Artist Feature: Metallica - The Final Chapter

Lou Reed & Metallica

Finally I can stop raving on about their history, and to look to the future of Metallica.

As you may know, the latest project Metallica has placed their stamp on is called Lulu. It is a collaboration album with geriatric rocker and song-writer, Lou Reed. I want to make clear from the start that this is not a Metallica album. It is essentially a Lou Reed album with Metallica playing the instruments...

Artist Feature: Metallica - Turn the Page

Echobrain - Brian Sagrafena, Dylan Donkin, Jason Newsted

The period following the release of S & M was to be a stark contradiction to the relatively trouble-free time Metallica had had riding the wave of their success. Jason Newsted formally announced his departure from Metallica on January 17^th 2001. In an interview with Playboy Magazine, Newsted stated his reasons for leaving as: “private and personal reasons, and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love.” At this stage Newsted was heavily involved with his side project Echobrain and was on the verge of releasing an album. Patriarch of Metallica, James Hetfield, was sided against the idea saying; “When someone does a side project, it takes away from the strength of Metallica" and a side project is "like cheating on your wife in a way". Hetfield made a compelling argument by posing questions such as, "Where would it end? Does he start touring with it? Does he sell shirts? Is it his band?”. The tiff between Hetfield and Newsted had started back in 1987 when Newsted joined the band to replace the late, great bassist Cliff Burton and the Echobrain project seemed to have poured fuel on the fire

It's not my fault... really!

Hey music lovers,

I address to you today with my head bowed in shame...

With Rocktober having come and having gone as well, I’m sure you’ve noticed that the massive Metallica feature is not yet entirely complete - and that sucks! Now I know you’ve all been salivating at the thought of consuming my latest ramblings on the ’Tallica boys, but since there is nothing for your greedy brains to feast on I’d like to offer up a brief explination for my incredible lack of discipline...

Being the “regular jack-off” that I am, my everyday 8 to 5 recently shifted up a gear [*sigh*] and has, due to no fault of my own, taken up more of my blog-time than usual. Now if I were a professional muso or journalist [nudge, nudge. hint, hint] that would not have been a problem - but since I do the corporate bully’s dirty work Monday to Friday, and have some responsibilities, I haven’t been able to pay as much attention to The Lounge Critic as usual...

Never fear though. Holidays are coming up pretty soon and that should leave me with some free time to get cracking on the blog again. This short ‘hiatus’ doesn’t mean there is nothing going on in the background though: KoRn is about to release a new album The Path of Totallity, one which has the band's front man, Jonathan Davis, saying “It’s gonna piss-off a lot of fans”. Since The Drummer and Goth Girl sent me the new single a few weeks ago, a review on this falls squarely in their laps.

Also, I’m waiting with baited breath on the Within Temptation feature from ~J~ as well as her findings on the Rocktober Challenge. I’ve also heard a rumour that there will be a spotlight shed on geriatric hard-rockers AC/DC.

The new Chevelle album, Hats off to the Bull, is due out on December 6th. And I have some opinions to bounce off you about one of my favourites, Godsmack. Slipknot and Stone Sour have both declared their intentions for new albums.

Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave) have teamed up to form a political movement - Axis of Justice. Ozzy is on tour with his medical advice book. Slash’s new album is finished recording and undergoing post-production as we speak... And of course, the completion of the Metallica feature is already overdue.

So stay tuned Metalheads, there lots yet to come on The Lounge Critic

\m/

Artist Feature: Metallica - ...And Justice For Lars

Metallica posing for Garage Inc

Continuing on the path of self exploration and experimentation, Metallica once again returned to the studio. This time it would be to record the album Garage Inc. The double album would pay tribute to some New Wave of British Heavy Metal legends like Diamond Head and Motörhead, amongst others, who had influenced Metallica in their earlier careers. Garage Inc. contains newly recorded cover versions of these great bands and was met with great reviews by both, fans and critics alike. On a personal level, this album – or rather the concept of this album – warms my heart. For me the saying “imitation is the highest form of flattery” rings true, and I often find myself gravitating towards playing riffs from my favourite songs or bands. I am after all, a fan – and of Metallica, I am a super-fan! The most notable singles off the disk are Sabbra Cadabra originally by Black Sabbath, Die, Die, My Darling by Misfits, Am I Evil? by Diamond Head and the traditional Irish folk song, Whiskey in the Jar inspired by the Thin Lizzy version. The covers are great, and just like any good cover version the essence of the original stands proud while the unmistakeable Metallica signature sound rings out like a bell.

As mentioned earlier in this feature, the second disk of the double album contains the 1987 release Garage Days revisited in its entirety – since the rare album went out of print following its original release. Garage Inc. stands as testament to the cant-put-a-foot-wrong wave Metallica was riding throughout the 90’s in that the new, and quite novel, album entered the Billboard 200 chart at # 2.

Artist Feature: Metallica - Paradigm Shift

Legandary producer - Bob Rock

The recording of the new album, entitled Metallica, started on October 9, 1990. The 4 previous albums had an aggressive, even frantic edge about them with the main focus on playing fast, technical pieces of music laced with sharp, riot-enticing lyrics. The new album had Metallica exploring a new, more commercial, approach to heavy metal... and with change comes conflict. The producer the band had hired, Bob Rock, changed the format they were used to when recording.