Metallica

Metallica was one of the first bands i truly got "into". I can remember listening to a tape of theirs on one of those crappy portable cassette recorders from the 80's with the speaker built into the unit. I got into them because my brother was into them and they were one of the bands the bad kids listened to during that time. So as an impressionable youngster it was a match made in heaven.

Metallica have been through many changes since their inception in the early 1980's and seem to have come more or less full circle with their latest album, The Death Magnetic. I don't much care for their 90's material (Load, Reload, etc) because it doesn't deliver on why I fell in love with the band in the first place: extended songs featuring virtuoso musicianship, dark sometimes introspective lyrics, and classical music song structures and modes.

As such, my listening recommendations sit squarely in their "classic" period during the 1980's. For me, the standout material includes:

• Fade to Black - From the album Ride the Lightning. Years ahead of its time musically. Remember this was recorded in 1984, when Van Halen, Phil Collins, and Madonna were topping the charts.


• Fight Fire with Fire - From the album Ride the Lightning. I like this song because of the cool classical guitar intro and the heavy, heavy sound after that. Again, ahead of its time sounding like something Cannibal Corpse or Slayer might do years later.


• Master of Puppets - From the album of the same name.


• Orion - From the album Master of Puppets. A long instrumental that really shows off the compositional skills of Metallica. Released in 1986, this is one of my favorite metal songs of all.


• . . . And Justice for All - Basically the entire album. Some songs are stronger than others, but the band really nailed their sound on this album.

Other Albums
I haven't listed anything from Kill 'Em All or 'The Black Album' even though I do like both of those albums. I just feel that both are sort of "bookends" and don't display the real talent of the band or showcase their best work. If you want to hear the entire creative arc of this highly influential band, I'd recommend including both of these in your music library.

Again, I really don't like most of the mid-to-late 90's output. Clearly Metallica was struggling to find their audience and their muse in the wake of the huge success they had had and the sudden shift in popular music with the advent of Grunge. I haven't heard all of The Death Magnetic (2008) but it sounds a lot more like their classic material that anything released in recent years.