowing down for a guitar solo driven almost sung part itself with mid neck work and voicing on the bass that speaks in minor. Part 3 an almighty crescendo that speeds up with an intensity to suck a listener in and is as enthralling to listeners in 2025 as it was in 1986

Never played live often, Jason presumingly not wanting to be associated with what is often considered Cliff's magnum opus. Until 2006 that is where it was broken out for the whole album live tour, which I just so happened to see ;) Seems to be back on rotation for this tour too, much to my enjoyment as I've tickets for them next year too.

That's enough for now, I'll gush about MoP some other track. Happy Metallica Monday!

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Metallica meets politics. Kinda. Don't be using their music without permission!

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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by Olap@lemmy.world to c/metallica@lemmy.world
 
 

A day late but: it's still Monday somewhere! In honour of Black Sabbath retiring, here's Metallica at the Rock n Roll hall of fame performing Iron Man. Metallica are obviously huge fans of Sabbath, so this is a cool cover indeed. And far from the only Black Sabbath cover I could have chosen either, Metallica have borrowed from them on many occasions

At the weekend they were top of the bill for the tribute bands in Birmingham for Back to the Beginning also. And had a good fun set too, but my the whole bill was looking old, Metallica included!

Iron Man itself is a track that needs no introduction for metal fans with a distinctive guitar riff from Iommi and distorted vocals from Ozzy. As always, anyone got any memories of either Sabbath or Metallica playing this live? Anyone lucky enough to have been at the hall of fame for this performance? Anyone in Birmingham this weekend?

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submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Olap@lemmy.world to c/metallica@lemmy.world
 
 

Realised this morning I haven't covered a Cliff era track! And so we have the master himself live from back in 1985. And the performance itself is a masterclass in bass improve intro with judicious use of fuzz and chorus to create a sound that few 40 years ago could even imagine.

The track is from Ride the Lightning, Metallica's second LP but first from what is considered their stable lineup. And I'll gush about Ride with some other track later. What's more relevant is that this track features in Cliff em All, a compilation of bootlegs videos of the bass wizard in action released after his passing. With Cliff being just 3.5 years with the band, his influence has been phenomenal to not just Metallica, but all of rock and metal. So watch him go, he has the crowd in a frenzy even before the main riff kicks in, and he plays with the intro like a cat with a string, effortlessly and without mercy.

Anyone lucky enough to have seen Cliff play? Anyone remember seeing this video on Kerrang/MTV2 like me?

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submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by Olap@lemmy.world to c/metallica@lemmy.world
 
 

After some St Anger we have the lead single from Death Magnetic. A return to metal in the style of the first 4 albums with this album, with Rob Trujillo getting his hands on the song writing for the first time too. It marks the first album since 1990s The Black Album without Bob Rock producing and not one song under 5 minutes!

This track in particular is rather non-standard composition (again!) with a light intro of classical guitar and a mid tempo soon yielding to the full distorted band bringing the groove and the noise. Lyrically James talking about betreyal or revenge for my money, but delivering in an almost staccato/classic James bark fashion in parts. The 'outro' is an epic three minute guitar solo essentially, very One-esque and the antithesis of the St Anger no solos approach

I very much enjoyed this tour from Metallica, and the album, seeing them at Sonisphere was a big highlight for me. Anyone else see them then? Who's got a favourite track of the album?

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Wanna feel old? St Anger is over 22 years old. Much maligned at the time, with no guitar solos, a snare to cringe at, and lyrics that your teenage son would write. But looking back and it wasn't that bad, it was raw, it was punk like, it was a move away from the alt-rock of the load and reload back towards metal and there were a few good tracks on it

The band themselves had just seen Jason leave, James go to rehab, the battle with Napster was in full flow. It was a raw period for them. The song Frantic is another blistering paced track, with lyrics drawn from obviously rehab therapy and bhuddist concepts (thanks Wikipedia!). With a slightly stranger twin chorus structure and a snare that keeps it all moving

As always, who saw it live when first out, who was sitting in their bedroom as an angsty teen when it first came out? And any requests for next week?

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Going all the way back to 1983 with this release. The opening track from their first LP Kill em All. A few demos pre-date the album (and featuring early line-ups) but this one is the first release for the classic line of James, Lars, Kirk, and Cliff.

A blistering paced track with a rip roaring guitar solo and what stands out to me in 2025 is the booming bass in the remaster. A simple construction and lyrics, I suspect this was a staple opener for many many years. Mentioning hallmarks of the time of leather, lights, and high volumes.

With James' early barks being a trademark of the release, in a most Lemmy fashion showing the clear NWOBHM influences on the band. I've also seen it live myself, back in 2009.

So, any thoughts on this track for us this week? Any requests for next week?

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From the ultra complex and progressive track of One to a simpler 2023 release from 72 Seasons. A difficult topic for many, the band themselves have been pretty open about their mental health difficulties too so this feels very real to me. Undoubtedly will feature heavily in upcoming tours too

Musically a few bpm off Kill em All pace, but sharing a simpler verse/chorus structure, it still is a radio unfriendly 5:30 and no bad thing. Enjoy folks, has anyone seen them perform this live yet?

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On a ww1 kick at the moment, reading The Eastern Front by Nick Lloyd having done the Western past year, and what better way to compliment than to have a listening party than the iconic and still unparalleled 'One'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_(Metallica_song)

The third single from ...And Justice for All where Lars and James demonstrate their prowess in progressive writing with a chorusless multi-movement piece that features samples from 'Johnny Got His Gun'. Filmed in black and white and 7:27 in length being a firmly middle finger to the music industry, this may have beem the last hoorah of a band about to breakthrough to the big time. Or it may have been a reaction to loosing their influential bassist. Whatever it is, what does it mean to you? Who remembers the first time you heard it?

Happy Monday !metallica

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Yaas, coming to Scotland! Gonna have a great time here

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Our inaugural listening party, and I've gone with the lead Load single as Metallica is about to drop a reissue of the Album in June

Load itself was a strange time for the band, with kirk rocking the heroin chic, the long hair long gone, and the music having firmly left behind Burton compositions in favour of Newsted rock influences. Anyway, here is a great track from the album, enjoy. And Wikipedia has a good article about it too

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Until_It_Sleeps

If you've a favourite Load track, let us know. Any memories from back in '96 to share? Anyone see them that tour?

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New mod in town. How about a very stupid rule such as all titles need an exclamation mark? Thinking Metallica Monday where we listen to a song from the back catalog or a cover or some shit together too

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Tape, proper old school. Not to be repeated though, the equipment and skills are going fast

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I found this community te be without moderators. Is anyone willing to moderate the community, and maybe keep some content coming in?

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Just finished this transcription, thought some of you might find it useful:

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Metallica - M72 - Fuel - Montreal - 08/11/23

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