Metallica is a huge heavy metal band and one of the best-selling bands of all time. In 1981, when Lars Ulrich (drums) started looking for other musicians, the first who answered to his advertisement in "The Recycler" magazine of Los Angeles, California, were James Hetfield (vocals, guitars) and Hugh Tanner. Ulrich and Hetfield finally formed Metallica in late October of that year. Dave Mustaine joined them (lead guitar) later.
They started performing live with Ron McGovney as bassist, but when they watched Cliff Burton in a show and were impressed by his abilities, they asked from him to replace McGovney. Mustaine was sacked later, due to his drug and alcohol problems. Kirk Hammett took his place immediately. Their first album "Kill 'Em All" in 1983, despite its moderate success, brought Metallica an increasing fan base.
After their first tour, "Ride the Lightning" came out in the summer of 1984. Among the famous album's songs are "Creeping Death", "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Fade to Black". They toured in Europe for the first time, including an appearance in "Monsters of Rock" fest. "Master of Puppets" came out in 1986 and is regarded one of their best albums, with hits such as the homonymous track, "Battery", "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and others.
Metallica were traveling for their European tour, when Burton lost his life after a bus accident in Sweden. The band decided to go on and they chose Jason Newsted to replace Burton. Their fourth album "...And Justice for All", came out in 1988, including the song "One", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1989. Their homonymous fifth album (known as "Black Album") came out in 1991 and became their most commercially successful album, reaching the top on ten countries' charts. It has become sixteen times platinum in the USA and includes the hits "Enter Sandman", "Unforgiven" and "Nothing Else Matters".
Their sixth album "Load", came out in 1996 and divided many fans, with its hard rock-alternative metal style. However, the album became also no. 1 in the USA. Some of the famous songs are "Until It Sleeps", which is their first song that entered the Mainstream Rock chart in the USA and reached the top of Billboard Hot 100, and "Hero of the Day". It was followed by "Reload" which was in the same style and topped the US charts again.
In early 2001, Newsted decided to leave the band due to personal reasons and Robert Trujillo became the new bassist. 2003's "St. Anger" was their eighth album, with a heavier sound and although it had mixed critics it managed to reach the top of the US album chart again. The first album with Trujillo was "Death Magnetic", which also entered at the top of the charts, making Metallica the first band to hit 5 albums in a row!
After entering the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, Metallica appeared on stage for the first time in 2010, along with Megadeath, Slayer and Anthrax as the "Big Four" of thrash metal. Their tenth studio album is "Hardwired... to Self-Destruct" that came out in November of 2016 and became their sixth no. 1 in the USA chart. Metallica have performed live with many great artists and bands and they have won numerous awards, such as 9 Grammy Awards and 2 American Music Awards.
Metallica
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Metallica
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Metallica
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Metallica
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