The name 'Metallica' alone evokes chunky guitar riffs and thumping drums to any music fan's ears. Today, they are one of the most successful bands on the planet, and it's been quite a journey getting to that lofty position. Inside this special edition from the makers of Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, we will dive into the history of the band from formation to Kill 'em All, Cliff Burton, the black album, lineup changes and beyond. With backstage access from the band members themselves and the producers that helped catapult them into superstardom, this is a must-have for any fan of the world-slaying thrash masters.
Classic Rock Special: Metallica
Editor
The spoilt brat, the introvert, the big-mouth and ‘the strangest-looking dude’: Metallica - the early years
THE STORY BEHIND… Kill ’Em All METALLICA • IT WAS 1983. Def Leppard’s Pyromania was selling in its millions. Monsters Of Rock at Donington was headlined by Whitesnake. Quiet Riot were storming the US charts with a cover of Slade’s Come On Feel The Noize. Accept were delivering state-of-the-art metal with Restless & Wild… and a young band from the Bay Area of San Francisco were about to turn the metal world on its head.
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS • Metallica’s pivotal 1984 album Ride The Lightning marked their transition from thrash wannabes into superstars in the making. But their peers – including rivals Exodus – weren’t impressed…
GARAGE DAZE • BACK IN 1985, METALLICA COULDN’T HAVE BEEN FURTHER AWAY FROM THE STADIUM-PACKING BEHEMOTH THEY ARE TODAY. PUT THAT YEAR MARKED A SEMINAL POINT IN THEIR CAREER: 12 MONTHS THAT SAW THEM DRINK, FUCK AND FIGHT THEIR WAY THROUGH METAL’S LOWER RANKS WHILE GETTING ON WITH THE BUSINESS OF WRITING THE GREATEST METAL ALBUM OF ALL TIME. MORE THAN 30 YEARS ON FROM THE RELEASE OF MASTER OF PUPPETS, WE REVISIT A BAND ON THE EDGE OF GLORY…
METALLICA CLIFF BURTON • Cliff Burton was a one-off, and perhaps no one better summarises what it is to be metal. From his stubborn individuality to his taste in music, he personified our culture in a way that few others have. We pay tribute to the greatest metalhead of our time.
GONE FOR A BURTON • Streetfighting men: James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Cliff Burton, on the early part of the road to becoming the biggest metal band on the planet. Could the last photograph used on the last page of Metallica’s Damage Inc. tour brochure in 1986 have hidden a final farewell from their bassist Cliff Burton?
DAMaGE INC • By 1986, thrash metal had outgrown its violent playground in the dives of San Francisco, and Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax were about to release albums that would change the face of music. This is the story of the year that thrash broke, by the people who were there.
…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL • Master Of Puppets had broken big. But with Cliff Burton’s death and Slayer and Guns N’ Roses breaking new ground, Metallica’s next step was uncertain…
BLACK IN BLACK • It was the record that transformed Metallica from the world’s most uncompromising metal band into the very biggest. The band members look back on the fraught but triumphant sessions that produced the Black Album. Asking the million-dollar questions: Jon Hotten.
METALLICA METALLICA • Making it nearly destroyed them, but it turned them into global superstars.
THRASH TILL DEATH? • In 1991 the thrash metal party came to an end. The culprits? Grunge, funk-metal and Metallica’s fifth album. This is the story of how the Black Album killed thrash…
BATTLE OF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS GUNS N' ROSES VS METALLICA • THE EGOS! THE EXPLOSIONS THE CRUSHED EYEBALLS! THE INSIDE STORY OF ROC’S ULTIMATE TOUR
HEROES OF THE DAY • Abysmal misstep or misunderstood classic? Load boasted a new image, a new logo and, most controversially, a...
