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Metallica started out in 1981 when Lars Ulrich asked James Hetfield to join his band, and record some demos. James took up vocals, guitar, and bass,w hile Lars did the drums. Eventually Hetfield's roommate Ron McGoveney took up bass, and Dave Mustiane played guitar. The band then started opening for big bands, and recorded a demo "No Life Till Leather." Metallica were almost rejected from L.A. from lack of support by fans, and found San Fransisco has a strong fan base. While touring Metallica, met up with Cliff Burton. Cliff was a natural at bass. He declined an offer to go in Metallica, because he didn't want to the band's Southern California home. So Metallica moved to Cliffs home, and Cliff then accepted the offer. Now the demo was discovered by Jon Zazula. He instantly got Metallcia to head to New York to record, and play some East Coast shows. After playing a few gigs Dave's drinking got out of hand and he was kicked out of the band. Metallica, now looking for a new guitarist, got a Kirk Hammet's name from a roadie. Kirk was the guitarist for a Californian thrash bands Exudos. Kirk accpeted the invitation. With Kirk's help Metallica finished thier debut album "Kill Em All." They then recorded "Ride The Lightning." Now the thrash scene was soaring. Metallica managed to get on tour, opening for legandary rocker Ozzy Osbourne. Thier album "Master Of Puppets," was released, and hit the top 30. Metallica were now on top of the world. But on September 27th 1986 everything turned around. While on tour In Sweden, Metallica's bus flipped over, in the middle of night, killing bassist Cliff Burton. The whole thrash world was affected by his death, because he was one of the most talented bassists ever. Metallica didn't give and returned to the U.S. for auditions. Jason Newstead was choosen. Newstead was formely in a small Arizona band Flotsam & Jetsam. The band quickly toured again, and recorded an EP "Garage Days Revisted." The EP was mainly recorded in Lars' garage. In 1988 Metallica released thier first albumw ith Jason Newstead "...And Justice For All." The album was a massive hit. It peaked in the top the ten on the albums chart, got a Grammy Nomination for Best Hard Rock/Metal Preformance. In 1989 they released thier first video for "One." The video picked up heavy MTV rotation, and flew up radio charts. Metallica, along with Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth were given the title of The Dominated Four Of 80's. Megadeth, were a packing force in the 80's metal scene. Thier singer was ex-Metallica guitarist Dave Mustaine, who was kicked out of the band for his drinking. In 1991 the thrash-metal craze was replaced by the Alternative-rock phase. Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were now the biggest bands around. Yet Metallica amanaged to survive. Thier album "Metallica (The Black Album," was a massive album. It topped charts worldwide for many weeks. In the end it sold 15 millions copies. They headlined a shared tour with Guns & Roses, and won Grammy's, and MTV Video Music Awards. The had hit singles in "Enter Sandman," "The Unforgiven," and "Nothing Else Matters." The band toured non-stop until 1993. The group was then completely exhausted, and took a few years off to relax. In the time they released a live album. In 1996 Metallica returned with "Load." The record was produced by Bob Rock, The same produced who brought "Metallica (The Black Album) to international rock stardom. Rock changed Metallica's sound to new levels. In 1997 they released another album "Reload," which was songs from the "Load" sessions. They then embarked on a huge tour, the Load Tour. |
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