Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in three weeks with producer Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. The artwork, based on a concept by the band, depicts an electric chair being struck by lightning flowing from the band logo. The title was taken from a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand, in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair.
Metallica is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on August 12, 1991, by Elektra Records, it is commonly referred to as The Black Album because of its packaging design. Its recording took place at One on One Studios in Los Angeles over an eight-month span that frequently found Metallica at odds with their new producer Bob Rock. The album marked a change in the band's music from the thrash metal style of their previous four albums to a slower, heavier, and more refined sound.
Load is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on June 4, 1996 by Elektra Records in the United States and by Vertigo Records internationally. The album showed more of a hard rock side of Metallica than the band's typical thrash metal style, which alienated much of the band's fanbase. It also featured influences from genres such as Southern rock, blues rock, country rock, and alternative rock. Drummer Lars Ulrich said about Load's more exploratory nature, "This album and what we're doing with it – that, to me, is what Metallica are all about: exploring different things. The minute you stop exploring, then just sit down and fucking die." Load is the first of Metallica's albums to feature only three songwriters, the other being 2016's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct. At 79 minutes, Load is Metallica's longest studio album.
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.
...And Justice for All is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 7, 1988 by Elektra Records. It was the first album following the death of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, and the first to feature new bassist Jason Newsted.
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's No Life 'til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. The band was asked to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success.
St. Anger is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on June 5, 2003. It was the last Metallica album released through Elektra Records and the final collaboration between Metallica and longtime producer Bob Rock, with whom the band had worked since 1990. This is the band's only album not to feature an official bass player, as Jason Newsted left Metallica prior to the recording sessions; Rock played the album's bass parts in his place.
The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited is the first extended play by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on August 21, 1987, by Elektra Records. It consists entirely of covers of late-'70s and early-'80s new wave of British heavy metal bands and punk rock music rehearsed in Lars Ulrich's soundproofed garage and then recorded in Los Angeles over the course of six days. It is the group's first release following the death of bassist Cliff Burton and the first to feature his successor, Jason Newsted.
Jason Curtis Newsted is an American musician who was the bassist of American heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. Beginning his career with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986, he successfully auditioned with Metallica following the death of Cliff Burton. Newsted performed on the albums ...And Justice for All (1988), Metallica (1991), Load (1996), and Reload (1997), the most album appearances among Metallica's bassists.
"One" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the third and final single from their fourth studio album, ...And Justice for All (1988). Written by band members Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, "One" is an anti-war song that portrays a World War I soldier who is severely wounded—arms, legs and jaw blown off by a landmine, blind and unable to speak or move—begging God to take his life. His only hope is to devise a way to communicate with the hospital staff. In the music video, he jolts in the hospital bed, spelling "Kill me" in Morse code. Production of the song was done by the band alongside Flemming Rasmussen. The song was the band's first to chart in the U.S., reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was also a number one hit in Finland.
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a 2004 American documentary film about American heavy metal band Metallica. The film follows the band from 2001 to 2003, a turbulent period in the band's history which included the production of their 2003 album St. Anger, frontman James Hetfield entering into rehab for alcoholism and the departure of bassist Jason Newsted as well as the hiring of his replacement Robert Trujillo. The title of the film shares its name with the song of the same name from St. Anger.
"For Whom the Bell Tolls" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was first released on the group's second album, Ride the Lightning (1984). Elektra Records also released it as a promotional single, with both edited and full-length versions. The song is generally regarded as one of Metallica's most popular; by March 2018, it ranked number five on the band's live performance count. Several live albums and video albums include the song.
Systematic was an American hard rock band from Oakland, California. They were one of the first signings to Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich's record label, The Music Company, via Elektra Records. The band released two studio albums before disbanding in 2004.
"Master of Puppets" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 2, 1986, as the only single from the band's 1986 studio album of the same name. It was also issued as a promo single in the US by Elektra Records.
John Charles Goudie is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, record producer, actor, and podcaster based in Austin, Texas. In his four-decade career, he has received acclaim for his unique vocals and a musical style rooted in classic rock. Goudie has been the recipient of four Austin Music Awards and has fronted several bands including Goudie, Mr. Rocket Baby, Lovetree, Panjandrum, Liars & Saints, and the Little Champions. He has also been a sideman in several other bands, notably Endochine, the Lossy Coils, and Skyrocket.
Peep Show is the debut album by Goudie. It was recorded at Brooklyn Bridge Studio in Austin, Texas. The song "Julia" is the result of a collaboration between Johnny Goudie and Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's. The song "When Will You Be Mine" features vocals by Aimee Mann. The album was recorded twice. The initial sessions took place in Los Angeles with producer Fred Maher and featured Lars Ulrich playing drums on "When Will You Be Mine." The band was not satisfied with the result of the Los Angeles sessions, considering the album too glossy and not edgy enough. They returned to Austin, Texas with producer Mike McCarthy, where they recorded the version of the album that would be released.
Wherever We May Roam was a concert tour by the American heavy metal band Metallica in support of their eponymous fifth studio album. It began in autumn of 1991. The North American legs ran through summer 1992, followed by the Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour, the Wherever We May Roam European leg, and finally the Nowhere Else to Roam tour of smaller markets in North America, Mexico, Asia, Australia, South America, Europe and Israel, ending in the summer of 1993.
"Better Than You" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the fifth track on their seventh album, Reload. The song was originally titled "Better". It won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, the band's fourth award in that category. The song is about somebody who's obsessed of the struggle to be better than somebody else. The band performed a jam of the song for the first time in London in 1995. The single cover features the same picture as the cover of Metallica's Cunning Stunts as well as on the final page of Reload. The 2011 book Metallica: The Music And The Mayhem describes the song as "(qualifying) on all grounds, with lyrics full of festering resentment, and Hammett giving a lengthy solo."
"Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Hetfield wrote the lyrics, which deal with the concept of a child's nightmares.
