James Hetfield

[Beyond Black]

Obviously, it's not for any one of us to dictate when they should have thrown in the towel. But I will say this much. They have not gotten ONE RED CENT out of me since A.J.F.A.....

I remember up to about 1990 or so, pretty much only metal heads liked Metallica. After the Black Album, all of a sudden all these dweebs who liked REM and U2, The Cure, etc were buying Metallica albums. I was like, wait a minute, this bands represented a fan base that hated everything about you. WTF happened?

You're exactly right, Danyeo. And that's exactly how I remember it. Many of the people that used to rip on us for being hardcore metalheads, jumped on the Metallica bandwagon for the Black album. And that was fine with me. By then, there was so much other stuff in the underground that destroyed $elloutica. Bands that were still hungry and pissed.

 

[spirit7]

First four albums are untouchable. They really are. But one need only watch a live video of Metallica in 1986 and then in 2013 to appreciate that they are a completely, totally, entirely different band: and not one I care for. Sorry if that upsets the fanboiz but in 1986 they were fucking angry, dangerous, drugged up, pissed snarling young men. Now they're relatively wholesome family guys with bellies and too much cash. I know which I'd rather see.

-C

 

[rocknrolla]

First four albums are untouchable. They really are. But one need only watch a live video of Metallica in 1986 and then in 2013 to appreciate that they are a completely, totally, entirely different band: and not one I care for. Sorry if that upsets the fanboiz but in 1986 they were fucking angry, dangerous, drugged up, pissed snarling young men. Now they're relatively wholesome family guys with bellies and too much cash. I know which I'd rather see.

-C

Because you want to see 50 year olds jumping around on stage acting retarded like a 20 year old?
Does anything you posted actually sound reasonable to you?
If you only want to watch 20 year olds that have more testosterone, narcotics, and ego than brains then you are going to eventually set a cutoff point for every band you like.
Besides that, why on Earth would you want a band to play the same show for 20 years?
You must be very young or are just stuck in time.

 

[Anonymous]

What's this argument about anyway?
You're telling somone his reasons for not liking a band are "wrong"?

On the other hand, you can't tell a band to quit, whatever the reason.
They'll quit whenever they want to, on top of the world or in total anonymity

 

[JTyson]

We need a new expression.

Instead of "those that can't, teach", seems should be upgraded to...

"those that can't, get on the internet and claim those that can, shouldn't, for some fucking reason".

 

[borninwinter]

What's this argument about anyway?
You're telling somone his reasons for not liking a band are "wrong"?

I don't know about that particular comment, but personally the thing I find ridiculous is when someone tries to turn their tastes of the moment into something bigger. Don't like it, fine. Don't listen and move on. Telling successful people to hang it up because what they're doing isn't your thing anymore is silliness. This trite shit about who's made too much money, lost their fire, not playing for the real fans anymore, whatever, is as boring and recycled as any track on St. Anger. It's not really much about the band usually anyway, it's more like, "Look at me!! I'm so authentic, I listen to shit you've never even heard of." Really, no one cares.

 

[Anonymous]

What's this argument about anyway?
You're telling somone his reasons for not liking a band are "wrong"?

I don't know about that particular comment, but personally the thing I find ridiculous is when someone tries to turn their tastes of the moment into something bigger. Don't like it, fine. Don't listen and move on. Telling successful people to hang it up because what they're doing isn't your thing anymore is silliness. This trite shit about who's made too much money, lost their fire, not playing for the real fans anymore, whatever, is as boring and recycled as any track on St. Anger. It's not really much about the band usually anyway, it's more like, "Look at me!! I'm so authentic, I listen to shit you've never even heard of." Really, no one cares.

I edited my comment before you wrote this, my bad

 

[borninwinter]

What's this argument about anyway?
You're telling somone his reasons for not liking a band are "wrong"?

I don't know about that particular comment, but personally the thing I find ridiculous is when someone tries to turn their tastes of the moment into something bigger. Don't like it, fine. Don't listen and move on. Telling successful people to hang it up because what they're doing isn't your thing anymore is silliness. This trite shit about who's made too much money, lost their fire, not playing for the real fans anymore, whatever, is as boring and recycled as any track on St. Anger. It's not really much about the band usually anyway, it's more like, "Look at me!! I'm so authentic, I listen to shit you've never even heard of." Really, no one cares.

I edited my comment before you wrote this, my bad

Ah...no argument there. You said it more succinctly than I did anyway.

 

[Deleted member 8761]

What an utterly pointless thread again about this band, including my own comment...

 

[borninwinter]

What an utterly pointless thread again about this band, including my own comment...

Indeed. Soon enough, though, we'll get back to scintillating topics like "EVH tone - the ONE question no one has asked after 35 years," "Which high gainer for me? Super-saturated but organic" and "FS: the head I just bought on Ebay for $400 more than I paid, firm."

 

[thiswaythatway]

Obviously, it's not for any one of us to dictate when they should have thrown in the towel. But I will say this much. They have not gotten ONE RED CENT out of me since A.J.F.A.....

I remember up to about 1990 or so, pretty much only metal heads liked Metallica. After the Black Album, all of a sudden all these dweebs who liked REM and U2, The Cure, etc were buying Metallica albums. I was like, wait a minute, this bands represented a fan base that hated everything about you. WTF happened?

I like REM and The Cure (U2 not so much, but anyway)...I also like Meshuggah and Gojira and Mastodon and Opeth. So, I guess the appeal of some combination of Metallica's songs and/or shows was enough overcome the narrow-mindedness of a segment of its fanbase. It's not high school...

The people who were narrow minded enough to never buy a heavy metal album ever, suddenly thought it was cool to buy Metallica albums at one point.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Obviously, it's not for any one of us to dictate when they should have thrown in the towel. But I will say this much. They have not gotten ONE RED CENT out of me since A.J.F.A.....

I remember up to about 1990 or so, pretty much only metal heads liked Metallica. After the Black Album, all of a sudden all these dweebs who liked REM and U2, The Cure, etc were buying Metallica albums. I was like, wait a minute, this bands represented a fan base that hated everything about you. WTF happened?

You're exactly right, Danyeo. And that's exactly how I remember it. Many of the people that used to rip on us for being hardcore metalheads, jumped on the Metallica bandwagon for the Black album. And that was fine with me. By then, there was so much other stuff in the underground that destroyed $elloutica. Bands that were still hungry and pissed.

Like Pantera. Holy shit did they nuke Metallica when they came around.

 

[thiswaythatway]

He probably doesnt know Lay it Down or Unchained.

And? And? How could you possibly leave out Bark At The Moon?

 

[borninwinter]

Obviously, it's not for any one of us to dictate when they should have thrown in the towel. But I will say this much. They have not gotten ONE RED CENT out of me since A.J.F.A.....

I remember up to about 1990 or so, pretty much only metal heads liked Metallica. After the Black Album, all of a sudden all these dweebs who liked REM and U2, The Cure, etc were buying Metallica albums. I was like, wait a minute, this bands represented a fan base that hated everything about you. WTF happened?

I like REM and The Cure (U2 not so much, but anyway)...I also like Meshuggah and Gojira and Mastodon and Opeth. So, I guess the appeal of some combination of Metallica's songs and/or shows was enough overcome the narrow-mindedness of a segment of its fanbase. It's not high school...

The people who were narrow minded enough to never buy a heavy metal album ever, suddenly thought it was cool to buy Metallica albums at one point.

I hear what you're saying as far as people that are just chasing trends. But, I like like the idea that people that are actual music fans that might not ever have given heavy music a chance get brought in by a Metallica. Who knows what they might end up listening to. And I think the current lack of innovation in heavy music could be helped by someone coming from a different point of view.

 

[borninwinter]

Obviously, it's not for any one of us to dictate when they should have thrown in the towel. But I will say this much. They have not gotten ONE RED CENT out of me since A.J.F.A.....

I remember up to about 1990 or so, pretty much only metal heads liked Metallica. After the Black Album, all of a sudden all these dweebs who liked REM and U2, The Cure, etc were buying Metallica albums. I was like, wait a minute, this bands represented a fan base that hated everything about you. WTF happened?

You're exactly right, Danyeo. And that's exactly how I remember it. Many of the people that used to rip on us for being hardcore metalheads, jumped on the Metallica bandwagon for the Black album. And that was fine with me. By then, there was so much other stuff in the underground that destroyed $elloutica. Bands that were still hungry and pissed.

Like Pantera. Holy shit did they nuke Metallica when they came around.

Room for both...

http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/metallica/images/23555122/title/james-hetfield-dimebag-darrell-photo

 

[controlled_voltage]

ok
i'll chime in

i was lucky enough to be around for the rise of the tape trading scene in the 80's
we were aware of metallica's demo no life til leather and had links with john and marsha Zazula thru the old bridge metal militia and the flea market/rock and roll heaven.

I was there for the rise of Metallica.
I helped carry in their gear at the rising sun at yonkers on the kill em all for one tour.
I had my face ripped open by ALCOHOLICA in their prime.

I was able to smoke joints with kirk and cliff on the first 2 tours.
My pal had his denim jacket painted with the jump in the fire cover art and was there when the whole band lovingly signed it with sharpies.

James is a big dude-6 ft + and ALWAYS had an attitude.
He is larger than life and has swagger which back then was fueled by alcohol and dysfunction.
It was pretty easy to see how he could never ever be in a band with another large ego like Mustardstaine.

It was pretty obvious that he was a really talented musician,not a happy camper and had a lot to prove to the world.
I saw him get kicked out of a motel room by the hottest groupie because he couldn't get it up,and then Kirk happily finished the job.

I have a cassette recording of myself and my friend hanging out drinking vodka and smoking weed with cliff behind the red roof inn in poughkipsie after the show on the ride the lightning tour.

I have given kirk all kinds of drugs because he knew we were the dudes with the good weed and remembered us from all the kill em all shows we went to.

I was lucky enough to see this band from the side of the stage in their peak and I am thankful for these experiences which most folks didn't have.

IMHO the garage days EP was the last decent thing that they did.
Once they lost cliff , the insane twisted dark edge was gone and they became a watered down arena version of what once was an incredible genre defining force.

Predictably once the watered down version got more exposure,better management and more press they blew up and the common jerk [worldwide] swallowed the hook, line and sinker... not really knowing that the second cliff-less version was a pale impostor of it's former self.

Most bands follow this same arc…...4-6 great records,massive success,loss of that inventive ground breaking creative spark,resulting in fame & fortune and sadly a massive decline in the quality of the product.

I HATED AJFA as did all of my friends.
I thought the drum production was horrendous and you could see where Metallica was headed…. to piles of cash thru THE toilet of mediocrity.

We had free front row tickets for "THE BLACK ALBUM " tour at the meadowlands.
[Bob rock was the final nail in their coffin.]
We left after 3-4 songs because it was so bad.


I specifically remember the ice cream served at the concession tasted pretty good that night even for soft serve…..[how analogous] and was more interested in getting the fuck out of the parking lot to get home to bang my GF.

I realize there is a generation of fans that has experienced the post 5.98 ep and loves it.
To each their own and everyone is entitled to their own opinion-especially when it comes to art/music.

Rock and roll is young man's sport and is best played by guys or gals that are starving,hungry and trying to prove something…….once the therapists,REHAB,endorsements,VH-1 documentaries,signature amps,strings,guitars,dildos and LOU REED show up you can pretty much consider it dead and done ,ready for a fork to be stuck in it.

This is my take on James and Metallica,your mileage may vary.

R.I.P. Cliff
R.I.P Alcoholica.


finis…..

 

[controlled_voltage]

ps
The '80s Metallica The '90s -- present Metallica
+ Demo, "No Life Til' Leather" was distributed for free among San Francisco metal community. - Sues that unnamed web-sharing site for distributing demo songs for free.
+ Zero video releases; relied on "underground" metal community for promotion. - Three videos released to MTV; the first, "One," featured snippets of an old war movie that no one ever watched.
+ Creepy Pushead artwork accompanies liner notes. - Creepy Anton Corbin photographs band.
+ "Heaviest I've ever heard," says unknown San Francisco native. - "Yeah, we sell out," said former bassist James Newstead, pausing for drama. "Every seat in the house, every time we play." Newstead appeared on VH1.
+ Records covers of songs by the Misfits, Black Sabbath and Motorhead. - Covers Bob Seager's [sic] "Turn the Page."
+ Vocalist James Hatfield [sic] clearly screams. And we scream along. - While being interviewed for MTV James Hatfield [sic] says, "I had to learn to sing for this record," referring to the Black album.
+ "How can you listen to that?" my mother asks, responding to "Master of Puppets" album. - "I like that song," my mother says, referring to "Nothing Else Matters."
+ My very first concert: 1988, Metallica, Louisville, Ky.
(estimated attendance: 2,000). - One of my last concerts: circa 1993, Metallica, Orlando, Florida, Lollapalooza (estimated attendance: 7,000).

 

[steve_k]

 

[Heritage Softail]

ps
The '80s Metallica The '90s -- present Metallica
+ Demo, "No Life Til' Leather" was distributed for free among San Francisco metal community. - Sues that unnamed web-sharing site for distributing demo songs for free.
+ Zero video releases; relied on "underground" metal community for promotion. - Three videos released to MTV; the first, "One," featured snippets of an old war movie that no one ever watched.
+ Creepy Pushead artwork accompanies liner notes. - Creepy Anton Corbin photographs band.
+ "Heaviest I've ever heard," says unknown San Francisco native. - "Yeah, we sell out," said former bassist James Newstead, pausing for drama. "Every seat in the house, every time we play." Newstead appeared on VH1.
+ Records covers of songs by the Misfits, Black Sabbath and Motorhead. - Covers Bob Seager's [sic] "Turn the Page."
+ Vocalist James Hatfield [sic] clearly screams. And we scream along. - While being interviewed for MTV James Hatfield [sic] says, "I had to learn to sing for this record," referring to the Black album.
+ "How can you listen to that?" my mother asks, responding to "Master of Puppets" album. - "I like that song," my mother says, referring to "Nothing Else Matters."
+ My very first concert: 1988, Metallica, Louisville, Ky.
(estimated attendance: 2,000). - One of my last concerts: circa 1993, Metallica, Orlando, Florida, Lollapalooza (estimated attendance: 7,000).

Metallica was not at Orlando Lollapalooza 1993...

http://www.last.fm/festival/741668+Lollapalooza+1993/lineup

The main bands were Alice, Rage, Tool.

Too many of those good drugs...

 

[controlled_voltage]

ps
The '80s Metallica The '90s -- present Metallica
+ Demo, "No Life Til' Leather" was distributed for free among San Francisco metal community. - Sues that unnamed web-sharing site for distributing demo songs for free.
+ Zero video releases; relied on "underground" metal community for promotion. - Three videos released to MTV; the first, "One," featured snippets of an old war movie that no one ever watched.
+ Creepy Pushead artwork accompanies liner notes. - Creepy Anton Corbin photographs band.
+ "Heaviest I've ever heard," says unknown San Francisco native. - "Yeah, we sell out," said former bassist James Newstead, pausing for drama. "Every seat in the house, every time we play." Newstead appeared on VH1.
+ Records covers of songs by the Misfits, Black Sabbath and Motorhead. - Covers Bob Seager's [sic] "Turn the Page."
+ Vocalist James Hatfield [sic] clearly screams. And we scream along. - While being interviewed for MTV James Hatfield [sic] says, "I had to learn to sing for this record," referring to the Black album.
+ "How can you listen to that?" my mother asks, responding to "Master of Puppets" album. - "I like that song," my mother says, referring to "Nothing Else Matters."
+ My very first concert: 1988, Metallica, Louisville, Ky.
(estimated attendance: 2,000). - One of my last concerts: circa 1993, Metallica, Orlando, Florida, Lollapalooza (estimated attendance: 7,000).

Metallica was not at Orlando Lollapalooza 1993...

http://www.last.fm/festival/741668+Lollapalooza+1993/lineup

The main bands were Alice, Rage, Tool.

Too many of those good drugs...

i cut and pasted this from another source ,that which i can not claim any accuracy over!