People from all metal worlds have Metallica stories. The most steadfast obscurists love bands whose lives were changed by Metallica, and the staunchest traditionalists love bands who were amplified by Metallica.
Looking through the book, Elverum points out a drawing of his wife in a vintage-looking Metallica shirt. It was her thing to be the young person in the chemo room, drinking her crazy carrot juice and being so charming to all the nurses. Metallica might not seem like an obvious source of comfort for chemotherapy, particularly at their most Spartan on And Justice for All. But there they are, the freedom and catharsis in their music making the hospital less lonely in the throes of terminal illness.
Metallica can be as fallible as anyone who loves their music. Metallica love is a very human, dare I say adult love. Metallica also filmed a Julien Temple-directed intro video for the show, wherein some fox-hunting Brits were gunned down by rifle-wielding bears. My friend and I ask each other these sorts of questions often—not necessarily in search of answers as much as in an effort to try to determine the lens through which one must view the problem in order to hypothetically solve it.
The first is reach—as in, how many people are aware of this band? These two measuring sticks of genius are, of course, by no means mutually exclusive—consider the Beatles, or Prince, or Stevie Wonder, or the Rolling Stones. But there is only one American band brave enough to defy these conventions so hard that they shatter them, and that band is Metallica. Kirk treated the Kobayashi Maru. They laugh in its face; they crap in a paper bag, light it on fire, and leave it flaming on the doorstep as they ride their metaphorical skateboards away, cackling with impish glee.
Much like the Beatles, Metallica showed up to the party, changed music forever, then suddenly left without so much as a goodbye. Not by imploding like the Beatles did, but by making the conscious decision to actively and enthusiastically sell out and make populist, semi-generic hard rock albums that sold like hotcakes.
Get rich. Once their lineup cohered with bassist Cliff Burton and guitarist Kirk Hammett, the band set about recording an album full of musically ambitious, virtuosically played songs brimming with speed, raw energy, and exuberance.
They were insular, escapist fantasies for rageful losers for whom life was nothing but one long high school hallway, populated by an endless succession of jocks shoving you into one locker after another. They mooched off their original bassist Ron McGovney while actively courting Burton as a replacement behind his back, then passive-aggressively convinced McGovney to quit by electrocuting his instrument with beer. There are too many metal bands out there, plain and simple, pulling metal fans in a million directions at once.
The days of the universally loved metal band are gone except for Agalloch. But the fact that there are so many bands — and choices — means that every metal fan has a lot more options when it comes to selecting their favorite one, or favorite few, to pay attention to and to spend money on. This behavior, of course, is enabled by… 2. The Internet. This one is two-fold. No longer are music fans beholden to the broad cast experience — being given a limited menu at the record store or on the radio and being forced to choose their favorite.
You betcha. The rock radio format, against all odds and common sense, has not changed one iota in the past 15 years. For a metal band to hit the mainstream they have to be played on mainstream radio… crossover, as they say. This is becoming increasingly difficult because….
Screamed and growled vocals have gained some acceptance outside of the metal world see: indie rock kids getting into metal in recent years by way of Pitchfork, Stereogum, NPR, etc.
The general music-listening populace likes melody in singing, and they like to be able to understand lyrics.
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