Metallica discography

Metallica is perhaps the most famous metal band in the world. The group was founded in 1981 by guitarist/singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich in Los Angeles, California.

There would be constant changes in the band, but by the time they recorded their debut album Kill 'Em All, Kirk Hammett was the officially lead guitarist and Cliff Burton was the bassist. That album helped Metallica received a strong following due to the intensity and speed of their music. When they released their sophomore disc Ride the Lightening a year later, their music was slightly slower and their song structure was fine-tuned. This would eventually be their signature style, which earned them mainstream acceptance.

In 1986, Metallica release Master of Puppets. That would be the last album Cliff Burton played on, as he died in September of that year when the group's tour bus crashed in Sweden. Weeks after the funeral, Metallica recruited Jason Newstead as the new bassist and in 1988, they recorded ...And Justice For All. It was when Metallica released their self-titled album (or the Black Album as it was referred to) in 1991 that gave them their most success. Six singles came off the LP and it hit number one on the Billboard 200.

Metallica would release several more efforts, including Load, ReLoad, Garage Inc. and even recorded a mash-up with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra entitled S&M. Jason Newstead left the group in 2001, so longtime producer Bob Rock temporarily filled in bass duties until Robert Trujillo became the full-time replacement. The last album Metallica released was St. Anger in 2003. All of this has also been documented in the film Some Kind of Monster.

Here is the listing of Metallica bands current members :
James Hetfield - Instrument: Vocals, guitar. Project: Leather Charm, Obsession.
Lars Ulrich - Instrument: Drums.
Kirk Hammett - Instrument: Guitar (Exodus)
Robert Trujillo - Instrument: Bass. Project: Black Label Society, Suicidal Tendencies, Ozzy Osbourne.

Here is the listing of Metallica bands Ex members :
Ron McGovney [1981-1982] - Instrument: Bass.
Cliff Burton [1982-1986] - Instrument: Bass. Died in 1986
Dave Mustaine [1982-1983] - Instrument: Guitar.
Jason Newsted [1986-2001] - Instrument: Bass

Metallica's first album, Kill 'Em All, was released in late 1983 and some ferocious touring which saw the band's reputation soar both in the US and Europe. In 1984 they went to work with producer Flemming Rassmussen in Copenhagen at Sweet Silence Studios on their second album. 'Ride The Lightning' proved that Metallica were not some thrash-in-the-pan one trick pony, the writing and sound illustrating a growth, maturity and intensity which saw them immediately targeted by major management in QPrime, and a major label in Elektra. Both deals were done by the fall of '84 and their reputation continued to grow worldwide.

Kill 'Em All (1983)

1. Hit The Lights
2. The Four Horsemen
3. Motorbreath
4. Jump In The Fire
5. (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth
6. Whiplash
7. Phantom Lord
8. No Remorse
9. Seek & Destroy
10. Metal Militia
11. Am I Evil?
12. Blitzkrieg

Kill 'Em All may have revitalized heavy metal's underground, but Ride the Lightning was even more stunning, exhibiting staggering musical growth and boldly charting new directions that would affect heavy metal for years to come. Incredibly ambitious for a one-year-later sophomore effort, Ride the Lightning finds Metallica aggressively expanding their compositional technique and range of expression. Every track tries something new, and every musical experiment succeeds mightily. The lyrics push into new territory as well -- more personal, more socially conscious, less metal posturing. But the true heart of Ride the Lightning lies in its rich musical imagination. There are extended, progressive epics; tight, concise groove-rockers; thrashers that blow anything on Kill 'Em All out of the water, both in their urgency and the barest hints of melody that have been added to the choruses. Some innovations are flourishes that add important bits of color, like the lilting, pseudo-classical intro to the furious &"Fight Fire with Fire," or the harmonized leads that pop up on several tracks. Others are major reinventions of Metallica's sound, like the nine-minute, album-closing instrumental &"The Call of Ktulu," or the haunting suicide lament &"Fade to Black." The latter is an all-time metal classic; it begins as an acoustic-driven, minor-key ballad, then gets slashed open by electric guitars playing a wordless chorus, and ends in a wrenching guitar solo over a thrashy yet lyrical rhythm figure. Basically, in a nutshell, Metallica sounded like they could do anything. Heavy metal hadn't seen this kind of ambition since Judas Priest's late-'70s classics, and Ride the Lightning effectively rewrote the rule book for a generation of thrashers. If Kill 'Em All was the manifesto, Ride the Lightning was the revolution itself.

Ride The Lightning(1984):

1 Fight Fire With Fire
2 Ride The Lightning
3 For Whom The Bell Tolls
4 Fade To Black
5 Trapped Under Ice
6 Escape
7 Creeping Death
8 The Call Of Ktulu

MASTER OF PUPPETS was Metallica's last album with bass player Cliff Burton. Burton was killed in a traffic accident. He was replaced by Jason Newsted.

Metallica's irresistible rise to the top continued with this enigmatic 1986 album. Metallica was a constant touring unit by this point, and their combination of light and dark and their deft staccato delivery, especially on the title track, came brusquely through. Their ever-lengthening arrangements (three songs came in at over eight minutes), bolstered by the precise snap of Hetfield's vocals, testified to their undeniable power. The striding "Battery," the darkly lit "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)," as well as the complex instrumental "Orion" all gave powerful testament to their ever-developing skill and vision.

Master Of Puppets1986:

1 Battery
2 Master Of Puppets
3 The Thing That Should Not Be
4 Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
5 Disposable Heroes
6 Leper Messiah
7 Orion (Instrumental)
8 Damage, Inc.

Following the death of bassist Cliff Burton, Metallica hit the studio's to create what sounds (if possible to quantify) like their angriest album. Released in 1988, %u2026And Justice For All features the most progressive and lengthy Metallica songs ever recorded. It may not be Metallica's best album, but it is still one the best metal albums.

%u2026And Justice For All Lyrics
This is vocalist James Hetfield's strongest contribution lyrically. His lyrics are powerful, and extremely focused; they deal mostly with injustice (both political and moral). The album provides a bleak commentary on American society in 1988. The death of former bassist Cliff Burton may have provided the fuel that would ignite the creation of Metallica's absolute rage.

%u2026And Justice For All Album Structure
This album follows the conventional format for the previous two albums (Ride The Lightning and Master of Puppets). It begins with a melodic intro that leads into a full-force brutal expedition of metal. The title track (...And Justice For All) is featured as the second song the album.

Similar to the previous two metallica albums, the fourth song is a ballad, the 8th song is a lengthy instrumental piece, and the final track is a terse explosion of thrash metal. The songs contain multiple different components, and frequently shift time-signature changes (more often then previous albums). There are still plenty of thrash metal riffs to be heard in this album, but they are squeezed in-between guitar riffs that focus on technical execution.

And Justice For All(1988) :

1 Blackened
2 ...And Justice For All
3 Eye Of The Beholder
4 One
5 The Shortest Straw
6 Harvester Of Sorrow
7 The Frayed Ends Of Sanity
8 To Live Is To Die
9 Dyers Eve

With 12 songs ready Metallica entered One On One Studios again. As I have previous mentioned they were located in Los Angeles. The producer was Bob Rock and the record to be recorded was "Metallica", more commonly known as "The Black Album" or "The Snake". This is the most known record among non-Metallica fans. On the 12th of August Metallica released thier 5th album. Within a week of its release it sold over 600,000 units in the US alone. The record proved a collection of tremendous lyrics and powerful music, it was a little bit more subtle than the others. Metallica began to recieve some of the recognition they deserved. This lead to 5 Singles, a double Live CD + three video package, a double video and a massive 300-gigs world tour (in 37 countries) which lasted about 3 years. The tour was only halted on 8 August -92 (in Montreal) when James was burned in a pyro accident.
Preceding the album was a single 'Enter Sandman' which included 'Hoolier than thou', a Sandman demo and 'Stone cold crazy'. Stone cold crazy was previously available on a Elektra 25 year compilation

Metallica1991

1 Enter Sandman
2 Sad But True
3 Holier Than Thou
4 The Unforgive
5 Wherever I May Roam
6 Don't Tread On Me
7 Through The Never
8 Nothing Else Matters
9 Of Wolf And Man
10 The God That Failed
11 My Friend Of Misery
12 The Struggle Within

The kings of speed metal have never been keen on being labeled, and LOAD, which follows up the 1991 mega-hit METALLICA, is a surprising pastiche of sonic fury. Metallica still rocks hard. James Hetfield's lyrics are still full of venom and anger, and the music still could scare small children. But the band is ready to show off other sides of its craft. "Hero Of The Day" sounds like an R.E.M. song, albeit a heavy one, with its tender beginning and ending confluence of harmonized vocals and catchy guitar riffs. A dose of the blues can be heard in the slow-burning "Bleeding Me," and a downright country twang pervades "Mama Said."

Still, this is a metal album, and there are headbanging riffs o'plenty. LOAD may seem like a departure from the Metallica "norm," but it's actually what the band has been doing all along: writing well-crafted songs without a regard for what others think. The only difference is that the one-time denizens of the underground now have the world's rapt attention.

Load 1996

1 Aint My Bitch
2 2 x 4
3 The House That Jack Built
4 Until It Sleeps
5 King Nothing
6 Hero of the Day
7 Bleeding Me
8 Cure
9 Poor Twisted Me
10 Wasting My Hate
11 Mama Said
12 Thorn Within
13 Ronnie
14 The Outlaw Torn

The album Reload is essentially the tracks that were not finished from the Load sessions, at the time the band had planned to make Load a double album but after a lengthy stay in the studio they decided to split it up over two albums. The band insisted that these weren't Load rejects and claimed that these songs were of a more extreme nature either heavier or mellower that needed more time spent so they decided to leave them for this album.

Kicking off with the bombastic Fuel, the album immediately announces itself as a "don't fuck with this" type of affair. Memory bares another side of the met with an interesting choice of guest vocals by Marianne faithful (renowned for her escapades involving Mick Jagger and a mars bar!!) that offset the often-unrealised heaviness and greatness of the song. Devils Dance is a mother of a song, with a bass heavy grove underlying the entire journey with monstrous vocals throughout.

Up next we have an astonishing ballad in the form of the Unforgiven II, more than a reworking of the original with a character of its own whilst still being underpinned with the melody of the first from the Black Album. This track is immensely deep and powerful, an awesome track, and in my opinion an equal for the already acclaimed Unforgiven released some six years previous to this offering.

Reload 1997

1 Fuel
2 The Memory Remains
3 Devil's Dance
4 The Unforgiven II
5 Better Than You
6 Slither
7 Carpe Diem Baby
8 Bad Seed
9 Where The Wild Things Are
10 Prince Charming
11 Low Man's Lyric
12 Attitude
13 Fixxxer

Features all the cover songs Metallica have recorded over the years plus 11 new cover songs from 1998.

Lars: "I believe that music history should be explored by music lovers. And I think people are short-changing themselves if they don't take a step back to understand, or even appreciate, where things came from. I think what Garage Inc. does is give people a better understanding of our influences, what has inspired us over the years and what still turns us on musically."
Lars: "We make albums like Garage Inc. because they're fun to do. Doing covers has always been a great way for us to break away from our normal recording process. It allows for a much looser approach, and it's always fun taking other people's songs and adding our own spin to them."

Garage Inc. 1998

Disc 1

1 Free Speech For The Dumb
2 It's Electric
3 Sabbra Cadabra
4 Turn The Page
5 Die Die My Darling
6 Loverman
7 Mercyful Faith
8 Astronomy
9 Whiskey In The Jar
10 Tuesday's Gone
11 The More I See

Disc 2

1 Helpless
2 The Small Hours
3 The Wait
4 Crash Course In Brain Surgery
5 Last Caress / Green Hell
6 Am I Evil?
7 Blitzkreig
8 Breadfan
9 The Prince
10 Stone Cold Crazy
11 So What
12 Killing Time
13 Overkill
14 Damage Case
15 Stone Dead Forever
16 Too Late Too Late

James: "Michael Kamen came to us with the idea almost two years ago. He'd done projects with other rock people, like David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd. He wanted to get a little more extreme, so he chose us. I'm sure there's something more extreme -- he could have picked, like, Graveworm -- but I think we were a pretty good choice. We said, "Hell, yeah." You don't pass these things up. It took two years to pull together -- from the initial idea to deciding which orchestra to picking the songs."
S&M was not Metallica's first venture into the world of Michael Kamen and orchestras - In fact in 1993 Metallica released as the b-side of the Sad But True single (4 track version) the Elevator version of Nothing Else Matters which is a studio version with a 40 piece orchestra and Michael Kamen doing the honours on the arrangements. This is a valuable addition to any fans collection and can still be found relatively easily. The concert is also available on video.

S&M 1999

Disc 1

1 The Ecstasy Of Gold (Live)
2 The Call Of Ktulu (Live)
3 Master Of Puppets (Live)
4 Of Wolf And Man (Live)
5 The Thing That Should Not Be (Live)
6 Fuel (Live)
7 The Memory Remains (Live)
8 No Leaf Clover (Live)
9 Hero Of The Day (Live)
10 Devil's Dance (Live)
11 Bleeding Me (Live)

Disc 2

1 Nothing Else Matters (Live)
2 Until It Sleeps (Live)
3 For Whom The Bell Tolls (Live)
4 Human (Live)
5 Wherever I May Roam (Live)
6 Outlaw Torn (Live)
7 Sad But True (Live)
8 One (Live)
9 Enter Sandman (Live)
10 Battery (Live)

St. Anger is still a thrash metal monster; none could deny that on tracks like "The Unnamed Feeling." But, there's some other interesting sounds Metallica try like the introductory sliding on "Shoot Me." The rest of the album tends to sound the same as it chugs and heaves its way through over an hour of metal madness; another plus is the lengthy tracks (or is it a downfall?). "My World" is one of the thickest songs on the album that just hammers away chord after chord after chord; oddly enough it is one of the best tracks to showcase the drums as they follow the music, trying to compete in being the loudest instrument among the bunch. That is another thing to notice; the instruments are all heard on an even level, but that's mostly because they're all trying to be as loud as possible and no one's really getting ahead of the the others.

St. Anger 2003

1 Frantic
2 St. Anger
3 Some Kind of Monster
4 Dirty Window
5 Invisible Kid
6 My World
7 Shoot Me Again
8 Sweet Amber
09 Unnamed Feeling
10 Purify
11 All Within My Hands

Metallica's Death Magnetic celebrates the bands return to their humble beginnings as an aggressive, loud, and in-your-face thrash metal band. At 74 minutes and 48 seconds the sheer tenacity of thisalbum will leave most fans with just enough energy to breathe a sigh of relief.
Return to Thrash Metal
Metallica fans can rest assured: this album is on the verge of imploding with complex riffs, fierce guitar solos, aggressive palm muting, and tumultuous drums. Without question, this is the best Metallica album to be released since the bands 1991 Black Album. After abandoning attempts at a southern infused hard-rock sound, the band has returned to the thrash metal scene with progressive elements and a more mature sound.

Death Magnetic 2008

1 That Was Just Your Life
2 The End Of The Line
3 Broken, Beat & Scarred
4 The Day That Never Comes
5 All Nightmare Long
6 Cyanide
7 The Unforgiven III
8 The Judas Kiss
9 Suicide & Redemption
10 My Apocalypse

Death Magnetic quickly makes it presence known with the explosive opening track "That Was Just Your Life." The album maintains its aggression for the next twenty minutes until the albums first single, "The Day That Never Comes," makes its appearance. This single is a ballad with a song structure reminiscent of "One," with a tinge of guitar work that will remind some listeners of Master of Puppets.