This was filmed 39 years ago, Heatfield was 19 or 20 at the time. Metallica was a little known underground band far from being the household name they are today. They had no money, no radio or TV support so you know they did it all for the love of music back then. Master of Puppets came out 3 years later which was the album that really proppeled them in the musical consciousness of teenagers everywhere.
ride the lightning was HUGE in Canada so I dunno about master being the album that propelled them to stardom. Master and Justice are the best music they made. (I have to admit Killem All is my favourite as I like the raw sounds better, I prefer Paul DiAnno Maiden tunes as well)
@@xxxmikeyjock They got pregressively better known with each album but Master of Puppets really put their name out there and the Black Album made them mainstream. I remember Lars in an interview saying, " after Master came out, I was finally able to buy a house. "
The ULTIUMATE Metallica song because: 1) the song itself is so fast and thrashy and just great in it's own right -it has the quintessential feel of the essense of Metallica 2) the theme of Whiplash is about head banging and moshing at their live concerts 3) it's from their first album which means 4) cliff was part of it 5) Cliff's solo, Anesthesia, which is awesome, leads into Whiplash 6) the song wraps up with "we'll never stop, we'll never quit, cuz we're metallica" which is the ultimate attitude of Metallica and they've not lied! they're still playing! -and also "we're metallica" (for me, anyway) includes "we the fans are metallica and we will never stop or quit either. -Metallica fan since 1985.
Yeah me too..... Fan since metal massacre with the first version of hit the lights.... We were very much in the know with the metal scene in Perth Western Australia in the early 80's..... twilight records....
@@paulrodsted3905 same. I owned Kill em ALL on vinyl, actually still do, since '83. First song when u dropped the needle on the Record,, Realed me right n with HIT THE LIGHTS
When James was 'shaking hands', he was only playing the open E string, but was 'palm muting'. Palm muting is where the right /strumming hand is anchored against the bridge, with the fleshy blade of the palm resting lightly on the strings that need muting. This allows a constant picking technique whilst mostly ensuring nearby strings can be deadened, cutting out unwanted notes.
James found his live voice in the summer of 1985. His balls dropped and he sounded like a vicious banshee. You guys should check out any live performance of theirs from Germany 1985. In just 2 short years, they improved immensely.
@@FreeMTrider Sacramento was in December 1985. For some reason, James sounded even better in August/September 1985, especially at the Metal Hammer Festival. He was more vicious imo. Been a fan since 1988. My favorite live eras of James and the band in general are August/September 1985, May 1988-July 1993 and October 1998-July 1999.
In one of the many documentaries on Metallica, Lars’ dad told the story of the guys complaining about headaches. Dad was like, “The loud music and head banging and you wonder why you have headaches?” So funny.
YAAASSSSS!!! The Mighty Metallica. Love the old stuff! Cliff was a beast. They all had that young vibe energy. I never get tired of seeing the live videos. Seen them live 10 times but never with Cliff. I always felt cheated that I didn't discover them until the Justice album, after he was gone. 🤘
"Adrenaline starts to FLOW! You're thrashin all around- actin like a maniac....WHIPLASH!" I LOVE THIS SONG SOOOO MUCH! ....I saw many concerts in my youth, Metallica only twice 😢....but after I saw Slayer in high school, my neck hurt SO bad the next morning I could barely hold my head up. But I had a BLAST!!
Love that you did a super old school live clip for this.. it's the right context needed for this song to hit hard. Cliff's soloing in the beginning is so damn amazing. the party anthem of thrash metal. Metal wrote deeper stuff later and I much prefer that but this shit is undeniable for what it is. Hetfield is a damn baby here... so young. Metallica forever!
man it''s about time I see cliff on this channel, live. I do believe he was improvising the solo at the beginning, because he just finished anesthesia pulling teeth. fun fact if you watch this whole concert kirk hammett gets his guitar taken away from him by the crowd and people have to go into the crowd and get it back. funny as hell.
Shot like that used to happen all the time at metal and punk shows. There was a show where Samhain was playing and some guy kept turning the lights on and off. Danzig yells at him, it was pretty funny
This was Metallica's first tour, just a few months after firing Dave Mustaine and recording the first album "Kill 'em all"... I believe it was called "Kill 'em all for one" tour in the fall of 1983 w/ the band Raven, who were also signed by their label Megaforce Records and had their 3rd album 'All for one' out that year... Both bands were completely unknown at that point, but Metallica had built a small following by tape-trading... Raven is actually still around, as one of the 80's New wave of British heavy metal bands; their last album 'Metal city' came out in 2020.
I love these old Metallica videos. They were barely more than kids. Amazing to think that these dudes wrote some of the best Metal music when they were 18/19. Even at this age, they had stage presence.
I first got into Metallica about 87 or so in middle school. Back then, being a Metallica fan had a negative stigma to it. You were treated as a juvenile delinquent. Lol, rightly so. We were some bad ass little kids…
I remember that same year. My friend and I went to our local gas station wearing Metallica cut off sleeve shirts and the cashier says, Hey no Metallica shirts allowed in the store. That's what it was like to be a Metallica fan. Nowadays...
It was 85 for me! Yep metal was so not mainstream then! But we persevered and now so many know what we’ve always known- metal is the best! I was so misunderstood back then- especially being a girl!
This has to be their signature song, if only for that closing verse : The show is through, the metal's done, it's time to hit the road Another town, another gig, again we will explode Hotel rooms and motorways, life out here is raw We'll never stop, we'll never quit, cos we're Metallica
@@susanconstable2113 Well, I wouldn't say that. Sure, they're still "going" but "strong" is rather generous. I gave them slack when they "sold out" in 1988 with the more politicized subjects and "commercial music video". I gave them more slack when they became more "serious musicians" and traded in a lot of the thrash & speed for mid-tempo arrangements that the radio would actually play. But Load was their third strike (of many more to follow). Cutting their hair and looking all alternative? Please. Why not just change their name to "Alternica" and release an album called "Sue `Em All" (I'm looking at you, Lars, you little shit). Apparently they redeemed themselves with Death Magnetic or shortly before? I couldn't care less. I'll stick with the first decade (1982-1992... and a little bit of 1998, cos the Garage Inc covers compilation was good). Metallica is still going... but not so strong anymore.
Saw them two nights ago in Boston and they opened with this song, followed immediately by Ride the Lightning. 15th time seeing them and they still put on a great show
Man, what I would give to have been at one of those early shows in a small venue like that!! My first time seeing them wasn't until the Master of Puppets tour, opening for Ozzy. Got to see Cliff once though, thank God!! And that was the worst case of whiplash I've ever had!
Cliff Burton had a habit of head banging at half time (ie once for every two beats). Not sure why, but it demonstrates that he was an individual who felt the music differently to others.
I LOVE when you do reactions to live performances. Now i know for sure that you got to see the beloved Cliff Burton in classic headbanging mode. There are some funny interviews with Cliff's dad - long after Cliff had been Killed - in which his dad is reminiscing about his son - and the father says that Cliff would suddenly complain about having some stiffness in his neck. And his dad was like: "well son...there's a reason for that..." I don't know the specifics, but the band was quite generous to Cliff's family following his death and i get the impression that they have stayed on good terms. That's a rarity in this business. Anyways, thanks for your reaction.
The guys in the band were only 20-21 years old at this show. James and Lars couldn't even legally drink yet and they're already writing and performing songs that would become foundational for metal. F***ing legends.
A good version of this song is on their Seattle 89 live show. This song was one of the first Metallica songs i ever listened to and one of the best, used to sneak in yo my brothers room listening to Kill em all and Black album so i was hooked from an early age during the mid 90s.
Brad n Lex, it's been a privilege thus far, watching u on ur metal journey. This was the first Metallica song I learnt how to play n it was on classical guitar. And yeah we all sync or heads to how we play.
I saw Pantera at The Aragon Ballroom in Chicago when the opened for the Slayer/Anthrax co-headlining show. I didn't even know who Pantera was other than I thought my friend's t-shirt had the guy getting his face punched in which was amusing for a shirt. When Pantera hit the stage the pit swelled up below me (I was in the balcony) and I understood. There's NOTHING like an exceptional band live when they are young and hungry. Love me some Whiplash for sure. Great footage.
I saw them in 1984. They were the last band in a 4 band show on a week night and the crowd left before they started. Only about 20 people in the audience and I got up front.
We were pure masculine adrenaline back then. Only young people could do that. The mentor Lemmy from Motorhead played Whiplash on his Finally album. Whiplash was the Athem of Thrash Metal.
You've really done a good analysis, Brad. That is the meaning of whiplash in the song. Also, that song was like their business card especially when he says: "Hotel rooms and motorways, life out here is raw, But we'll never stop, we'll never quit, 'Cause we're Metallica
Here's a tip for headbanging. Bob your head to the snare drum. Some unknowingly go with the bass drum hits or the highhats, but if you follow the snare drum you'll be good.
Check out Metallica, "Garage Days" album. I'm 48. This is the group I grew up with. I had neck pain and ear pain for days. That's how I knew it was a good show
Cliff Burton, the bassist, used to head Bob during all the early songs, sadly died in a bus crash while Metallica was on tour. Cliffs dad used to say he complained about his neck being hurt, meaning Cliff. The dad said of course it hurts doing that head bandaging.
Yes, young. the debut album had just come out weeks before. Bassist Cliff was 21 while the other 3 were still 20. Cliff Burton was notorious for constant aggressive headbanging. hiw he could move his neck after any show is amazing. RIP Cliff.
Apparently, this whole song is basically in the key of E. It’s amazing how they went from this rough draft to being one of the all time greats in hard rock.
Along with Hit The Lights and Phantom Lord, this is among my top 3 favorites from that album. So much energy, raw metal, early thrash. He was able to shake hands with his fret hand because his other hand was simply playing the open low E string for those 16th notes part of the song's intro. This isn't the best version, in my opinion; you should try a lyrics video of the studio version to really capture the full impact of the song. "Hotel rooms and motorways, life out here is raw; But we'll never stop, we'll never quit, 'cause we're Metallica!" 🤘
I remember when other kids in HS would look at you funny, if they saw you with a Metallica t shirt, in the early 80's,ha ha, they thought you were insane for liking Thrash Metal.
It was all that head banging that caused James Hetfield (the lead singer) to have neck surgery in his later 40's/early 50's. Same thing happened to the lead singer of Megadeth (Dave Mustaine) and the lead singer of Slayer (Tom Araya).
