The A-Z Of Metallica
Your alphabetical guide to Metallica
They're one of the biggest heavy metal bands of all time and have had nothing short of a rollercoaster career. But how much do you know? Here's the complete 26-point alphabetical guide to everything 'Tallica related – from Alcoholica to Zazula.
A is for Alcoholica
It’s no exaggeration to say that if it wasn’t for alcohol, there almost certainly would never have been a Metallica, with the super-introverted James Hetfield leaning heavily on booze from day one in order to conquer his stage fright and crippling shyness. On Ride The Lighting the quartet gave a shout out to Carlsberg, by Master Of Puppets their burgeoning status meant they were giving “xtra fucken yahooz” to Absolut Vodka. But as Hetfield later noted, the Alcoholica tag “turned from fun into destruction: it started to take over us.” Hetfield’s subsequent admission into rehab circa St. Anger saved his band, his marriage and quite possibly his life.
B is for Burton
Though taken from this world in tragic circumstances on September 27, 1986, Clifford Lee Burton aka ‘The Legend in Loon Pants’, will always be part of Metallica. That James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich were prepared to uproot from Los Angeles to San Francisco purely to make Burton part of their band speaks volumes about the bassist’s charisma and talent, and his musicianship, compositional skills and creative fearlessness helped transform a scrappy garage band into a genuinely world class outfit. He will be forever missed.
C is for Covers
From 1987’s $5.98 EP (Jason Newsted’s first recording with the band) to 1998’s Garage Inc. collection through to their 2012 cover of Deep Purple’s When A Blind Man Cries (exclusively covered for a Classic Rock fan-pack magazine), Metallica have never been shy of paying tribute to their influences. Indeed at their very first gigs, back in March/April 1982, the quartet would play up to seven or eight cover songs a night, neglecting to tell those watching that the likes of Am I Evil? and Killing Time were in fact NWOBHM originals. Cunning.
They're one of the biggest heavy metal bands of all time and have had nothing short of a rollercoaster career. But how much do you know? Here's the complete 26-point alphabetical guide to everything 'Tallica related – from Alcoholica to Zazula.
A is for Alcoholica
It’s no exaggeration to say that if it wasn’t for alcohol, there almost certainly would never have been a Metallica, with the super-introverted James Hetfield leaning heavily on booze from day one in order to conquer his stage fright and crippling shyness. On Ride The Lighting the quartet gave a shout out to Carlsberg, by Master Of Puppets their burgeoning status meant they were giving “xtra fucken yahooz” to Absolut Vodka. But as Hetfield later noted, the Alcoholica tag “turned from fun into destruction: it started to take over us.” Hetfield’s subsequent admission into rehab circa St. Anger saved his band, his marriage and quite possibly his life.
B is for Burton
Though taken from this world in tragic circumstances on September 27, 1986, Clifford Lee Burton aka ‘The Legend in Loon Pants’, will always be part of Metallica. That James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich were prepared to uproot from Los Angeles to San Francisco purely to make Burton part of their band speaks volumes about the bassist’s charisma and talent, and his musicianship, compositional skills and creative fearlessness helped transform a scrappy garage band into a genuinely world class outfit. He will be forever missed.
C is for Covers
From 1987’s $5.98 EP (Jason Newsted’s first recording with the band) to 1998’s Garage Inc. collection through to their 2012 cover of Deep Purple’s When A Blind Man Cries (exclusively covered for a Classic Rock fan-pack magazine), Metallica have never been shy of paying tribute to their influences. Indeed at their very first gigs, back in March/April 1982, the quartet would play up to seven or eight cover songs a night, neglecting to tell those watching that the likes of Am I Evil? and Killing Time were in fact NWOBHM originals. Cunning.
