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. 

  

Artist feature: Metallica - The Struggle Within

Jason Newsted -  circa 1987

With the band in turmoil over losing a friend and fellow musician, the decision to carry on was taken on the basis “that is what Cliff would have wanted”, and with the blessing of the Burton family, Metallica held auditions to recruit a new bass player. Some 40-odd bass players auditioned for the chance to become part of the massive machine Metallica was quickly becoming, and after having impressed the band by learning their entire set-list, it was agreed that Jason Newsted would replace Burton on the bass. Metallica finished their tour in early 1987 and returned home to San Francisco. As a result of the new bass player (credited as Master J. Newkid in the liner notes), and a newly built studio, came the all-covers Extended Play (EP) release – Garage Days Re-Visited. The EP is considered a collector’s item as all 5 track were included in the 1998 double-album Garage Inc. [but more about that later...]

Artist Feature: Metallica - The Early Days

A very young Lars Ulrich

To tell the story of Metallica, one must start with the story of how the band came into being. And that story starts with Lars Ulrich.

Lars was born in Denmark, to an acclaimed tennis player. Lars’ father, Torben Ulrich, was also a musician who shared a stage with jazz-legend, Miles Davis. Lars moved to America in 1980 to pursue a career as tennis player, but this plan was to fall to the wayside when he met a young James Hetfield.

Rocktober Challenge (Amended)

Õla Rockers,

Since it is in fact \ROCKTOBER/, I would like to issue a huge challenge to you all:

For the duration of my favourite month of the year, I challenge you to listen to a couple of bands from ALL of the below heavy metal sub-genres; especially those you don’t usually listen to or sneer at thinking “that is not metal”…  I know what you’re thinking and trust me; it is going to be sooooo worth it.  Broaden your horizons fellow rockers, it is well worth it and honestly, there is no such thing as “too much metal…” right?!

So, have at it and once you have found yourself a new band / sub-genre that you actually like, post your findings as a comment below, so we can all benefit.

Rock on!

Heavy Metal Sub-genres (broadly defined)

Primary Sub-genres: Alternative metal Avant-garde metal Black metal Death metal Doom metal Drone metal Sludge metal Extreme metal Glam metal Gothic metal Groove metal Industrial metal Neo-classical metal Nu metal Power metal Speed metal Symphonic metal Thrash metal Traditional heavy metal Viking metal

Fusion Sub-genres: Crust punk Folk metal Funk metal Grindcore Metalcore Melodic death metal Nintendocore Post-metal Progressive metal Rap metal Stoner metal

P.S. Look out for my post on Within Temptation – coming soon….

P.P.S. A great big thank you to RifferBoy for the below flowchart - it is going to be so much easier for everyone to participate in the challenge.  So no more excuses!

Metal Genealogy

~J~

Rocktober

Hi Friends,

I am ashamed to admit that I have totally slipped-up. Today is the 5^th day of October, and as result I am now 5 days late in wishing you all a kick-ass Rocktober!

To make up for this serious lapse in my self-assigned responsibilities, I am about to embark on an undertaking that I am not sure I can fully deliver on... That being said you can trust that I endeavour to make up for this faux pas in the posts that are to follow. I’ve been working on the upcoming article for a while now and, in the spirit of Rocktober, I believe it totally fitting to do a full artist feature on this band. Call it coincidence or call it luck, but I believe it is an effect of cosmic alignment that this feature has come together so nicely, and at this very fitting moment in time. I hope you accept my humble apology, and that the reading you are about to undertake will make up for my folly... Please enjoy. \m/

This post has been a daunting task. The problem is not that I have an inadequate grasp of the English language, or that my research is lacking, but simply that it is an impossible feat to capture the brobdingnagian contribution, immense presence and colossal influence that this band has had on the entire world as we know it.

This band has been described many times as “the Led Zeppelin of this generation”. Now please take a moment to ponder on the gravity of such a statement...

Led Zeppelin was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the few bands that shaped the future of music the world over. They pioneered where others in their genre only followed. They gave birth to an entirely new culture that, to this day, remains very much alive. They cultivated some of the world’s most loyal followers, and even after the death of drummer, John Bonham in 1980 and the subsequent disbanding, Led Zeppelin remains the quintessential patriarch of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

With such a lofty introduction, the subject of this post must be something special. No, more than special, they are singular and stand head and shoulders above their peers. Where ‘Zeppelin [and Black Sabbath are also well worth a mention here] gave birth to Heavy Metal, this 4 piece took that infant, dressed it in a black T-Shirt and torn jeans, nurtured it through its toddler and teenage years, and made it the healthy, robust, kick-ass, stick-it-to-the-man adult that Metal is today.

Lest we forget...

On 22 June 2010 Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax (known as the Big 4 of thrash metal) performed in Sofia, Bulgaria. The concert was screened live at hundreds of cinema theatres across the world and, as to be expected, in South Africa nearly 4 weeks later.

Regardless of the fact that we were watching a ‘live’ broadcast weeks after the show, we saw this collaboration of rock gods as an opportunity that could not be missed. In a cinema packed with metalheads we watched the legends do what they do best and like a bucket of arctic water to the face, we were reminded of what metal was all about.

The current rock scene is flooded with new bands. There are so many to choose from that I find myself feeling a bit frustrated at times trying to keep up with the who’s who of the rock world.