What's YOUR Metallica Discovery Story? Here's Mine! 

At first I thought someone had mentioned me on a space-related video fsr, thumbnail lowkey looked like a moon-landing photo or something lol. Thanks for sharing your story! Mine is way more boring. 2000 and 2009 were the years. Yes, I discovered Metallica twice. First via my brother who played Best Ballads cassette in background, and then years later I did it on my own. Alright, a video would do the job better, will make it on MetalliGeek channel ;) Cheers \m/

My Metallica story: When I was _really_ getting into bass playing, which was around mid-2019, I actually mocked Metallica quite a bit because of all the memes surrounding them (I was a 17-year-old with autism, and I was _very_ impressionable at the time). Then I discovered a guy named Cliff Burton. When I first heard what he played, it *blew my mind.* After listening to the band as a whole, I realised they were _more_ than just the silent bass and the Napster suit and the trash can drums. Come to think of it, the first album of theirs that I listened to was _also_ ‘…And Justice For All’. I am currently borrowing everything in the Metallica discography from the library (at least the stuff that you could reasonably get ahold of in my area) and listening to them in chronological order. As a matter of fact, I was listening to Load when I got the notification for this video! PS: I had a friend in school who had a copy of the original book version of ‘Johnny Got His Gun’, which was made by the same person that directed the movie. I recall reading that ‘One’ actually takes more inspiration from the book than from the movie.

Awesome idea! =D Thank you for the nomination! I am not sure I can fill 10 minutes though but really looking forward to create something!

The first time i heard Metallica was in 1989 with the song "one". That was the coolest thing I've ever heard in my life. Then I found out that they had more records so me and my friends got a hold of a mix cassette tape with songs from Ride the lightning and Kill em all. I was completely obsessed with their music. I bought their first four records immediately. Then two years later, their black record was released and everyone was a metallica fan in Sweden. Those were wonderful times!

I love hearing stories like this! Especially when they are very similar to my story haha 😆. My story started with admiring Metallica’s album art plastered on my older sisters walls. Then I heard Enter Sandman and I was hooked for life.

The first Metallica song I ever heard, or rather, paid attention to, was The Unforgiven. I remember particularly thinking, "That's awesome, what's the name of it?" But I had to get out of the car before it ended. I knew something was special about them for me. I don't really remember when that was but I know I was about 12 years old. (Also the first intro riff I ever learned was Nothing Else Matters on guitar.) Eventually I got lead deeper into their music and I was listening to AJFA, MOP, RTL, then later Kill 'Em All, etc. I also realized how great their lyrics are. Now I'm 14 and they've become my favorite band of all time. I don't care about what anyone else tells me, nothing will change my mind. Metallica has become a part of me at this point.

my dad got me into classic rock, ACDC, Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Van Halen. I heard Enter Sandman when my dad was working because he would take me to his transmission shop, I still go there, after school till I go home. And I remember this one time, he played one at work, and I was just amazed by it. He had left the shop to go pick up a part of a car and I remember jamming out to those two when he left, playing air guitar. I just listened to those two. But it wasn't until I stumbled upon Whiplash. That song was just mind-blowing. The aggression in Jame's voice, the guitars, drum, bass, everything hitting at once. I started to really listen to them, listening to Kill Em' All. Then I discovered Ride The Lightning. Every song was something new and amazing. I continued into their discography until I found Megadeth from Holy Wars. I listen to both bands avidly but I side with Megadeth. I always stick with the first 4 Metallica albums, they were the best in my opinion.

In 1985 I was 11-12 & in 6th-7th grade.I had a paper route after school & on Sunday mornings.I was always looking for new tapes to listen to on my route & bought Ride The Lightning & the Whiplash 12" EP import. Blown away! 85 was a good year.

I still remember the first time I heard Metallica. It was a life changing experience for me as a person back then. I grew up listening to love songs, rap songs and mostly pop songs in the 90's and I never really got into such music. I only pretended to like it because it was popular as what most people listened at that time. When I entered my first year in highschool in the year 2000, my older brother would usually drop me off in school in our family car. Back then we would just listen to any random song played on the car radio until one day he showed me his 'secret cassette tape' for the first time and that I wasn't allowed to tell our parents about it and that we can only listen to it in the car while driving on the way to school. I didn't get the big deal at it first on why my brother wanted to keep it a secret. As he put the cassette in the player, I saw the cover with the words 'Metallica Ride the Lightning' and I never knew anything about the band except that most people would say that listening to it will make you do bad stuff. The first song played was 'Fight fire with fire'. While the acoustic intro was playing, I thought to myself 'what is the big deal with the song? It is just some kind of ancient instrumental thing.' but as the distorted guitar started to fade in the song, my brother closed all the car windows and increased the volume in the car audio player. HEAVY GUITAR RIFFAGE blasted through my ears and the thundering drums blasting through my heart and body. It was the first time I actually listened to a metal song and it slowly changed my preference. Listening to an angry James singing, the fast and thunderous drums of Lars... It was like I was baptized in becoming a metal head. It was the first time I felt listening to a song but somehow the song energized me. That feeling of having the hair of your skin standing up and having goose bumps, that was the first time I felt it when the guitar solo of Fight fire with fire came in the song. It was goose bumps after goose bumps as the song played on and on. And as the song came to an end, it was the first time I said to myself about a song 'I wanted more of this song, I wanted more... More... More...' and as the intro of Ride the lightning came, my brother told me "we're here in your school." and I told him 'can I be absent for today so that I can listen more to it?'. And that was the day I became a metal head. The day I officially became a Metallica fan. The day that would also help me build my own identity and my love for music. Never returned to listening to pop songs ever since.

20 April 1992, Freddie Mercury tribute concert. I was watching as a big music fan as a kid, especially Queen. Remember it like yesterday, sitting doing maths homework at the dining table while it was on and Metallica walked on stage and changed my whole life. Absolutely without doubt a defining moment in me becoming the person I am today. 30 years later they're still a huge part of me 🤘

I was 16 with my Buddy, Cbristian, on vacation in Spain. We both liked hardrock at this time and he had some tapes. He told me, on one tape was a song of MetallicA. I heard the bands name before, but did not knew any song. I still remember the first songs on the tape: Billy Idol, rebell y… Van Halen, running with the… and then… motorbreath! I have never heared anything else like this before, can‘t stop listening this vacation. This happend before 38 years. Now I am 54 and still in love with this band. I saw them with my wife a lot of times. some of My personal highlight are - secret gig in Hamburg 1997 - S&M in Berlin 1999 - snake pit pass in 2014 - meet n greet 2003 that is my story

February 1st 1985 was first time I saw Metallica. Ecstasy Of Gold always been their intro.

I’m a teen, and about 2 years ago, I was in the car on a road trip with my dad. I’m not quite sure why, but he put on the Metallica essentials playlist on on Apple Music. The first song was Atlas rise, and I was immediately intrigued. I started head banging, and my dad looked back and said “you like this?” And I responded “heck yeah! This is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard!” The playlist kept going on and on playing songs like for whom the bell tolls, the memory remains, and damage inc. I went home and did some research, and found about this guy named Kirk Hammett. At that moment, my life changed forever. He instantly became my idol, and Metallica became my gateway into Death, Slayer, Megadeth, Rush, Venom, Sabbath, and so many more. Now I’m, obsessed with guitar and in a metal band. Thanks, Metallica.

The music video for One was my introduction to Metallica and it changed my life. Before that I was listening to bands like Poison, Motley Crue and GNR. Soon after I got to see them on the AJFA tour for my first concert in 89. Been a fan ever since.

I like how unfiltered and honest you are about yourself. Funny how vivid your memories about Metallica still are. Btw, you're one of the very few guys on youtube who has the balls to share his past mistakes with others. That's what good teachers do. My Metallica story : when I was a teenager in the mid 90s, I was studying in a boarding school and shared my room with other school mates. That's how I came to hear Metallica for the first time. I was more into pop rock at the time (huge fan of the early U2), so "Justice" sounded just like plain noise to me. I even remember giggling while listening to the "Justice" track, going "that's terrible music!!!". lol A few months later though, I was hooked by "Fade to black" and started listening to the whole Ride the Lightning album. From this moment on, I gradually became addicted to all of their albums, although I must admit the Black Album always sounded like a "metal for dummies" album to me. Being a lot more into metal a few years later (my scope extended to other bands like Pantera and nu metal), I was totally taken aback when "Load" came out. I hated everything about it. Even more so with "Re-Load". To this day, I'm still a die-hard fan of the pre-Black album period but I do appreciate a few of the new songs.

when I was 16 I noticed that my friend always wore this ride the lightning t-shirt, so i went and listened to ride the lighting and loved it and slowly got my way through all their albums.

here's my story: my mom was a tutor of high school kids when i was in elementary/middle school. one time one of her students came over and played the Black album for me and i immediately became obsessed. i went into school with that album as my personality and never looked back. i discovered their earlier albums and took a hard stance against the black album once i realized who they "used to be" LOL. i've grown out of that genre of music but i will always have good memories of discovering Metallica

I grew up as a kid listening to whatever was on the radio, my dad listened to country stations, mom listened to pop music stations. I was basically only familiar with Enter Sandman and I Disappear (the video was included after the credits on the Mission Impossible VHS). Cut to a few years later, There was some sort of "on demand" thing with our cable subscription, they'd have whatever music videos for whatever songs recently released available to watch. All Nightmare Long was on the page one day. And that showed me that Metallica was not in fact what I thought they were. They were much much more. That song and video inspired me to walk across town to gamestop to pick up this new game I had seen advertised but had no interest in until that point... Guitar Hero: Metallica was all I played for three weeks straight and it introduced me to RTL, AJFA, MoP.. All that older stuff. And that's when I legitimately became a fan, not just a casual Metallica listener. I went out and bought all their CDs and the rest is history 🤷‍♂️ Cheers Mike, thanks for the story 🙏

I got a pack of guitar picks and the one pick had the master of puppets album cover on it and I thought it was really cool so I searched the album up on RU-vid and listened to it and they immediately became my favorites.

Some kids were talking about this awesome new metal band one day at school. This was the fall of 1986 -- I was in 9th grade. The one kid had the band's cassette -- Master of Puppets -- and so I asked to borrow it. That night, while doing homework in my bedroom, I popped it into the stereo and hit play. It was like getting hit by a truck -- a big truck going really fast. I remember thinking 'WTF is this'? I hadn't heard anything like it before despite listening to 'metal' since about 1983 (i.e.--Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Van Halen, Kiss, Ozzy, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Sabbath, Dokken, Dio, etc.). But this Metallica stuff was way different; faster, louder, more aggressive, and unrelenting. I don't think my ears were quite ready to hear it at that point. 'Bludgeoned' is the word that probably best describes my feeling of listening to that album/band for the first time. Needless to say, there was no multi-tasking the homework assignment once Battery got rolling. There's one other thing that I want to mention. Metallica didn't do music videos at that point and had zero support from radio. So they build their initial fan base by playing live and through word of mouth. That shows you how kick ass those first three albums were, and also shows how good they were live.

“Guitar Hero: Metallica”, I only knew a handful of songs before then (“Nothing Else Matters”, “Sad But True”, “Fuel”) but playing that game, and hearing just how amazing Metallica actually is I immediately threw myself down the that rabbit hole, and I’ve been a diehard fan to this day.

The first time for me was around 2015 when I was 10, my dad played The "S&M" CD on the car and I got REALLY into "Wherever I May Roam", that made me discover the original studio track on RU-vid when I was 12 and got blown away by the solo. The rest is history.

I visited a music store with my dad when I was 13. I was told by my dad that I could get 1 cd and so I went on the lookout and was taken by the cover of Master Of Puppets. I had no clue at the time but that was the day that I discovered my love for metal. To this day it is my favourite metal album and it has a soft spot in heart ❤️ 🎸

I turned professional when I was 17, I'm 54 now so it was eons ago, and I grew up with Zeppelin, AC/DC, Deep Purple etc. so when I was asked by a student to teach a song off And Justice For All I was taken aback by how unusual it was compared to what my ears were used to. It was radically different from everything else at the time, but I liked it for it's brutality and level of intent. It's hard to appreciate just how much of an impact Metallica had on music at the time because no one played music like that back then and it's easy to overlook the fact that they led the way for all the bands that followed. I honestly believe that without Metallica we wouldn't have seen Metal become the huge phenomenon it did. They blazed the trail, led the way, in a time when none of what we call Metal existed. I liked their stuff the minute I heard it and they changed the way I wrote music and played the guitar, and it also forced me to study the theory behind it in order to teach it to others.

My father introduced me to Liquid Tension Experiment. From there I found Dream Theater etc. A few years earlier he bought a cd from Joe Satriani. We just liked the album cover and never knew who he was or what he did 😁. And it was awesome from start to the end, an still is to this day.

Hell yeah man this is a great idea! oh man, gotta dig deep back in the archive for this one! lol start the hashtag in your video description #yourmetallicastory or something?

I was living in Missouri in the very early 90's. My family had just moved into a house. There was some things left behind from the previous people that had lived there. We put their things in a separate room. I was going through some boxes and there was a unlabeled cassette tape. I put the cassette tape in a boombox and just heard the heaviest music I had ever heard. I didn't know who it was but I was hooked. A couple years down the road I was singing a chorus from one of the songs on the bus and another kid had heard me singing it. She asked me if I liked it and I said yeah but didn't know who the band was or the name of the song. She told me it was a band called Metallica and the name of the song was called Fight Fire with Fire. Now that I look back at it was meant to be. I didn't find the cassette the cassette found me. Because I lived in a small little hick town and the town's people listened to country music and to them rock music was the devil's music.

My older brother introduced me to Metallica when I was a kid- he'd been following it for a few years and by the mid 90s I was old enough to really enjoy. It was the Black album, Load and then Re-Load that really hooked me as a little kid. I also snuck in to watch the Metallica VHS tapes that he had (all the old tour movies they released). It basically went from there- 96-97 my world changed musically and I wanted to play guitar. There were other bands that I liked (my Bro liked- AiC, Soulfly, Rob Zombie, Silverchair) but Metallica was the bee's knees for me. I can still remember the Load single sleeves for until it sleeps and hero of the day.

I remember when I heard Master of Puppets for the first time. I remember every single riff that went past was like a putch in the face and I thinking "holy shit this is like the best thing I've ever heard!". I'm not to old so I didn't grow up in the 80's and stuff and this was only like 2-3 year ago go I was listening to them on Spotify. After listening to Enter Sandman and Master I looked at the most popular songs and just loved every one of them. I also remember listening to stuff like For Whom the Bell Tolls, Orion and Anesthesia and getting told be my friend that it was bass lol. Even tho im only 16 I love the 80's stuff, metal and all really.

The First time (probably) that I heard metallica was when my dad was playing Orion (now one of my favorite songs) on his acoustic guitar. I always liked enter sandman but now years later i started listening to slipknot and then that turned me on to more metal. i have really gone deep into their music and i’m a huge metalhead!

The first Metallica I ever heard was Fuel when it came out. However, it wasn’t until Old School came out that I was introduced to Master of Puppets, during the “recruitment drive”. I was blown away by the power and simplicity of it and was more amazed that it was featured on the rock station; I was in high school and never realized it was an old song. Well sure enough, my uncle let me borrow a CD with Metallica songs that he had burned and I was listening to only that tune for a good month. Then, I decided listening to other songs, such as Disposable Heroes, before listening to the rest of the disc. I was blown away and it was apparent that Metallica was my favorite band and had set me on a path to being a metalhead. The following year I took up guitar, which lead me to taking lessons, which that segued into becoming a music major and THAT opened an entire new world of music and theory I never comprehended before. All the while still listening to Metallica, discovering the Big Four of Thrash and finding other metal bands via Yahoo! (This was pre RU-vid and Spotify). For a few years I tried starting up several bands and finally caught a break in 2009 when we managed to play three shows before breaking up lol. By that time I was incorporating Classical, Jazz, Progressive, Power and a whole lot of technical and intricate guitar playing with the basis of Thrash Metal 2003 - 2012 was a great time for listening to music and I look back in that time with fondness, all because of Metallica

My story is this: I was a professional sound engineer and worked for the largest sound company in Hawaii in the 90's. We did 2 nights of Metallica at the Blaisdell Arena in 1993. Their FOH sound guy Big Mick Hughes (still their sound guy, since 1984) did not care if we recorded the show so we hooked up our DAT recorder to the PM3000 mixing console and recorded one night. I still have the DAT. I was never really a Metallica fan but have much respect for James.

I was listening to Metallica for quite a while in high school. But I wouldn't say I was "into them". I listened to them casually and didn't really focus on their music. I used to listen to For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ride the Lightning and Enter Sandman. But I just found them to be cool songs. A few years later I came back to them in a while and listed to Damage Inc. for the first time. As soon as that bridge riff hit I was stoked. It actually pulled me in and I actually started paying attention to each individual instrument and appreciate the riffs, rhythm and arrangement. After listening to the rest of MOP I was hooked forever

Kid on the bus randomly handed me headphones and a walkman saying listen to this. It was the transition in Master of Puppets from "MASTER" to softer melody. Intrigued I borrowed it and recorded it. Listened to it for a year straight. Then came Justice, Black, Lightning, and Kill in quick succession (in that order?). Got Load from dad for Christmas and he took me to that concert. He got me Reload the next Christmas and took me to that next concert. Moved out, listened to S&M in my tiny crappy trailer then life got busy. Didn't listen to any "new" (now old) stuff until preparing to take my oldest son to S&M2 in theaters. Just took my next 2 (13 & 12) to see Metallica in Atlanta in November. We were so super charged up that I immediately booked us the Vegas concert in February!

My Dad introduced me to One, and it intrigued me, because it had the clean tones and then heavy chorus. I also imagined myself being the veteran laying there, injured, and as a little kid I could relate to being on a hospital bed, stitched together, not knowing what will be the end of it. Countless surgeries I had for reasons I won't account here, but One will always hit it for me. Even though I'm not a war veteran, I had a middle finger given to me by life, and One seemed like the song I would go back to whenever I think about it.

Love your videos my dude I look forward to watching it when I finish work, much love from England Keep rocking 🔥

I'm grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota. No real sources for music other than the two radio stations that either played country or Top 40. ALTHOUGH, our small ass town did have cable, which meant MTV. So when the video for One came out, my life changed. Only thing is, I took in that whole album without realizing that there were albums before it. No one in my family, none of my friends were into it so I didn't have an outlet to talk about and share the passion for this new thing in my life. So years later, the Black Album came out and was extremely popular, showing up on MTV AND the radio too, my friends started getting into it. It was through that that finally learned about Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning and Kill 'Em All. I learned about Dave. I learned about Cliff. I learned it all. To this day, I still love them far and above any other band, but I still don't have anyone to share it with. My wife doesn't care for it. My older brother likes pop music and my younger brother is all about Pearl Jam and grunge. My friends all love other stuff. I love my friends, but I wish I had someone to do the deep Metallica dives with. Maybe that's why I like this channel...it's my outlet for it.

2010 in highschool dorm, I watched rockamring 2008. They started with creeping death. Lars’ jump, that “die” section, James’ energy, kirks black style. I’ll never forget that moment. After that, I’m happier than before

I first sought them out and listened to them in 4th grade, close to 2 decades ago: I remember my teacher was talking about maybe playing some soothing music during "down time" in class, and as a joke, my friend shouted "METALLICA!" For some reason it stuck in my head, so after I got home I asked my dad if he had any Metallica in his library and he played "Sad But True" for me to listen to. Needless to say, it blew my stupid little head off. At the time, my dad only had the Black Album and S&M on his computer. The first album I ended up buying was ReLoad since it had a bunch of my favorite S&M songs on it. Not their best, sure, but it's still one of my favorites to this day, probably for nostalgia reasons (its pretty good though kids, give it another listen). Thanks for the trip down memory lane, haha

for me, it was during 5th period Art class my Sophomore year in high school, and one of my skater friends put on headphones onto my head and I heard the fade in to Orion... I was instantly teleported to a soundscape I've never experienced before... that continuous bass droning from the intro, the constant chugs from the main riff, Lars keeping that solid 4/4, then there was this piercing red and yellow feeling when Cliff came in with his distorted solo/interlude, then the main riff went to the 2nd chugga riff... my mind exploded into adrenaline and my eyes furrowed and my teeth grinded... I transformed from a weird kid who's still trying to find out who he is in the world, into a seething metal monster, aching to bang the head that doesn't bang... THEN WE GO BACK TO THE MAIN RIFF AGAIN... It was amazing... I will never forget it

My story is kind of funny, rather than learning about Metallica through a friend or a concert, I learned about them through Guitar Hero. I was about 8 when my dad got me Guitar Hero 3 to make sure I knew good music, and I loved playing that game. The second to last song was One and I was blown away by how heavy the bridge was and the speed/complexity of the solo. (Well, that's how I explain it now - when I was a kid it was "wow that part is so cool!"). I would watch videos of people on RU-vid playing the song on the hardest difficulty and I noticed that Guitar Hero labeled the first part of the solo as "Fast solo A". I went to my dad who played guitar and asked him "Can you play Fast Solo A from One on your guitar?". He looked at me a little confused so I explained how much I liked One. Unfortunately he couldn't play the solo but he sat me down and showed me how to play the intro. Over the years I would pick up and put down guitar, although it finally stuck once I was 18 (I didn't have the patience to learn an instrument when I was that young, then I got into drumming in my early teens that's why it took me so long to really get into it. But I'm going off on a tangent here). That Christmas my dad got me an mp3 player that he loaded with all the popular Metallica songs; I remember For Whom the Bell Tolls, Sandman, Puppets, One, Justice and Blackened being on there at the least and I listened to those songs over and over. I can't remember the time between events, but eventually my friend Cameron found and showed me a live video of For Whom the Bell Tolls on RU-vid with Cliff doing his thing at the beginning and we were awestruck by how cool it was, so that's how we learned about Cliff Burton. (it was the Day on the Green 1985 if you're curious) Because I was born in a generation where you could listen to any individual song I for some reason never listened to any Metallica albums in full for several years, just the songs I found and liked. It wasn't until I was 14ish when my dad got me a record player and an original Ride the Lightning vinyl. From there I went from just liking Metallica to being a full blown fan, I started buying more albums, shirts, etc. Finally 2018 rolls around and Metallica is playing in my city, and Cameron and I finally got to see them live - and with a damn good spot in the pit.

Well I'm pretty young, it was in highschool, dark times, depression, pimples, feeling weak and miserable. I'm from Serbia so here metal isn't very popular so I first heard someone playing Ac/Dc and i remebered hearing just "i'm on the highway to hell" i really loved, typed it into youtube and found out about AcD. One day i was listening to them on youtube and I see this red cover art of some graves and stuff and it's Master of Puppets, I never heard something like that, the energy, the raw power and yet the emotion it's that exact moment when i became a metalhead. That was 2017, fast forward to 2020 and I started playing guitar during the lockdown. Now I'm fully geting into it, haven't got much talent but I know I won't give it up and I do it just because i love it, it changed who i am, how i see things, something i never before believed music could do.

I had heard of the band Metallica but never heard that many of their songs. I got into them a lot more once I started learning how to play guitar.

I heard about Metallica when I was a kid, but never listen to their song, untill in 2011, my classmate invited me to his house, and he show me Master of puppets, I think it was live sh*t: binge & purge 1989 in seattle video, at that time, I was blown away by how fast and heavy they are, after that, I started to download all of their song from Kill em all album to Death Magnetic, and listen to all of their song everyday till this day, and now they still kicking ass like the old day, and I still a huge fan.

When I was young I never really listened to music cause I never liked any of the stuff that was out in late 2000's that my sister played. One day my dad showed me a RU-vid video of "Run to the Hills" and I was hooked by the tune. The next couple of days I watched more maiden videos until I was recommended a video for enter sandman live in Moscow 1991... and I was fucking blown away! It totally changed me forever and they're the reason I've played guitar for the last 11 years. Great video, love your stories!

i grew up listening to radio pop music. i used to block my ears when my dad would play ACDC in the car. then my brother showed me master of puppets, after hearing that song my whole life literally change. music went from a hobby to a life style.

It was pre- Ride the Lightning, I heard this promo on the radio "get your rocking butt down to the centrum" to see this band Metallica. It blew me away that the snippets they played were heavier than Motorhead. I told my older brother that he needed to buy it the next time he went to the record store. A few months down the road he came home with RtL under his arm. I didn't know anyone else ever heard of them until high school. By then Master of Puppets was out and you couldn't go a day without seeing a dozen Metallica shirts.

My story has a lot of gaps because I'm quite young, but from my inception I can remember listening to The NWOBMH (mainly maiden) in the car with my dad and then moving on to finding Metallica and other metal bands. but I then took a three year hiatus from metal idk y tbh. I was listening to mainly nirvana and some rock. Until 7th grade where my friends band played sad but true at school, that really sparked up my love for Metallica/metal in general, and in the past 2 years I have dived deep into their catalog and gotten serious about metal. Big credit to my dad, cause I wouldn't be typing this without him.

It was about three years after the black album came out, most likely fall or winter of 1994. I was eleven years old and finally starting to branch out to my "own" music, rather than just listening to what my parents listened to. A friend at school had the black album on cassette and let me borrow it for a day. I listened to it all the way through on my Walkman, and quickly decided I needed my own copy, so I dubbed it to a blank tape and listened to it any chance I could get. My country music loving parents weren't fans, but there wasn't much they could do about it. I bought "Load" about six months later when it came out (had mixed feelings about it), but over the next year or so, I slowly got their entire back catalog. By the end of 1995, I was proclaiming them my favorite band to anyone who would listen, and they were a very large part of the reason I decided to start playing guitar at 14 in 1997.

Im 9 years old and its a Saturday night, the summer of 1989. My family is visiting relatives out of town for a weekend. Me and my 12 year old brother are in the living room chilling watching tv while the adults are outside. The next thing i know, my 18 year old cousin comes out from his room screaming DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! (the bridge to creeping death) with music blasting in the background as he walked to the kitchen. We just looked at him terrified. Then he tried to explained to us that he was talking about dye, as in dye your hair. Later that night he introduced me and my brother to Ride the Lightning, And Justice for All and Headbangers Ball. Changed my whole life after that.

My Metallica story starts like this… in ‘87 I moved back to Ohio and was 17 finishing out my jr. year in high school. I didn’t have any friends yet, was riding the bus and lived out in the country. I met a guy that played the same kind of music I did. We talked the rest of the school year and became best friends. He played guitar and wanted a bass player, he said it would be easy so I said ok. He introduced me to Metallica that summer and the album was kill em all. We spent the next 6 years pretty much glued at the hip playing Metallica anyway we could. Either in our band or in our louder the he££ car stereo systems. We went to every Metallica concert within a 2 hour drive for 2 years, then that adulting thing started getting in the way. Now it’s just me trying to learn how to play the guitar so I can still jam to my favorite band. 🤘🏻🎸😎

My mom gave me her old milk crates full of cassettes/CDs when I was around 11-12. AJFA was in there, and I eventually put it in my stereo. As soon as the intro to Blackened started I was completely floored. All I could think was this was the coolest thing I have ever heard and I want to do what those guys are doing. It literally changed my life. All I wanted to do was play guitar and sing in a Metal band, it's all I could think or care about for a very long time. I probably would have never picked up a guitar or molded my life around music if my mom had just left those crates to collect dust in the shed. Will forever be grateful for that; the greatest gift I never asked for or expected

When I was 10 I had a friend who was 14 and was into heavy metal. He gave me the black album as a present and it was all over from there. I instantly became a metallica fan. the next day he brought over ride the lighting and it blew my mind. I am 38 now and to this day ride the lighting is my all time favorite album and metallica is my favorite band off all time. I have seen them 4 times in my life and everytime was absolutley amazing.

Justice was my first album too. Got it from my babysitter in 92'. From the moment I heard the intro to blackened I was hooked. Changed my life forever

I was 29yrs old (58 now). I was never a "metal" guy, but there was something about this song. I was on my way home and "Enter Sandman" came on the radio in the car. I remember circling the block twice so i could hear the whole song before I headed home, all the time thinking, "This song is going to be a monster hit!".

Back in 93 a friends older brother put on One in the car and cranked it, I never heard anything like that and i was hooked ever since. I must have listened to One for 3 months straight before I even tried a different song on that album. That album changed my life.

First introduction to Metallica was in Middle school, friend was into Cliff Burton. Wore blue denim jacket and bell bottoms jeans like Cliff. Other buddy lended me the first four Metallica albums on cassette tapes for the weekend. Lighting, Puppets, Justice had beautiful, harmonic guitar intros to the beginning that really caught me. Fight fire with fire especially 🎵🎶

i've already had listened to sandman when i was like 12 or 13... but metallica really hit me years later (thanks to mtv)... there was this reload promo on tv, and it had a really short bit of "memory remains" clip on it, james looking straight to the camera singing "but the memory remaaaainnssaaaa"... it got my attention, i was really hooked... then i watched the whole thing and i was blown away, and just like a lot of other teenagers, the "dadadada" part got me so real bad, i was haunted by it... i remember being mesmerized by it... thinking how awesome, cool and dark all that 4 minutes experience was... so i instantly became a metallica fan...

I fucking hated metal music right until I started playing guitar a year ago. Once I realized the skill it took to play thrash metal I was hooked. Learning the guitar entirely changed my perception of the music. This might sound weird but it opened eyes to exposing myself to things I've never cared for before. You never know what you might love if you give it a chance.

My buddy dubbed Enter Sandman and Unforgiven onto tape the day before I went to Majorca with my cousin and his parents for a week in summer 1996. I was 16. Metallica weren’t on my radar till then. I listened to those 2 songs over and over, and came back a Metallica fan. Guitar for Christmas the following year! Now its 2021 - Still a massive fan!

When I was in jr high / high school, I would save my lunch money & allowance so I could go to music plus and hunt through the Heavy Metal bin. I would choose albums by the artwork and Kill 'em All was one of those. It was life changing. My DNA also changed that day, when I got home, sat in my bean bag chair with my headphones on... absorbing the album art, record sleeve, lyrics... Album begins, Hit The Lights came on and I was blown away. The album still holds up today. Best $7.99 I ever spent. I love your videos, keep it up.

I was a freshman in HS.... was into Kiss/Motley Crue/Wasp/Def Leppard/Quite Riot etc... saw Hit Parader magazine.. kept seeing ads for Metal Blade Records./Kill Em All. ... I bought the cassette for RIDE THE LIGHTNINg.. Fight Fire With Fire was the FIRST Metallica song i ever heard.. MY LIFE WAS CHANGED FOREVER AT THAT MOMENT...... 1984/85...

Loved hearing your story. I really connected with how you say certain bands or music changed your DNA. Early Metallica was def one of those for me as well. My first intro to them was Ride, and I actually got to see them open for Ozzy during the Master of Puppets and even got to meet Cliff backstage. That was definitely a life changing moment. Sad to say I moved on to other music and bands after the Black album but the new Black List album has got me nostalgic for them again and those earlier albums will always have a special place in my heart and record collection.

My discovery of Metallica goes back in the late 2000s. I was 12 when heard One and Trapped Under Ice in the Guitar Hero games. Eventually, I got Guitar Hero: Metallica and I fell in love with the band. In my spare time as a kid, I searched up the internet finding whatever music and documentaries about them. That was my entry into the metal where I discover other classic Metal groups from Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, and so on. Although I don't listen to a lot of metal these days, I always happen to play something from ...And Justice for All or Master of Puppets whenever I feel like it. I've grown to appreciate everything Metallica has done and I respect how they always did things on their own terms. If you were to ask me my favorite Metallica song? I would have to say Welcome Home (Sanitarium). The dynamic of how it starts off slow and haunting then it slowly becomes faster and aggressive at the end leaves me floored.

I was an AC/DC fanatic through and through (also had a different AC/DC shirt for every day) One day my guitar teacher was trying to teach me the clean part of “Master of puppets” and I said I don’t like Metallica because all I knew from them was “hey hey hey, here I gooooo now” and thought it was lame as a kid. And my guitar teacher said “just learn this song and listen to it and tell me what you think next week.” Needless to say I was obsessed and they grew to be my favorite band… besides AC/DC of course!

Here’s my story: My dad was always listening to hard rock and 80’s hair metal, so he burned a CD with all his songs from different bands. Enter Sandman was the only Metallica song in the CD. At this time (I was around 10), I didn’t have much music taste, and for many years after, I have listened to a lot of different stuff, but I never had a favorite band or genre. About 6 years ago, I discovered Nothing Else Matters on RU-vid, and shortly after The Unforgiven. I started to really like these songs. Then, I learned that the three Metallica songs I knew were in the very same album! So I listened to the whole album, and I thought it was amazing! After I looped through the album for weeks, I listened to songs from other albums, and I was slowly becoming a Metallica fan! Metallica was my first favorite band, they introduced me to metal and they motivated me to learn to play guitar. They changed my life.

Here’s an old Sithlord’s Metallica story 🤘😎🤘 Back in 1983 I was 17, my band mates and I were starting to get in to underground metal. I was searching for a certain sound but I didn’t know what it was yet. Then my fellow guitarist picked up “Kill ‘em All” from the import section of the local record store. He really like the cover art. He played it for me and I wasn’t that into it because their sound was so raw. I thought the songs were decent though. Then they dropped “Ride The Lightning”! There it was! The sound I yearned for! That Mesa low end crunch! I immediately learned “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Creeping Death” on guitar. Shortly after that they went on tour with WASP and Armored Saint to support RTL. Finally coming to our town. They set up a meet and greet with the band at a local record store. So my buddy and I went! I got to meet all 4 members (including CLIFF!) and got them to sign my RTL album. It’s now framed in my practice room and is basically untouched since they signed it. The sound of the guitars and the songs on that album changed my whole way of playing and made me a lifetime fan! There is a video on my page of the last time I played out live with a buddy’s band doing 3 Metallica songs (spur of the moment). We did “For Whom The Bell Tolls, Am I Evil, and Seek And Destroy”. We got cut off in the middle of seek and my drummer pal got way too hyped up during the set so the tempos are a little out of control 😂 Thanks for reading, have an awesome day! MTFBWY! 🤘😎🤘

1985, A friend of mine had just bought "Lightning". I heard it and was hooked!!!!

With me my first time i heard metallica was as a child and my mom would play this metallica song that was always her favorite, it was the song wherever i may roam. Still one of my favorite songs and they have became my fav band of all time. Ive seen them live twice and i play their songs every time i pick up my guitars.

Very interesting how your Metallica story and mine started off in similar ways. I first heard Metallica at an 8th grade dance in 1998. The DJ played, of all songs, The Memory Remains, and a group of guys I was friends with started headbanging, so obviously I needed to get in on this too. That meant my first album was Reload in summer of '98. I was hooked and wanted more, and my second album, just like you, was also Ride the Lightening which my parents gave me for Christmas that year. The contrast of going from Reload to Ride the Lightning really floored me and the next year I convinced my parents I needed a guitar too. Metallica changed the course of my life by making me a fan of heavy music specifically, but also of guitar music in general.

When my first band broke up It also caused me to fall into a dark depression. We got pretty good and we were playing a bunch of shows all over our state. We thought we were going places. Then it was all over. It was when we all got to be about 19-20 and had to move out of the house and get real jobs. We tried to get the old band back together and play our old songs but it was never the same.

started on early 00's where first time I heard The Unforgiven and Enter Sandman. became fan of them instantly, then I learned about their older stuffs (first 4 albums) then I hooked up to the band and inspired me to pick up a guitar and learn how to play their songs. did many things in life like doing boxing and learning other martial arts (I don't fight anymore) and at the end of the day, I became a rhythm guitarist/vocalist of my own cover band (yeah we fcking sucks though) but James Hetfield and Metallica inspired me to become a main man of my band.

My Metallica story: It was 7th grade during cross country, and our coach plays corny music like ac/dc and divorced dad music, so I’m running and I hear the most angelic guitar solo, followed by a chorus “on I burn, fuel is pumping engines” I loved the sound of the kick drum so when I went home I look up those lyrics and Metallica popped up. I thought to myself “I’ve heard these guys before, aren’t these guys like that sandman metal band ?” Then I put on One, and I was shocked, I never heard such heavy music before. That song changed my life, I got a guitar a year later for my birthday, and here I am.

When “One” got radio play I was about 12 years old. It blew my mind. Next thing a friend gave me a cassette with the black album which I took on vacation to France. I spent almost my whole vacation listening to it until it wore out. I was hooked and next thing you know I was preordering Live Shit with my dad from a local record store. Never had any music give me goosebumps as much as Metallica did. I was hooked. I threw my Guns n Roses “Use your Illusion” to the side and that was it. Have been a huge fan for almost thirty years now.

I was fifteen in 1990 and was listening to glam rock and my older brother’s music. I was at a friend’s house and he said ‘check out this album my brother just got’ and he puts Master of Puppets on the record player and hands me the cover. I was instantly hooked. I turned my back on glam and devoured the entire Metallica catalogue that had been released. I begged my parents for a guitar that Christmas and they obliged. They bought a used Aria Pro II ZZ that I found in the classifieds, mainly because it looked like James’ Explorer. Thirty one years later it’s still the same guitar I play with and record with. That record changed my trajectory forever.

I first discovered Metallica back in 2007 I was a freshman in HS. I remember being in marching and getting this new sheet of music “Enter Sandman” By Metallica. I loved how the brass had melody mostly. The drums. All of it sounded way too different to other stuff we were playing before, but i never really dug any deeper. A few months later an older cousin had a cd and played it for me. I didn’t know what it was. Until i heard the intro. It was Enter Sandman. I was mesmorized by the guitars and the drums! She let me have the cd. Which was the Black abum of course. I fell in love with it. It was a home made copy. So once i realised what it was called, I went to the music store and bought my self a copy. Still to this day it’s one of my favorite records. But i was mind blown when i bought Ride the Lightning, which led me to buy MAster of Puppets.

I’m 14 now and I remember Flipping Through my moms CD book When I was 10 Or 11. I saw and justice for all And was Drawn To It. I took it out And Played It On my Crappy little Radio. I loved every song And it Made me want To play Guitar. 3 Years later and my Fingers are as calloused as ever!

1986.....I was on my way to a Browns game w my bro in law. I was scrolling down around 88,89...those numbers. Landed on 'MoP' song playing. Never heard anything like it. Long song, lots of changes and different arrangements....blew me away. Friend of mine visited me soon after from Cincy and he had a ton of underground metal, punk and hardcore. It was on.. It was good times....Went out and bought Dark Angel 'Darkness Descends' around then...that REALLY changed things. Lol

My dads favorite band. He would blast them in the garage while working on projects when i was 3-4 years old. Been a favorite band since i could remember

We're a couple here... HIM: 1988, 6 years old. Already liked "metal things" like horror, The Road Warriors, The Heavy Metal Sisters (G.L.O.W.), basically anything with energy, attitude, spikes, chains, leather etc. But my older brother was really into metal artwork. He had posters of art for Megadeth, Iron Maiden etc. He was more into Public Enemy, Run DMC, etc., as far as listening goes, but he had some metal tapes, and Justice was brand new. We shared a room and he played it one night. It was bleak, heavy and intelligent. One came on and I was hooked. It was my favorite song for several years, probably until I discovered Diamond Head recordings. HER: A family friend who traveled a lot had went to places like England and California. He was young and into metal. He would come back with tapes. One of those tapes was No Life Til Leather from this unsigned band in LA. The rest is history...

Love this video! I can't remember the exact moment I first heard Metallica but i'm pretty sure it would've been one of these songs - Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters or Seek and Destroy. It's only really during the past year that I've actually explored their albums in full. I started at the beginning with Kill Em All and worked my way through their discography in chronological order, something I really like to do when checking out music that is new to me, and in this case as the albums were already in existence (meaning I didn't have to wait for the release of a new album) I could get to know them as a band albeit in a much shorter space of time. I must admit I do tend to stick to the first 5 albums. After getting to know their music better and then listening (on repeat) to the songs you guys put out in Sanctus, it is incredibly clear how much of an influence Metallica had on you all. Listening/watching to the Sanctus 30th anniversary podcast it's great to hear you all talk about that and about getting to see/ experience them in concert. I've yet to see them in concert myself but as soon as that opportunity arises I will be jumping at it. They really are a phenomenal band and they will continue to be for a long long time.

Mine is - We saw them opening for Ozzy in 86. Very different from what I was used to. James was in a cast at that time. When it was over me and my friends looked at each other and said "was that good or did that suck?" We had no reference point so we had to go and buy their tapes to find out. Many years later - still a fan!

The way I remember it was that my dad constantly played one of the Metallica dvd's (pretty sure it's Cunning Stunts) and my older sister would constantly point at Hetfield and just say "That's dad! That's dad!" and I'd just sit and watch it all repeatedly. For a while I just listened to the basic ones (Sandman, Fade to Black, Sanitarium and Nothing Else Matters). Then in early 2017 I listened to all of Master of Puppets. Then in 2020 I had a lot of time to listen to music because I didn't have much school and I just started listening to more and more Metallica. Now they're my favourite band.

You did well to get a copy of justice with the lyric sheet inside. Here in the UK, the first pressing of the record had a misprint on the lyrics, so the first however many albums didn't contain any lyrics! The vinyl was in a generic white paper sleeve. My parents used to say that when I grew up, my musical taste would change. I'd listen to what they called, "Real music", (basically what they listened to!) Well, I'm 50 now, and I still listen to Metallica, (I still listen to all the bands I loved as a kid) and even more! Just shows that our parents don't know everything, even if they think they do!

I have to say the first time I really listened to Metallica was in high school. Of course I’ve heard songs like Enter Sandman or One when I was younger thanks to my dad exposing me to a lot of older music. But that was essentially it. In high school, I realized how small my playlist was and wanted to expand it by exploring some artists and genres. I randomly picked Metallica to be the first to listen to. I wanted to listen to every album they had in chronological order. And I have to say, listening to Kill ‘em all, Master of Puppets, Ride the Lighting, etc. from front to back for the first time was something else. It may sound like I’m exaggerating, but it really did change my life. Songs like Orion or Fade to Black provided sounds and emotions that I’ve never heard or felt before then. After listening to all Metallica albums, I was inspired to listen to everything other artist have to offer instead of just listening to their hits. Some examples being Rush, Pink Floyd, Slayer, Megadeth, Dream Theatre, and now currently Buckethead. Metallica really opened my eyes to how powerful music can be and I will be forever grateful for them.

Ive been listening to Metallica since I can remember. My dad would always have a Metallica CD (usually a mixed CD with rtl or kea songs, but eventually got the ajfa cd) playing in his truck and so I grew up listening to them. They've always been a part of me and my main inspiration, I really resonate with them. Im 16 now and trying to get a band together all because of Metallica and bands like them. I wouldn't be who I am without them.

I found it when my friend played ‘One’ at guitar lessons

It was around '90. I was playing hide and seek with a friend. As I was hiding under his brother's bed, I stumbled across an old "Columbia House" version of Puppets. Being curious, I stuck it in my pocket. Later that night, I snuck the tape (Christian family) into my Walkman and was blown away when Battery fired up. I was hooked! That album set me firmly on the path to play music. Later, I would spend years chasing the MoP tone.

I was over at my friends house (January 1989) and we were watching MTV. 'One' came on and that was the greatest thing my 11 year old brain had ever heard. The Black Album was the first Metallica CD I bought though. Amazing band.

My Metallica journey started in 1984 with the album Ride the Lightning. I had a friend from a very religious family who taunted his parents incessantly over their uber religiousness, mainly with music. He bought as many records with controversial or satanic artwork he could find and plaster his walls with the jackets or inner sleeves. He had Motley Crue's Shout at the Devil sleeve (with black pentagram) on his wall facing the door so when you walked into his room that's the first thing you'd see haha. One day I went to his house after his latest record store excursion and he pulled out the brand spankin' new Ride the Lightning record. He put it on his record player and put the needle on the first track - Fight Fire With Fire. The acoustic intro started and I was intrigued. Then the band kicked in. As it did with you Mike, my life literally changed at that very moment. After that I quickly found Kill 'Em All and the rest is history.

I still vividly remember my first time hearing Metallica. I was doing school work at my desk and scrolling through RU-vid to find something to listen to (I think I was about 13 or 14 cant quite remember). As I was scrolling a song recommendation came up, it was Master of Puppets. I thought to myself "huh I've heard the name Metallica but idk anything about them." And weirdly enough, I decided to give it a listen. If nothing else it would make for a good laugh. Little did I know that song would change my life. After listening to it for the first time it blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it, and it showed me how awesome metal music is, solidifying them as my favorite band of all time! I'm 18 now and I've discovered numerous metal bands, listened to all the Metallica albums, and I got to see them live!

My Metallica story: I was still living in California when I was about 6 or 7. I remember going to a cousin's house, and as I was hanging out in his room I noticed a Metallica poster (something from the Justice era). He said if I haven't listened to them to give them a chance. Fast forward to about a year later, I remember watching the Sandman performance from the VMA's. From then on I tried to listen to Metallica whenever I can. Load actually ended up being the album that made me a fan for life, as I realized they're not just an awesome metal band, they're awesome ARTISTS! . First Metallica album was Ride The Lightning, and first Metallica tab book when I started playing guitar was ReLoad

So much of your story rings true with me as well!... except it was Master of Puppets. My friend got the album from his older brother and was dubbing it while he wasn't home ( we were definitely NOT allowed to touch it!!) I remember thinking, "oh man, we're going to get in so much trouble for touching his tape." My anxiety was very high at this point - I was a rule abiding kid who didn't want to upset anyone... then Master of Puppets started with the most angry, intense, fast guitar I'd ever heard... and like you said, my DNA changed... all of a sudden, I didn't care if we were caught... as long as we could finish dubbing the tape, and I could get a copy! I still have it to this day. So much more of your story is similar to mine, but I'm not going to bore everyone by regurgitating it :) They've already heard it in your awesome video.

(1987) After giving up guitar trying to play Wipe out, when i was 12, the first time I heard Metallica was also the first time i saw a real electric guitar and amp at a friend's house. This other guy played the intro slide chord on Metal Militia. I told myself that i could do that! So i started playing electric guitar and learned every 'tallica song i could wtih tabs...and ME TOO had a best friend ( still is ) who was my guitar brother and we also started a band playing Metallica songs and we became the high school cover band for 4 years!! We played everything from country to well, Metallica! Yup, we were teen weirdos who became cooler then the cool guys! THANKS METALLICA !!! First Metallica show: Damaged Justice Tour 1989. Moncton New Brunswick Canada !! 🤟 BTW: Your young band pic is priceless!!

In the 90s, I once borrowed a cassette from a friend. (Bootleg); Metallica - Live in USA (now I know it was; Live At Kabuki Theater, San Francisco, California USA March 15th, 1985). I've never heard anything like this before. Adrenaline, aggression and music, pure gold! Then another bootleg from the Damage Justice tour. Oh shit! Then I discovered studio albums; Ride, Kill, Justice, Master and Black. A year and a half in the life of Metallica, two videotapes. Shit, it really changed my life :-) A small offtop. Megadeth ;-) There was a bit different. Some time later, there was this friend, there was a cassette (Killing), but it didn't hit me then. Two or three years later, I discovered Rust In Peace. And again; Oh shit! It `s genius! Then; Countdown, So far, Peace, Killing, etc. To this day, I love both bands.

The first time I listened to metallica was October 2017. My dad was going to a concert so then I searched up metallica and the first song I listened to was master of puppets. It literally made me jump it was so heavy I thought. Since then, I've gone to see them live in Manchester in 2019. One of the best days of my life. I mean, its metallica and its the reason I started playing guitar.

I first heard Metallica around 2012, it was during the undertaker vs triple h feud and they used The memory remains in all the promo build ups, and I remembered thinking "hey that sounds really cool" so I kept listening to that. Then I discovered fade to black and it just blew my mind away. Then slowly I discovered songs like "for whom the bells toll, seek and destroy, four horseman, ride the lightning," and I knew from that point on this was my favorite band ever

Somewhere around 1987 I heard MoP for the first time. I was already a huge Maiden and Black Sabbath fan and I was hooked immediately. From Kill Em All to ...And Justice for All is basically burned in to my brain.

My dad was playing blackened one day and I heard the breakdown or groovy part whatever you want to call it. And then I was hooked and then I heard the lines like “see our mother put to death see our mother dieeeeee.” I was hooked. I loved it so much. The song was awesome. And then he played a Metallica concert and I heard stuff like fuel, creeping death, dyers eve, one, bleeding me, etc. and I instantly became a fan. And now I’m a Metallica Superfan lol

Back when i was a wee lad of about 16 or 17, i didn't have a particular taste in music at the time. This was about '98-99 and i was a sophomore or Junior in HS. Most of the music i listened to at the time was usually anything from movie soundtracks, so I was a little eclectic at the time, until a friend of mine convinced me to buy/listen to the Black Album. Quick side note, my family owned a bar most of my childhood-teen years and we had a jukebox. i noticed this album was on there, but i never found it interesting at the time and vaguely recall hearing some of it in passing when i happened to be there. So, as soon as i heard Sandman and Sad But True, two things happened in my brain: I fell in love with Heavy Metal in general, as well as Metallica, but also intrigued me when i bought the guitar tab book and that same friend informed me his dad had some old cheap guitar that he let me borrow and i started trying to teach myself how to play some of these songs (Bellz eventually became the first song i could sort of play and sing simultaneously). So my discovery of, and subsequent love for Metallica is also the spark for my guitar story. And even though this was just before the Napster debacle where people were boycotting Metallica for that, and also griping about the style changes from Load and Reload, and i started collecting all the albums i could get my hands on, those being the next two, as well as G Inc, which i didn't understand the concept of cover songs yet, either. I recieved all 4 of the pre-Black Albums for xmas one year, but having never heard any of those songs, i was briefly turned off by those albums, mainly due to James's voice being higher pitched, and unfamiliar back then, until i started getting more and more into playing guitar, and learning more and more of their songs, at least to the extent the books were written. I've only had +/- 1 year of formal lessons, so i have been mostly learning on my own since then, and i've grown to love just about any metal that sounds like Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden (those are my top 3, in no specific order) and some more recent groups such as Disturbed and A7X. Not to get too long-winded here, my taste in music doesn't end there, but it does have very specific requirements for me to enjoy listening to it. I was also a music major in college, for more years than i'd like to admit, and i genuinely enjoy hearing orchestral/symphonic/classical type music. Then there's the whole issue with them firing Dave Mustaine, which i had a HUGE misconception about, leading me to dislike both him AND Megadeth until sometime in the mid 00's, when i read the AJFA Biography written back in 2003 or whenever St Anger had come out. I"m sure there are other things i could babble on about, but that seems to cover my story.