Index
 
 

Sid 3. Metallica

Sid 3. Cliff Burton

Sid 6. History

Sid 11. Biographies
  11.James Hetfield
  12.Jason Newstead
  13.Lars Ulrich
 13.Kirk Hammet

Sid 14. Taking their time
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

MetallicA
 

Metallica has been releasing CD's since 1982 with the release of "Kill 'em All". "Kill 'em All" sounded a lot like punk. Their second release, in 1983, "Ride The Lightning" was the the first metal CD to feature an accoustic guitar as an opener. Many bands followed this trend. Many favourites on this CD are For Whom the Bell Tolls and Fade To Black. With the release of Master of Puppets in 1986, Metallica finally went big. Favourite songs on this CD are Master of Puppets, Sanitarium, and Orion. In 1988, Metallica once again impressed with the release of  ”And Justic For All”. The song One is possibly the best, and most meaningful Metallica song ever written and it is on this CD. In three years, Metallica released another CD. Called "The Black Album", "The Snake", or "Metallica", this CD had a more modern tune to it. In 1996, 5 years later, MetallicA tried a new sound with Load. It had a more alternative sound to it.
 

Clifford Lee Burton
2-10-62........9-27-86
 

Back in late 1982, it was decided that bassist Ron McGovney wasn't really pulling his weight in Metallica. One of Metallica's peer bands up north making the rounds about this time was Trauma. In addition to being a favorite Bay-area club circuit draw, the band was gaining recognition through their one-song demo, featuring "Such a Shame," that eventually was transferred to vinyl on Metal Massacre II. More noteworthy, however, Trauma possessed within its ranks "the most headbanging bassist" Lars and James had ever seen - Cliff Burton. They initially spotted him during a live Trauma show at LA's Troubador.

Cliff, who grew up with Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin near San Francisco, was a cross between Clint Eastwood and E.F. Hutton: Didn't say much, but when he did, people listened. Especially Hetfield and Ulrich, who were puppies with peach fuzz and acne when they relocated Metallica to the Bay Area in 1983 to be closer to Cliff. Cliff Burton had flavor: he wore bell-bottoms, read H.P. Lovecraft, studied piano, and even went to junior college. He drove a 1972 VW stationwagon. He was the son of Jan and Ray Burton, two San Francisco hippies and he still had those hippie ideals; he liked his beer, liked his pot or whatever, liked to chill out, and he was really laid-back, relaxed and happy.

He lived with his family in San Francisco, and for three and a half years he worked hard to take Metallica to the top. After replacing Ron McGovney in late 1982, Cliff instantly made a name for himself with his classic "wind- mill" style of of thrashing on stage, with his hair flying out in all directions, and with his outdated, completely "unfashionable" image. With his hair hanging straight down from him head, he seemed eternally clad in a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a faded denim jacket. If it was cold, he wore a flannel shirt underneath.

Offstage, he was the ultimate laid-back Californian, a total opposite from his wild, aggressive onstage attack. His sense of humor was great, as were his bass solos and everything about his stage presence. He was the most visual of all the band onstage, he would just go wild. The best example of how cool and unflappable Cliff was happened in the summer of 1985 at their Castle Donnington Festival appearance (August 17, 1985). Having ducked beneath a flying pear which ended up embedding itself in his bass bin, Burton coolly sauntered over to his stack, picked up the pear, took two bites out of it and hurled it back into the crowd.

For a while there it really looked as if 1986 was gonna be Metallica's year. After all, their third LP, Master of Puppets, had taken the music world by storm and, in doing so, had made the band virtual mega-stars in the eyes of the metal-doting public. Metallica had finally "made it", and it seemed that nothing could halt their rise to even greater glory. Then, during the European leg of the group's phenomenally successful Master of Puppets world tour, something went wrong - catastrophically wrong.
Newly back from their UK tour, Metallica had headed once more for Scandinavia where they'd played three shows at the Olympen in Lund (September 24, 1986), the Skedsmohallen (September 25,1986) in Oslo and at the Sonahallen in Stockholm (September 26, 1986).
It was approaching dawn on Saturday, the 27th of September 1986, and Metallica's two tour buses were making their way along a road that lies somewhere between Stockholm and Copenhagen. Apart from these vehicles, the route was deserted- there was no one else traveling at that hour of the morning. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, just before 6:15 a. m., one of the coaches turned violently to its right and started to slide down the wrong side of the road. It was out of control, and they crashed
The bus came to a halt some 60 feet further up the road. By this time, though, the vehicle was on its side and lying in a ditch by the side of the road near Ljungby.
During the unavoidable confusion that followed, the majority of the bus passengers managed get free of the wreckage. Those that survived included three of the four members of the band.  The survivors had been extremely lucky, as they'd all somehow managed to escape with little more than minor injuries and shock.
The police arrived immediately and arrested the driver as a matter of routine, but later released him without charging him after further investigation revealed that the cause of the crash was black ice on a nasty bend in the road.
Unfortunately, however, there had been one fatality in the accident. The deceased individual turned out to be one of the group. So, tragically, in the short space of those few dreadful seconds on that road, Metallica's dreamlike existence was suddenly transformed into a hellish nightmare..their 24 year-old bass player, Cliff Burton, was dead.
The group dealt with their fury in the manner they were most familiar with: drinking. James broke two hotel windows and screamed, venting his rage. Kirk and his guitar tech, John Marshall, were so shaken that they left the light on in their room that night. On September 29th, James, Lars and Kirk returned to the United States.
Even today, nine years after Cliff's death, Jason Newsted is considered "Cliff's replacement." Sadly for him, he will never truly be accepted by those who knew the band when Cliff was around.

"Cliff was so completely honest to himself and the people around him. He hated all this being-put-on-a-pedestal bullshit."
Lars Ulrich, 1986

"To this day, I think of him every day."
Kirk Hammett, 1988

"He was a great and very special talent.....Cliff's solos were absolutely brilliant."
Jason Newsted, 1988

"He was a wild, hippie-ish, acid-taking, bell-bottom-wearing guy. He meant business, and you couldn't fuck around with him. I wanted to get that respect that he had. We gave him shit about his bell-bottoms everyday. He didn't care. "This is what I wear. Fuck you." He loved music. He was really intellectual but very to the point. He taught me alot about attitude."
James Hetfield, 1993

"I wasn't too angry in the beginning. I was obviously grieving, but the anger started setting in when I realized that it's not new that people in rock-n-roll die, but usually it's self-inflicted in terms of excessive drink or drug abuse. He had nothing to do with it. It's so useless. Completely useless."
Lars Ulrich, January 1987

"The only person who was able to figure out a time and write it on a piece of paper was Cliff. He had an immense knowledge of timing, musical harmonies and music theory in general."
Kirk - 1987

"Cliff's taken classes in school on music theory, things like mixing harmonies together. I think he took a junior college course. "
James - 1986

"I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, 'Don't fucking do that!' I already wanted to kill the guy. I don't know if he was drunk or if he hit some ice. All I knew was, he was driving and Cliff wasn't alive anymore."
James Hetfield -1993
 

History
 

Febuary 10, 1962 - Cliff Burton, bassist on Metallica's first three albums(Kill Em All,
Ride The Lighting, Master Of Puppets) is born.

November 18, 1962 - Kirk Lee Hammett born in San Francisco, California

March 4, 1963 - Jason Curtis Newstead, Burton's replacement, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan

August 3, 1963 - James Alan Hetfield is born in Los Angeles

December 26, 1963 - Lars Ulrich is born in Copenhagen, Denmark

Early 1981 - Lars places an add in a South California paper called the Recycler looking for
musicians to play with. James, who has a classified ad of his own on the same page, gets
together with Lars for a jam session, after which the two become firm friends. Lars plays all of
his records to James, who starts really getting into the British metal sound, and the
duo decide to form a band together. Desperate for a band name, the pair dismiss all the
options like Grinder, Blitzter and Red Vette, and settle on Metallica, which Lars steals
from a fanzine editor friend.

January 1982 - Metallica aquires Dave Mustaine, a fast talking guitarist friend of James, who
is replying to an add in a music newspaper. Around the same time, the band enlist the help of
Hetfields roomate, Ron McGovney, to play bass.

April 1982 - Metallica (Hetfield, Ulrich, Mustaine, and McGovney) record a four-song demo
on their faithful four-track recorder. Featuring a re-recorded version of "Hit the Light,"as
well as the classics, "The Mechanix" (later reworked and retitled"The Four Horsemen"),
"Jump in the Fire" and "Motorbreath", the demo spreads like wildfire and sows the seeds
for the coming revolution set by the groups next demo.

August 1982 - San Francisco's Trauma, featuring bassist Cliff Burton, play the
Whiskey-A-Go-Go. In attendance are James and Lars, who become so impressed with his bass playing
 that they immediately decides to get him to join Metallica, an offer that
he initially refuses. It isn't until the end of the year that Cliff finally agrees to become a member
of the band, but only under the condition that the band moves to San Francisco.

November 29th, 1982 - Metallica does their first headlining gig in the Bay Area. Opening the
show were locals, Exodus, who at the time featured 20-year old Kirk Hammett.

November 30th, 1982 - Metallica perform their final concert with Ron McGovney, at
San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens.

Late Febuary, 1983 - The band, now officially featuring Cliff Burton on bass, record their
fourth demo, a two-tracker containing the cuts "No Remorse" and "Whiplash."

March 5th, 1983 - Metallica, accompanied by Mark Whitaker as road manager/soundman,
make the three-thousand-mile journey to the East Coast. During the trip, many arguments
occur between Dave and the rest of the band, with Mustaine's alcohol drinking often at the root
of the problem.

April 1983 - While in New York, Lars and James make the decision to boot Mustaine from
the band. Following a series of gigs with Vandenburg and The Rods on the East Coast, Dave is
deposited on a Greyhound bus and sent home to San Francisco, while replacement guitarist,
Kirk Hammett of Exodus, is flown in to the fill.

May 10-27, 1983 - The band enter Barrett Alley Studios in Rochester, New York, to record
their legendary debut album,"Kill 'Em All".

July 27 - September 3, 1983 - Metallica embark on their first-ever tour, a double package
featuring Raven, which kicks off in New Brunswick and ends in San Francisco with
a sold-out gig at the Stone.

November 18 - December 20, 1984 - Metallica launch their first major European tour
 in Paris, France, and end it at the Lyceum in London.

Early 1985 - The first three and a half months of the year are spent touring the States, first
as co-headliners with W.A.S.P. (Armored Saint supported), and then as headliners.

December 27, 1985 - Metallica completes work on"Master Of Puppets" and head back
to California

New Years Eve, 1986 - They play in the Civic Center in San Francisco, alongside
Megadeth (the first, and only time the two bands have shared the stage), Metal Church
and Exodus.

March, 1986 - "Master Of Puppets" finally gets released, followed by a US arena as
support to Ozzy Osbourne, beginning on March 27.

June 26, 1986 - Shortly before a gig in Evansville, James breaks a wrist trying to skateboard
down a hill. The gig is cancelled, and the other dates on the tour are done with James purely on
vocals, with his wrist in plaster, and Kirk's guitar roadie, John Marshall (now with
Metal Church), on guitar.

September 27, 1986 - On the way to Copenhagen, Metallica's tour bus overturns, throwing
Cliff Burton through the windscreen and killing him instantly.

October, 1986 - The rest of the band returns to America to consider their future. Within a
couple of weeks, the group starts auditioning new bassists. Among the favorites to fill the
vacant slot are Armored Saint four-stringer Joey Vera and Laaz Rockit and Willy Lange, but
in the end, it is Phoenix resident Jason Newstead, from hot up 'n' coming act Flotsam and
Jetsam, that is chosen for the position.

December 4, 1987 - Metallica issue Cliff 'Em All, a video collection of bootleg and
unprofessional recordings shot during 1982-1986, while Cliff was still with the band. Within
only two months of its release, the video is certified both gold and platinum. By the end of
1988, it becomes the year's top-selling music video.

January 19, 1988 - Metallica officially begin recording their fourth full-length effort, to be
titled  "And Justice For All".

July, 1988 - "Master Of Puppets" is officially certified platinum, commemorating sales of
over 1,000,000 units in the US.

September 5, 1988 - "And Justice For All" is released.

Early October, 1990 - With 12 songs ready to be recorded, Metallica enter One On One
Studios in Los Angeles (where . . ."And Justice For All" was laid down) with producer Bob
Rock to begin work on the "Metallica" album.

August 12, 1991 - "Metallica" is finally released. Within a week of its release,
over 600,000 albums are sold in the US alone, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart,
where itremains for a full month.

August 17, 1991 - Metallica performs at the UK's Castle Donnington festival (alongside
Motley Crue, AC/DC, and Queesryche), signaling the start of the band's world tour in support
of the new album.

Summer 1992 - Metallica hits the stage with Guns 'N' Roses.

October 1994 - Ulrich and Hetfield return to the rehearsal studio to begin producing rough
tunes for what will become, nearly two years later, "Load".

December 14, 1995 - Metallica take a break from recording at the Plant and fly to LA to
honor Motorhead head Lemmy at his birthday bash. They play as "The Lemmys,"
and perform a set of Motorhead covers dressed as Lemmy himself.

March, 1996 - Since its release, "Metallica", or "The Black Album", has racked up
 

June 1996 - Metallica begins the"Lollapalooza tour" with Soundgarden, The Ramones,
Rancid, and others.

Late 1996 - 1997 - Metallica begins The "Pour Touring Me" Tour

November - 1997 - The new record Reload will show up.
 

Biographies
 

JAMES HETFIELD  (Rhythm guitar/vocals)

James Hetfield was born on August 6, 1963 in Los Angeles, California. Some of his influences are, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, and Motorhead. His jobs before his singing career were, a janitor, and a sticker factory worker. James had a band before Metallica, and it was called "Obsession", he was also in a funky band called "Spastic Children" which included most of the Metallica members. James liked to keep to himself, a quiet kid who was into sports. His older step-brother played the drums in a local band. This geared James to turn towards music. In his junior years, James and his family all moved to LaBrea, California. This is where James started out with his guitar playing. He played in the "high school party band" called Obsession, playing mostly Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Around this time, he got hooked up with Ron McGovney, who was soon to be metallica's first bass player. Then after, James got to meet Lars Ulrich through a newspaper called the "Recycler". This is when Metallica was truely first formed. James found himself playing the guitar instead of singing so that he could concentrate on guitar. They started to look for a frontman, but it never worked out. James continued to do both singing and rhythm guitar playing.

Musical Intrests

Fav Musicians:   Phil Lynott, Glenn Danzig, and Alan Collins.
Fav Bands:   Thin Lizzy.
Fav Songs:   Honesty.
Musical Influences:    Diamond Head, Black Sabbath, MotorHead

Other Info

Hobbies:  Hunting and Drinking.
Sports:   Football.
Fav Movie:   The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
Fav TV:   Andy Griffith and Police Squad.
Fav Actor:   Clint Eastwood.
Fav Actress:   Amber Lynn.
Fav Book:   Dictionary.
Fav Food:   Mexican.
Turn On:
Turn Off:   Spandex
Former Jobs:   Mover and various factory jobs.
 

JASON NEWSTED  (Bass player)

Jason Newsted was born on March 4th, 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. His musical influences are the bass players in the following bands, Kiss, Rush, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Yes. His first jobs before becoming a demonic bass player for Metallica was being a busboy and a dishwasher. Jason had a band before he came to Metallica, it was called "Flotsom & Jetsom". Jason got his first bass at age 13, played with it, then got bored of it. After 5 years, he took took it out again, liked it better, then started to play seriously. He quit school to join his first band "Flotsom & Jetsom". He played in clubs and concerts and released a record with the band. Then along came James , Lars and Kirk looking for a bass player to take their available bass player position. They asked Jason to try out, mainly jam and spend time with them. Then the big news came, James and kirk asked Jason if he would join Metallica. Jason was so happy that in responce to their offer, he screamed at the top of his lungs right in the middle of a restaurant.

Musical Tastes

Fav Musicians:   Bob Marley, Tom Waits, Steve Morse, Albert King.
Fav Bands:   Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Voivod, Sacred Reich.
Fav Songs:   No Woman No Cry and Ice Cream Man.
Musical Influences:   Same as Favorite Musicians.

Other Info
Hobbies:   Quad-racers, Basketball, Music.
Sports:   None.
Fav Movie:   Scarface, Apocalypse Now, Good Fellas, and The Jerk.
Fav TV:   Andy Griffith, Discovery Channel, and In Living Color.
Fav Actor:   Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, and Robert DeNiro.
Fav Actress:   Ursula Andress, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kim Basinger.
Fav Book:   Small Change, Metamorphosis, and The Stand.
Fav Food:   Seafood and Bar-B-Q.
Turn On:   Muscle Cars, My Girlfriend, and Loud Soulful Music.
Turn Off:   To Come
Former Jobs:   Pizza Maker, Burger Flipper, Truck Driver.
 

LARS ULRICH (drummer)

Lars Ulrich was born on December 26th, 1963, in Denmark in the City of Gentofte. Some of Lars' musical influences are, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Diamond Head, Motorhead, and Status Quo. Some of his jobs before drumming for Metallica were: He had his own paper route, and he worked at a near by gas station as a cahier. When LArs was younger he spent most of the day following in his father's footsteps and playing tennis. Lars' father was a professional tennis player. Lars wanted to be just like him so he started to play tennis and became very serious in it. Until he moved to Los Angeles. He gave up the sport, and wanted to start drumming. So he convinced his grandmother to buy him a drum set in 1977. He met a guy named James Hetfield and they started jaming (James thought Lars' Drum set looked like a Muppet Drum Kit). Soon, they would start their own garage band called Metallica.

Musical Tastes

Fav Musicians:   Bon Scott, Izzy Stradlin, and Ritchie Blackmore.
Fav Bands:   AC/DC, Chili Peppers, Deep Purple, Diamondhead, and Thin Lizzy.
Fav Songs:   Child in Time, Helpless, Rock 'n' Roll Singer, and 14 years.
Musical Influences:   AC/DC, Deep Purple, Diamondhead, and Motorhead.

Other Info

Hobbies:   Resting, Scuba diving, Tennis, and TV.
Sports:   Scuba diving and Tennis.
Fav Movie:   Godfather II, Dog Day Afternoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface.
Fav TV:   CNN and MTV.
Fav Actors:   Al Pacino, James Woods, Mickey Rourke, and Robert DeNiro.
Fav Actresses:   Hapatlinia Lee, Selana Steele, and Tori Welles.
Fav Book:   The Hangman's Tale.
Fav Food:   Caviar, Evian Water, and Taco Bell.
Turn On:   Absolute Vodka, Honesty, Sarcasm, and Spontaneity.
Turn Off:   Cigarettes, Jack Daniels, and Lying.
Former Jobs:   Cashier and Newspaper Boy.
 

KIRK HAMMETT  (Lead guitar player)

Kirk Hammet was born on November 18th, 1962 in San Fransisco, Ca., Some of His musical influences for becoming a guitarist were, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Schenker, Steve Vai, The Doors, and David Bowie. Some of his former jobs before becoming a guitarist were: he worked in a near by Burger King, and also worked at a warehouse. He had a band before Metallica, it was called "Exodus". Kirk's older brother was a big hippie and introduced Kirk to the popular music at the time. When his brother went away for school, Kirk didn't want his brothers guitar to go to waste so he picked it up and just started fooling around with it. He liked the instrument. In 1981, by the time he was 20, Kirk started guitar lessons, and about "two weeks later", he formed a band called "Exodus". After leaving the band, Kirk met up with James, Lars and Cliff after Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band. Soon, Kirk and the rest of Metallica would record the album "Kill 'Em All".

Musical Tastes

Fav Musicians:   Jimmy Hendrix, Michael Shenker ,Ulrich Roth, Leon Redbone.
Fav Bands:   UFO, Jimmy Hendrix, Neil Young, Leon Redbone, and Nirvana.
Fav Songs:   White Christmas.
Musical Influences:   Same as Favorite Musicians.

Other Info

Hobbies:   Horror.
Sports:   Mountain Biking.
Fav Movie:   Bride of Frankenstein, Raging Bull, and The Jerk.
Fav TV:   Outer Limits, CNN.
Fav Actor:   Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Robert DeNiro. Fav Actress:  To Come
Fav Book:   The Shining and Shock Value.
Fav Food:   Sushi.
Turn On:   My Girlfriend and Playing Live.
Turn Off:   Hangovers
Former Jobs:   Burger King,Musician.
 

TAKING THEIR TIME
 

For Metallica, the recording of a new album is usually about as pleasant as an afternoon spent in a dentist's chair. Such has been the case since the beginning of their career from this heavy metal band. For more than a decade, ever since they began work on such early albums as Kill'em All, studio time has never been an audio vacation for Metallica.

"We've learning how to get the most out of our time in the studio now," Ulrich explained. "There have been moments in the past that, for whatever reason, we sometimes floundered a bit. Maybe it was our fault, maybe the producer didn't give us the kind fo guidance needed to really keep us going in the right direction- I don't know what it was. But to me the most important thing is that we always fought through whatever situation we had and made sure that we were satisfied with the album that came out. That was true before we became really successful, and it's certainly true now."

Considering that over six years have now passed since Metallica last went into the studio to record the now-famous album for their self titled "black album”, it's quite understandable that the band now possesses a more mature outlook towards the recording process. Whether they like the acknowledge it or not, Metallica has been one of the most successful and influential hard rock bands of all-time. With sales fo their albums now past the 23 million, and tickets for their concers still among the hottest in the rock world, this is a money-making machine, capable of generating over $50 million from album and concert sales during a good year.

As hard as it may now be to believe,success did not come quickly, or easily for the members of Metallica. For more than three years Metallica struggled to gain a foothold in the rock world. They faced an battle against not only the bands that dominated the early 80's but also against unresponsive forces at radio and MTV, unprepared workers at record labels and unknowing members of the media.

But then it happend, against all odds Metallica had begun to break through the binds of controlled playlists and compu-track sales reports to emerge as the most influencial, important and successful hard rock band of their generation. How did it happen? Why did it happen? It's still a question that drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist/vocalist, James Hetfield, Bassist, Jason Newsted, and guitarist, Kirk Hammett asks themselves. More than a Decade(and 25 million albums) after quietly emerging on the rock scene as an unknown band, Metallica find themselves the unquestioned kings of the metal mountain. What further proof is needed then the fact that thier latest album, Load, debuted at the number one position in the charts in June, and tickets for the Metallica-headlined Lollapalooza Festival have sold faster than for any previous Lolla-fest in History?

"I can't say that we sit around asking ourselves how we got here" Ulrich said. "That would be kind of goofy. But I've to admit that have been times when I've been off by self that i've kind of thought of about how much we've accomplished, and its kind of cool. I think part of the satisfaction I get is knowing how far we've come. Nobody gave us much of a chance, and we never set out with the intentions of selling millions of records. But we've done it, and that's all that matters."

It seems safe to say that without Metallica's guiding influence the rock world would be a very different place today. Here's a band that always has done things their way.

"Metallica wasn’t influenced by bands like Motley Crue or Ratt in the 80's, and we haven't been influenced by the likes of Pearl Jam or Nirvana in the '90's," Ulrich said. "We kind of live in a musical world of our own, at least when it comes tomaking our albums. We love all kinds of music, andwe probably listen to as much rock and roll ass anyone. But that doesnt mean we have to mimic what's currently popular. That's not our style. We just do what makes us happy , and then hope that it makes the fans happy as well. Oneof the things we've learned over the years is that we've got a pretty good sence of what works and what doesnt work for us. Thats one of the reosons we're so excited about the new album.