Metallica

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate March 2002

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Zeb Kirby English 106 November 30, 2000 The band was born in the early 80s and is still in the making. The rock band has had many hits including some Grammy award winners. The group has had its up and downs as a band. I saw them in concert three years ago in Cincinnati. You can see Metallica in concert about any place in the world. I did this research on Metallica and the band's history because I don't know that much on them. There are a few things that are interesting about each of the group members and their records.

Clifford Lee Burton was born in San Francisco, California on February 10, 1962. Clifford was the son of Jan and Ray Burton, two San Francisco hippies. Cliff got his image, ideas, and attitude from his parents. He liked to hang out with his friends and family. Cliff was very happy, out going kind of guy, basically, because he had his own style.

He liked to drink beer, smoke pot, etc. Cliff was a very unique person. He drove a 1972 Volks Wageon station wagon, wore bellbottoms, studied piano, and read H.P. Love-craft. The time that Cliff had, he went to a junior college. Burton grew up around San Francisco with Faith No More guitarist, Jim Martin. People say that Burton was a cross between Clint Eastwood and E.F. Hutton ("Cliff"�).

Cliff was recognized in August of 1982. Lars and James initially spotted Cliff during a live Trauma show at LA's Troubadour. Lars and James were amazed by the way Burton played the bass. Metallica was bound to get Cliff to join the band. Burton presented the LA station band with an ultimatum, "˜If Metallica relocated to San Francisco, he would join them (qtd. in "Cliff's"�). With all their problems with bass, Metallica relocated to San Francisco, where they were better recognized than in LA. The first jam that the band did together was in the house of soundman Mark Witaker, a studio setup in his garage. The group recorded a four-track demo. On March 5, 1983, Cliff played for the first time with Metallica, at the Stone, in San Francisco. This was the beginning of three marvelous Metalli-years. Cliff worked hard to bring Metallica to the top. After Cliff joined the band in 1982, he instantly made a name for himself with his ultimate "wind-mill"� style of thrashing on stage, his hair sprung out in all directions, and his unfamiliar image of outdated clothing. Offstage, Cliff was a very calm person, a total opposite of his head banging on stage. Cliff had a great sense of humor, as well as his bass and his stage presence.

Metallica was climbing to the top, as well as Cliff. Cliff was a wild man on stage: he picked up a pear that he just ducked beneath and took two bites out of it and hurled it back into the crowd. It looked like Metallica was going to be one of the top rock bands in 1986. After all, their third LP, Master of Puppets, had taken the music world by storm ("Cliff's"�). During Metallica's successful Master of Puppets world tour, something bad happened-catastrophically bad; Mr. Clifford Burton died in a bus accident at the age of 24. He was a very educated musician. His ashes were scattered at various spots around the bay area, including the Maxwell Ranch House area.

Kirk Lee Hammett was born in San Francisco, California on November 18, 1962. Kirk grew up in the Bay area town of El Sobrante. He began playing the guitar at the age of 15. His first guitar was a Montgomery Ward catalog special and his first amp consisted of a four-inch speaker in a shoebox. Kirk has had a number of guitars but the Flying V is still part of his collection, and at times appears on Metallica's albums. On April 1, 1983, Kirk receives a phone call from Metallica. "We just fired our lead guitar player, and we need a new one. Interested?"� (qtd. in "Hammett"�).

Things didn't quite happen that fast, but Kirk did perform his first show with Metallica fifteen days later in New Jersey. Hammett's performance brought Metallica into an era of more melodic and controlled guitar work. Kirk has been with the band since that day in 1983, a month after he and his former band, Exodus, opened for Metallica. Oddly enough, the band didn't ask Kirk to join until the recording of Kill "˜Em All. After the recording of Kill "˜Em All, and the tour, Kirk took lessons from Joe Satriani and learned the merits of jazz, blues, classical, and Hendrix. Kirk resides in the Bay area with his wife Lani and dog Darla ("Hammett"�).

Jason Curtis Newsted was born in Battle Creek, Michigan on March 4, 1963. Even though Jason was born in Battle Creek, he was raised in Niles. When Jason was 14, his family packed up their bags and moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Now, Newsted lived within five miles of the Gibson Guitar Company. Jason's reasons for picking up bass started and ended with Kiss' Gene Simmons. Newsted could play his father's piano faster than the normal tempo; this was where he got his roots of "˜speed metal.' At first, Jason struggled at bass; but he picked the instrument up again couple years later when he acknowledged his first bass guitar. Jason saved up enough money for a better bass, and then he joined a local band Gangster. Unfortunately, he quit high school just three months before graduation. He spent most of his time with the Gangster guys. He would later on receive his GED.

In 1981, Jason left Michigan for California; but only made it as far as Phoenix, Arizona. Jason found a job at a Subway sandwich shop in Phoenix. He would later hook up with a drummer known as Kelly David-Smith. He jammed for a while with Paradox, but didn't amount too to much. Jason eventually moved in with David-Smith in Scottsdale, Arizona. There they gathered up some guitarists and created a band called Dogz. After a few changes to the band, the name was changed to Flotsam & Jetsam. Jason was the chief songwriter, bass player, band manager, fan manager, and lyricist. The band released one album, before Jason played his last gig with the band on Halloween night in 1986 ("Newsted"�).

For his audition for Metallica, Jason learned all of Burton's parts, but he also added some things of his own to show what kind of bass player he was made of. The audition was strung out to the next day, before he was asked, "Do you want a job?"� (qtd. in "Newsted"�). His response was a yell that nearly scared off the other people in the bar. Newsted's ascent to Metallica was not easy. Though Metallica was his favorite band, he proved himself capable. Jason filled some big shoes and has definitely made his mark on Metallica.

James Allen Hetfield was born in Los Angeles, California on August 3, 1963. His father was a truck drive and his mother was a light opera singer. Hetfield began at the age of nine with piano lessons, and then banging on his brother David's drums than to the guitar. James' "tortured soul"� lyrics come from the roots of his family's Christian Science religious beliefs. With his guitar in hand, Hetfield strived to become a rock star in his first band, Obsession. Obsession was made up of the Veloz brothers on bass and drums, and Jim Arnold on guitar. After Obsession broke up, James and his buddies, Dave Mars, and Ron McGovney, continued to jam together.

James joined a second band called Phantom Lord. After moving to La Brea, he attended Brea Olinda High School. Hugh Tunner was discovered when Hetfield saw him carrying a flying V guitar around at school, and shortly after, Phantom Lord was born. The band stuck together up to graduation, when James moved back to Downey, and they changed their name to Leather Charm. The members of the band were made up of the old members of Phantom Lord, except the addition of Ron McGovney. The band had more of a physical approach to music. The band managed to produce a demo, and a few parties, but then the band began to fall apart. With Tanner and Mulligan leaving, the band was forced to quit.

After the departure, Hugh Tanner introduced James to Lars Ulrich (a member of Metallica). The breaking up of Leather Charm led to the creation of Metallica, represented by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. From the very start, James has been the songwriter in Metallica, from the riffs to the lyrics. When he isn't writing, singing, or playing, he indulges in hunting and various sports. He has recently picked up snowboarding after his miscues in skateboarding. Today, James collects guitars that were manufactured in 1963, the year he was born. You can find James today in his garage working on hot rods. He owns a Chevy Bel Air that he built himself. He is currently married, and has two children.

Lars Ulrich was born in Gentofte, Denmark, on December 26, 1963. Ulrich was barely 10 years old when he attended a Deep Purple concert. There he learned what music could be. Lars's father managed a small jazz club and was involved in Europe's jazz scene. Dexter Gordon, the legendary sax player, is even Lars's godfather. It was Ritchie Blackmore and Deep Purple that changed the world for Lars. He purchased their Fireball album the next day because he was so thrilled about their music. At the age of 13, he convinced his grandmother to buy him a drum kit. Music and drums took a backseat to tennis, his father's profession. Lars was ranked as a junior player in his native Denmark when the Ulrichs' moved to Newport Beach, California. Lars wasn't as notable as a tennis player as he was back in Denmark Since tennis became less important, Lars fell into the Southern California habits: sex, drugs, and rock n' roll"¦lots of rock n' roll. His passion for music began to grow now that he began to trade tapes to obtain his beloved European metal. Lars flew to England in June of 1981 to see his favorite band Diamond Head perform a show. Lars is friends' back at home Brian Slagel was looking for bands to record tracks for an album. Lars secured himself a spot, but had no band. Before going to England, Lars had performed with James Hetfield, a singer and guitar player. The performance had a share of problems. Lars's timekeeping wasn't solid and the cymbals fell victim to gravity a bit to often. But now that he had a spot on an album, he had bait. Hetfield took the bait, and Metallica was born. Music now shares the front seat with Lars's wife and child ("Ulrich"�).

The most compatible metal band of the late 80's and early 90's was formed in 1981 in California, USA, by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield. The two recorded their first demo, No Life Til' Leather, with Loyd Grand (guitar) who was replaced by David Mustaine in 1982. John Warner and Ron McGovney had a brief expenditure with the band, and at the end of 1982 Cliff Burton joined the band. Mustaine departed and was replaced by Kirk Hammett. Hammett played his first concert with Metallica on April 16, 1983. The Ulrich, Hetfield, Burton, and Hammett combination remained until disaster struck. In the small hours of September 27, 1986, Metallica's bus overturned in Sweden, killing Cilff Burton. During those four years, the band put thrash metal on the map with the aggression and exuberance of their debut, Kill "˜Em All. The band elected to continue after the tragedy of Burton. The band recruited Jason Newsted to fill Cliff's spot. Newsted's first concert with the band was on November 8, 1986. Hetfield and Ulrich remained responsible for Metallica's lyrics and musical direction. Their first recording together was "Garage Days Revisited"� ("The Band Bio"�).

Now with Jason established, Metallica went back to record their forth full-length album, And Justice For All. The album was released in August 1988 and reached #6 on the US charts; it also received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal/Hard Rock album. The band took its music back to the road and toured in all parts of the world. And Justice For All produced two US singles, and the band's very first venture into music video for the song "One"�. They won a Grammy for the single.

In 1991, Metallica released the "black album."� With their new producer Bob Rock, the album consisted of shorter songs. It wasn't long before the "black album"� went straight to number one all over the world, and stayed there for many weeks. The album sprung and so did a number of videos and singles. The album remains Metallica's most successful album to date. The group won several MTV awards, including a Grammy award. The band toured and toured all over the world.

Five years after their spectacular "black album"�, the next album Load saw the light. It was the longest album of Metallica's to date. The album was produced by Bob Rock as well as Re Load in 1997. With the completition and subsequent touring for Load and Re Load and quite possibly the end of this phase of Metallica, it's natural only to become somewhat introspective. Lyrically the Load album reflected many of the members of Metallica, it comes to a time to look into what made this band ("The Band Bio"�).

Metallica was and is very much a garage band. Whether it's in Jason's chophouse, Lars's dungeon, Kirks' basement, or on stage in front of 50,000 Metallica fans, the band always plays that song that helped them at somewhere along the road. Metallica lives on today as one of the most famous rock bands. Their music can be bought in stores all across America or you may catch them in concert.