Since today is the release of the much anticipated Death Magnetic, I thought it would be fun to share some lesser known info about the one and only Metallica.
James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich met after James responded to an ad Lars had placed in The Recycler, which was looking for people to jam with.
Lars stole the name Metallica from his friend Ron Quintana, who was starting a metal fanzine and asked Lars for help in picking a name. When Ron suggested Metallica, Lars suggested another name and he kept if for himself.
Metallica’s original was: James Hetfield (vocals, guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Dave Mustaine (guitar) and Ron McGovney (bass).
James Hetfield designed the band’s original logo, as well as, the band’s newer star logo.
Metallica’s first original recording was “Hits The Lights”, which was featured on the 1981 compilation Metal Massacre I .
Metallica’s first show was on March 14, 1982 at Radio City in Anaheim, CA.
The band relocated from L.A. to San Francisco in order for bassist Cliff Burton to join the band.
Guitarist Kirk Hammett, who replaced Dave Mustaine in 1983, has been using rogaine since the 90′s.
Metallica’s debut album, 1983′s Kill ‘Em All, was originally entitled Metal Up Your Ass.
The track “The Four Horsemen” was originally written by Dave Mustaine and entitled “The Mechanix”. After Mustaine was kicked out of the band, Metallica changed the song around into “The Four Horsemen”, Mustaine did receive writing credit for the song though. “The Mechanix” was be included on Megadeath’s debut album “Killing Is My Business…And Business is Good!.
James Hetfield has broken his wrist twice from skateboarding, first in 1986 and again in 1987.
After the death of Cliff Burton in 1986 over 40 bass players tried out as his replacement, including Les Claypool of Primus.
The video for “One”, from 1988′s …And Justice For All, features footage from the 1971 film Johnny Got His Gun. The band had trouble getting the rights to use clips from the film, so they bought the rights to the entire film instead
The recording of the band’s 1991 self-titled album, aka The Black Album, cost the band $1 million and ended three marriages.
The band’s 1996 album Load is their longest album, clocking in at 78 minutes and 59 seconds.
In 1996 Metallica headlined Lollapalooza. Also on the bill were: Soundgarden, The Ramones, Rancid, Screaming Trees, Ben Folds Five, Sponge, Melvins and more. On selected dates were: Rage Against The Machine, Waylon Jennings, Wu-Tang Clan, 311, Cheap Trick and Devo.
The band’s only Saturday Night Live performance was on December 6, 1997. The band performed “The Memory Remains” and “Fuel”. Their first attempt at SNL was in 1987, but were forced to cancel their appearance after James broke his wrist.
Bassist Robert Trujillo replaced Jason Newsted in 2003, after Newsted left the band in 2001. Trujillo had toured with Metallica in the 90′s while in Suicidal Tendencies. He also toured with Alice in Chains’ main man Jerry Cantrell, and performed on his second solo album Degradation Trip. Trujillo was also a part of Ozzy Osbourne’s band, oddly enough Jason Newsted replaced him for Ozzfest 2003. Ozzy’s band also featured former Faith No More drummer Mike “Puffy” Bordin, who happens to be a close friend of Kirk Hammett.
On September 2, 2008, a French record store began selling copies of Death Magnetic, which resulted in the album leaking online. This also prompted the band’s UK distributer to release the album on September 10. Surprisingly, the band doesn’t seem to mind. Lars Ulrich has stated: “We’re ten days from release. I mean, from here, we’re golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me,” and, “By 2008 standards, that’s a victory. If you’d told me six months ago that our record wouldn’t leak until 10 days out, I would have signed up for that.”
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