Metallica 89!!!!!!

[BrentSSL]

I know theres no love for them but they are awesome man I wish I could have seen this in person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y07k2MxkJJY

 

[metalsoup]

For me the most memorable moment in that '89 "Justice" concert (one that I still remember nostalgically to this day) is the part in the song "One" where the guitars and double bass sync up and at that precise part all the lights went out except for a brilliant strobe light underneath the drums flashing in sync to the rhythm as well. Simply mesmerizing! If I may quote Butt-head: "This is the coolest thing I have ever seen." (Btw, in the video this part begins at 58:43, but the effect is obviously difficult to capture on video and is best appreciated live at a distance where you can see the whole stage flashing with the drums at the epicenter. This to me was one of those moments where I began to understand how a well-orchestrated live show has no equal in the world of entertainment. Mind blown!)

If there is little love left for Metallica on the part of many (myself included), it's because of a sense of betrayal. At the time of this video, they were the undisputed heavyweights, the kings of metal. Nobody had a track record anywhere close to those brilliant first four albums Metallica produced. But after that, for a lot of people (again myself included), it all went down hill from there. Sure, they were still metal, but only a shadow of their former greatness. Maybe it wouldn't have gone that way had Cliff not died. Who knows? But I for one would have preferred the band just hang it up then and there rather than go on to produce that abominable mediocre material of their later albums. Of course, it was entirely their prerogative, but very difficult to stomach with an accompanying sense of great loss. How the mighty have fallen! At least, since that time there have been many great metal bands willing to pickup the gauntlet and produce more great metal albums.

 

[Anonymous]

The first time I ever saw them was when they opened for Ozzy on the ultimate sin tour here in New York. I was very fortunate to see Cliff that night and I remember it well still.

The odd transition was when they went off stage and blew the place down, to then having Ozzy come out in his corny silvery glittered overcoat..

Needless to say they completely blew him away imo and I also think they were at the top of their game then. I know everyone considers the black album the top of their game, but to me that was their decline. I'll go as far as justice but it ends for me there. There is that footage from Long Island two days prior that I often watch because it takes me back to that night. Man they kicked all kinds of ass back then, that's the Metallica I'll always remember.

 

[JTyson]

I was there for that tour
For whatever they have become, there was a time when there was no doubt whatsoever that they were the best live metal band. Period.

 

[legend71]

I saw that 89 tour twice. I was a senior in HS and we were so jacked up for that show. I waited all night long to get tickets. We ended up with 5th row center. Took my little brother to his first show. Great memories for sure. They were great then. They were cool and messed around with jamming a bit onstage. They were the kings of metal in those days. Alas, things cannot stay the same forever. I will never forget the day I heard Enter Sandman. I knew it was over for me then. Bummer.

 

[El Mariachi]

I too saw them on this tour. Awesome show! Queensryche opened.
Similar fond memories as all have shared here. It all started to go down hill with the release of the BLACK album. I too felt that sense of resentment and betrayal. Funny how much allegiance we put into our favorite bands.

 

[neilli]

If there is little love left for Metallica on the part of many (myself included), it's because of a sense of betrayal. At the time of this video, they were the undisputed heavyweights, the kings of metal...

Absolutely this. I like the black album (though it sounds pretty dated now IMO) but they're a great example of a band that seems intent on shitting all over its legacy. Plus, back at this time, they'd done no live videos, there was no youtube, no information overload and most importantly, no 'some kind of monster'...

 

[thegame]

If the black album itself wasn't enough to destroy the Metallica vibe, then the supporting tour surely did. My beefs :

- black album tour featured a LARS ULRICH DRUM SOLO ?!? Enough said.
- a 30 minute audience sing-a-long circus sideshow to Seek'n'Destroy
- Kirk actually played his guitar during previous solo spots. Here he wiped his ass with it (literally) and dragged it up and down the risers.
- only played 1/3rd of Master of Puppets, infuriatingly sequeing into Wherever I may roam.
- arenas were packed with jocks and others who wouldn't be caught dead seeing them 2 years earlier on AJFA tour. I saw both tours and the vibe was 100 % different.

 

[JamesPeters]

I saw that 89 tour twice. I was a senior in HS and we were so jacked up for that show. I waited all night long to get tickets. We ended up with 5th row center. Took my little brother to his first show. Great memories for sure. They were great then. They were cool and messed around with jamming a bit onstage. They were the kings of metal in those days. Alas, things cannot stay the same forever. I will never forget the day I heard Enter Sandman. I knew it was over for me then. Bummer.

+1

Actually I was in denial for a while with the black album. After a week or so I started looking for other heavy bands to listen to, which I wasn't aware of at the time.

I too saw them on this tour. Awesome show! Queensryche opened.
Similar fond memories as all have shared here. It all started to go down hill with the release of the BLACK album. I too felt that sense of resentment and betrayal. Funny how much allegiance we put into our favorite bands.

The Cult opened here in Winnipeg. Yeah. The Cult.

I wasn't strictly a metalhead, so I could appreciate The Cult. I wasn't pumped for them, and neither was most of the audience. They shouldn't have been surprised since most people were there for Metallica, and some of them were half expecting Queensryche as the opener (which never happened here).

So The Cult played a song...then the singer would bitch and moan about not getting enough attention/praise/applause, although to be fair we were being nice to a band we really didn't want to hear at the time. Then they'd play another song, lather rinse repeat. At one point the singer said something like "you guys are lame". I was in the front row center, just before the pit. I pointed at the singer and yelled out at the top of my lungs "fuck you!" Within a few seconds everyone rushed the pit and I nearly got trampled lol. It was a madhouse, people screaming and booing at them, trying to claw their way to the stage. And I got to think "Hey, I started that..." half in pride and half in utter fear for my life.

Oh yeah and the Cult left the stage immediately at that point lol. They got the point.

If the black album itself wasn't enough to destroy the Metallica vibe, then the supporting tour surely did. My beefs :

- black album tour featured a LARS ULRICH DRUM SOLO ?!? Enough said.
- a 30 minute audience sing-a-long circus sideshow to Seek'n'Destroy
- Kirk actually played his guitar during previous solo spots. Here he wiped his ass with it (literally) and dragged it up and down the risers.
- only played 1/3rd of Master of Puppets, infuriatingly sequeing into Wherever I may roam.
- arenas were packed with jocks and others who wouldn't be caught dead seeing them 2 years earlier on AJFA tour. I saw both tours and the vibe was 100 % different.

Yeah that sums it up for me too.

I love how the jocks were all "wooo hooo" during Enter Sandman. Then something from Master of Puppets played, and they literally looked lost. Yes, the black album with the snake is the only album they ever made!

 

[Kanekutter]

I still don't really get the Metallica hate. Had they kept re-making MoP or AJFA type albums I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you guys would be saying "Metallica used to be awesome but then they made the same album for the last 25 years". Bands grow, tastes change.

Actually if I had to try and define what the issue really is here, I'm betting it's more along the lines of the whole punk-type feelings...Metallica used to be "our" band and now they are mainstream so they suck.

Sandman is a great song, overplayed but it's a great song...King Nothing is a great song...Fuel is a great song, also overplayed but still...Whiskey in the Jar is a hell of a cover...The Day That Never Comes is freaking epic...they turn out great stuff at pretty much every turn. Is everything a home run? No, but find me a band that nails it every single time over a 30 year career. It's just not possible.

If you don't like the songs then you don't like them...I'm not here to try and sway any opinions. But I think the whole "they betrayed us" mindset is a cop out and pretty weak at its core.

 

[JamesPeters]

I still don't really get the Metallica hate. Had they kept re-making MoP or AJFA type albums I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you guys would be saying "Metallica used to be awesome but then they made the same album for the last 25 years". Bands grow, tastes change.

Actually if I had to try and define what the issue really is here, I'm betting it's more along the lines of the whole punk-type feelings...Metallica used to be "our" band and now they are mainstream so they suck.

Sandman is a great song, overplayed but it's a great song...King Nothing is a great song...Fuel is a great song, also overplayed but still...Whiskey in the Jar is a hell of a cover...The Day That Never Comes is freaking epic...they turn out great stuff at pretty much every turn. Is everything a home run? No, but find me a band that nails it every single time over a 30 year career. It's just not possible.

If you don't like the songs then you don't like them...I'm not here to try and sway any opinions. But I think the whole "they betrayed us" mindset is a cop out and pretty weak at its core.

I don't think I was "betrayed". At the time I did but I was young, and times were different among the fans. Also you couldn't just go the Internet and look for other music which was heavy; you had to try to find it at (gasp) RECORD STORES. So either you already knew which bands you liked or you had to special order something which was "that heavy" (since most of that stuff wasn't carried here anyway, unless it were a more mainstream band and Metallica classified as one of them).

I told someone this yesterday about it: it's easy to look back at the black album now and say it's good for Metallica. But compared to AJFA and MoP, I mean, it was pretty different. Draw a line on a graph of "heaviness" starting from RTL, through MoP, through AJFA, and the black album wouldn't be on that line at all. It'd be well beneath. There was an expectation they set up in their fans. It's the truth. They weren't obligated to do another "heavy" or "even heavier" album, but we (fans) expected it for good reason.

 

[thegame]

Yeah that sums it up for me too.

I love how the jocks were all "wooo hooo" during Enter Sandman. Then something from Master of Puppets played, and they literally looked lost.

Yeah, they were all pumped up from the 15 min "we're going to kick your asses" backstage pep talk videos (delivered shirtless with full rock star bravado) they broadcast to the live audience in lieu of opening bands. I can't believe I forgot to mention this sickening, embarrassing element of the black album tour.

 

[stanbog]

I told someone this yesterday about it: it's easy to look back at the black album now and say it's good for Metallica. But compared to AJFA and MoP, I mean, it was pretty different. Draw a line on a graph of "heaviness" starting from RTL, through MoP, through AJFA, and the black album wouldn't be on that line at all. It'd be well beneath. There was an expectation they set up in their fans. It's the truth. They weren't obligated to do another "heavy" or "even heavier" album, but we (fans) expected it for good reason.

I agree with the expectation thing - absolutely the same thing happened to Pantera and they did succeed in this (I guess up to The Great Southern Trendkill).
But, to be honest, the first time I heard Sad But True, King Nothing and My Friend of Misery I thought this is heavy as fuck. What WAS else was the production and maybe that is where Metallica drifted away from their starting roots. To them it probably was an evolution, but obviously not to the fans.

That said, Garage Inc. is awesome And some songs on Death Magnetic are awesome too.

 

[JerEvil]

Let's make this a little easier shall we?

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say betrayed as that's pretty dramatic. Lol
What I would say is this... You begin to like a band because they have a particular sound that suits your tastes.

You continue to enjoy their work and then as soon as they so popular that they are mainstream, they all of a sudden change their music.

At that point, you either change with them or you get annoyed because your great band is making in your subjective taste... Shitty music. Now you say fuck you to that band as they continue to make albums that are farther and farther away from when you knew them.

 

[thiswaythatway]

The first time I ever saw them was when they opened for Ozzy on the ultimate sin tour here in New York. I was very fortunate to see Cliff that night and I remember it well still.

The odd transition was when they went off stage and blew the place down, to then having Ozzy come out in his corny silvery glittered overcoat..

Needless to say they completely blew him away imo and I also think they were at the top of their game then. I know everyone considers the black album the top of their game, but to me that was their decline. I'll go as far as justice but it ends for me there. There is that footage from Long Island two days prior that I often watch because it takes me back to that night. Man they kicked all kinds of ass back then, that's the Metallica I'll always remember.

I went to that show as well, hardly remember it. But I also saw them as Monsters Of Rock in either 1988 or 89 at Giants stadium, we were right up front. Kingdom Clone came on first and all the Metallica fans gave them a real hard time. It seemed like the entire crowd was there for Metallica, they did put on a great set. Dokken came on after them and the place was like a funeral, felt bad for Dokken. The crows woke back up a little for the Scorps. Van Hagars set....meh.

 

[JamesPeters]

I "got over" the "Metallica change" a few years after the black album was released, and could appreciate some of their current stuff at the time. They weren't one of the heaviest bands in my library anymore but I didn't care. Some of their stuff sounded great to me. I generally didn't like Load onward though, until Death Magnetic.

But then again...generally speaking, the "newer stuff" (after AJFA) that I did like, when they played it live it didn't go over as well for me. It seemed half the appeal of their "newer stuff" was their production. In 1989 they could get away with a sound which was considered "gross" in the Winnipeg arena (horrible acoustics), but the material worked well regardless. Even some of my favorite stuff since the black album (Fuel etc.) when performed live sounded...I don't know, drawn out and halfassed. I hate saying that because I used to listen to the whole song And Justice For All, lol. That's one pretty drawn out song.

So I saw the band as capable of producing songs I liked on an album, but didn't want to see them perform those "newer songs" live. If I heard one on the radio that I liked, it was fine. But live, I had no interest anymore.

Dokken came on after them and the place was like a funeral,

It was the kiss of death.

 

[tak]

I completely gave up after Master. But I did manage to see them half a dozen times MOP and before. Even drank with them for a couple of hours once and another time like 15-20 minutes (small town and it was the jeans/t-shirts era Kill 'em and RTL - just some normal dudes). Absolutely loved them through MOP even though I really leaned towards listening to bands/artists with lead players I liked. To me, RTL will always be by far the best thing Kirk ever did - playing other people's solos. He was also a huge reason they became unbearable to me.

 

[CaseyCor]

I just watched this exact video yesterday. So good. I had this on a cassette when I was a kid. I collected a shit ton of Metallica bootlegs on cassette/CD/digital back in the day.

I met James, Kirk, and Rob in 2004 (MetClub meet up before a show) and they were all really cool, nice people. Signed some stuff for me, hung out and chatted for 20 minutes or so. I was in Jr. High, but they treated me like any other adult fan. We chatted about guitar gear. It was a lot of fun. I would really like to go see them live again. They get a lot of hate around here (some of it is well deserved), but they can still put on a show. Lars is embarrassing to listen to/watch, but James is still great, Kirk makes it LOOK like he's trying at least, and Rob is a lot of fun to watch too.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I dig Load and Reload too. Load is pretty solid overall. Reload has some garbage on it, but there are some good tracks too. After I watched the Philadelphia set, I watched Cunning Stunts and S&M. Both of those shows are killer! I don't like the whole fake accident thing in Cunning Stunts (not nearly as cool as Lady Justice in 89), but overall that show is really good. I had forgotten they played The Memory Remains during that set (Cunning Stunts was done before Reload), and the lyrics weren't finished. It's not that the lyrics are different from the record, it's more like James hadn't written any verses yet

I've got a bootleg of Metallica playing Ride The Lighting in like 2006 or something, and James straight up sings "I forget the fucking words". It's dumb, but it makes me laugh every time.

EDIT: I found it , haha It was 2004. "Is this a crazy dream, or is it just a dream?"

 

[BrentSSL]

If the black album itself wasn't enough to destroy the Metallica vibe, then the supporting tour surely did. My beefs :

- black album tour featured a LARS ULRICH DRUM SOLO ?!? Enough said.
- a 30 minute audience sing-a-long circus sideshow to Seek'n'Destroy
- Kirk actually played his guitar during previous solo spots. Here he wiped his ass with it (literally) and dragged it up and down the risers.
- only played 1/3rd of Master of Puppets, infuriatingly sequeing into Wherever I may roam.
- arenas were packed with jocks and others who wouldn't be caught dead seeing them 2 years earlier on AJFA tour. I saw both tours and the vibe was 100 % different.

I have the binge and purge live shit videos and you are totally righ and can see it all through the crowds if you pay attention but I still enjoy watching both on a regular basis and I enjoy Lars drum solo since he jams with Hetfield and he was pretty good I thought