Know Your Metal: Metallica

-by Nishtha Kanal

The first thing that ANYONE who starts listening to a new genre wants to know is- (I asked peop..err, one person)  

a)      Who are the best guys to listen to in it? and

b)      What are the best songs to hear in the genre?

So after considerable thought (actually not even a teeny tiny bit) I decided to profile *drum-roll* my favouritest heavy metal/ thrash metal band Metallica and some of their songs I consider awesome.

‘Tallica was born 30 years ago after Lars Ulrich, the drummer posted an ad for people to jam with, and James Hetfield, lead man and guitarist answered it. Cutting a long story short, by 1982 the lineup included Cliff Burton, the epic bassist and Dave Mustaine on lead guitars.

During the production of ‘Kill ‘em All’, Mustaine was kicked out for God knows how many reasons. Spitting revenge he formed.  Megadeth (I think that was a ploy, because ‘Meg’ comes before ‘Met’ on the iPod.) Kirk Hammett took over the lead duties from Mustaine.

The foursome of Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton and Hammett went on to make some cult albums such as ‘Ride The Lightning’ and ‘Master of Puppets’ till one fateful night, the band’s bus skid over a patch of black ice and while everyone else escaped unscathed, Burton was killed when the vehicle fell over him.

So, Jason Newsted became the new bassist for the band, and the relationship lasted through albums like ‘... And Justice for All’, ‘Metallica’ (better known as The Black Album,) ‘Load’, ‘ReLoad’, ’Garage Inc.’ and ‘S&M’ (live with the San Francisco Symphony)

And just before getting into the studios to record St. Anger, Newsted quit because of differences with the band. While the band recorded the album in spurts owing to Hetfield’s stint in a rehab, producer Bob Rock filled in for the missing bassist. Robert Trujillo was selected to play bass after a long audition with several bassists. The band even filmed a documentary called ‘Some Kind of Monster’ around the recording of St. Anger.

This lineup went on to make Death Magnetic, the latest Metallica album that released in 2008.

Some of the must-hear tracks of Metallica

Disclaimer: This being in my opinion. You are free to add your favourite tracks in the comments section. Also, for convenience’s sake I’m listing the albums according to their release dates. Since the overall sound of the band goes from speed/ thrash in the 80’s to the heavy sound in the early 90’s, slightly bluesy in the late 90’s and back to heavy in the 2000’s. Therefore listen to a track off each album before judging)  

From Kill ‘Em All:

-          Whiplash

-          Seek and Destroy

-          The Four Horsemen

-          Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth) *for the sheer awesomeness of Cliff Burton on bass*

Ride the Lightning:

-         For Whom the Bell Tolls

-          Fade to Black (super epic)

-          Creeping Death

-          The Call of Ktulu

Master of Puppets:

-          Master of Puppets (duh! If  you haven’t heard this, you haven’t heard Metallica)

-          Battery

-          Orion

-          Leper Messiah

-          Basically the WHOLE album

…And Justice for All:

-          Blackened

-          To Live is to Die (a fitting tribute to Burton)

-          One

-          Harvester of Sorrow

The Black Album:

-          The whole album, pliss

Load:

-          Mama Said

-          Ronnie

-          King Nothing

-          Outlaw Torn (Attn. Boy/ Girl bands, Beiber lovers, et al: THIS is how a romantic number is to be written)

ReLoad:

-          Fuel

-          The Memory Remains

-          Fixxxer

-          Low Man’s Lyric

-          The Unforgiven II

Garage Inc:

-          It’s a cover album of older cult classics. Pick any one and yenjoi!

S&M:

-          The originals: - Human and No Leaf Clover

St. Anger:

-          Frantic

-          St. Anger

-          Some Kind of Monster

Death Magnetic:

-          The Day That Never Comes

-          Suicide and Redemption

-          All Nightmare Long

Phew, all this listing is exhausting work. Do let us know what you think about these tracks and the band in general. Drop us a comment otherwise too. 

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