Very nice reaction. :) To answer one of your questions: I am a big Metallica since 1985. When the Black Album was released, I bought it the same day it came out, and I really really loved it, and I still do. What Metallica have always said, they make music they them selfs like. And, when they get older, their taste and skills etc. changes and they evolve, and make music that they are feeling at the time when writing their stuff. Metallica always changes their style a bit from each album.
They used Ecstasy of Gold as their concert opener for years. The Unforgiven intro (the title for the track was inspired by the film Unforgiven) is literally from a Morricone piece, I can't remember which film it was from but they reversed the original horn. All of that was James' doing, he was obsessed with Morricone. Pretty sure they even have a cover of Ecstasy on a tribute album to him with Yo-Yo Ma.
Okay so Metallica post “Justice-era” is a very different time for the band. In the 90s the band made this album, which changed their sound because of a new producer, but it made them a household name. In promoting the album, the band toured for nearly 4 years and played a show to 1.6 million people in Moscow. It’s worth noting that James Hetfield blew his voice out twice during that tour and his singing voice dramatically changed. They won awards and received critical acclaim for the album. However, grunge became the defining sound of the decade. When “Load” came out, the band became more experimental and by the time “Reload” released, the band was forced to cut their hair short and change their look by the record label, which didn’t do much if anything to make the band more popular. By the time the 2000s, Metallica web through a lot. Lars and James had families and the bassist Jason Newsted left the band to pursue a new bad he made called “Sublime”. By 2003 when “St. Anger” released, it became their most controversial album because of the mix, but it saved the band band. James went to rehab in the middle of it and the band almost disbanded. 2009 is considered Metallica’s return to their roots. “Death Magnetic” will be a fun one to see you react to once you get there!
Lars drums fit perfectly for Metallica , creative and heart of the band. he was never the best technically....but gives each song that substance that a lot other drummers wouldn't be able to match artistically.
All I remember from anyone back then was that the Black Album their best work ever. The next albums however.... I love them, but they were very controversial for how different they were.
I learned to play guitar and make my own music with Justice For All, literally my fingers were bleeding as I went through the whole album as the first thing to play on the instrument. Learned most of the solos and all. I was such a huge Metallica fan then of course and when Enter Sandman was first played on the radio I had my cassette recorder ready. And I was so pissed that I stopped the recording halfway through the song 😂 My favorite band, what are you doing!!! But I still bought the CD and loved Sad But True, The Unforgiven, Don't Tread on Me and My Friend of Misery. And learned to like some other songs too. People like to blame Bob Rock for their "sell out" like he was the one who wrote the songs and told them to change genres 😂 But it was the band (probably mostly Lars) who wanted them to gain mainstream success and radio play and they hired a man to make sure the album is produced like it could be a hit. For me it's the Rock's production that's actually the highlight on this album. The mixing on Load was even better.
Metallica has had a funny history with their amps, honestly. On Kill 'Em All, they were using RAT distortion pedals directly into the front of a Marshall Super Lead Plexi, apparently. Then that amp got stolen, so they switched to the JCM800/2203 for Ride the Lightning, and used Ibanez Tube Screamers in front for the guitars. Then they got a sponsorship from Mesa/Boogie, so they switched to the Mark iic++ for Master of Puppets, and experimented with slaving them into the old 2203 heads specifically for Kirk's leads. They ditched the slaving idea in Justice, but they kept the iic++ heads. That is until the Black Album, which is where it gets a little tricky :P Apparently they were layering at least 4 different amps for their rhythm tone here. Kinda wacky stuff.
