Deathly allergic to peanuts and scared shitless of zombies, but other than that I fucking rule and I have a huge male reproductive organ. I'm talkin' EPIC.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/09/15/metallica-scorch-nashville-with-metal-anthems-lemmy-kilmister-on-world-magnetic-tour/




Their set list for that night:

“That Was Just Your Life”
“The End Of The Line”
“Creeping Death”
“Holier Than Thou”
“One”
“Broken, Beat & Scarred”
“Cyanide”
“Sad But True”
“Turn the Page”
“All Nightmare Long”
“The Day That Never Comes”
“Master of Puppets”
“Battery”
“Nothing Else Matters”
“Enter Sandman”
“Damage Case”
“Too Late Too Late”
“Seek and Destroy”

you must solve riddles and choose the right casket

black then white are all I see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn beyond the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition, missing opportunities and I must
Feed my will to feel my moment drawing way outside the lines.

Black then white are all I see in my infancy.
red and yellow then came to be, reaching out to me.
lets me see there is so much more
and beckons me to look through to these infinite possibilities.
As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
drawn outside the lines of reason.
Push the envelope. Watch it bend.

Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind.
Withering my intuition leaving all these opportunities behind.

Feed my will to feel this moment urging me to cross the line.
Reaching out to embrace the random.
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come.

I embrace my desire to
feel the rhythm, to feel connected
enough to step aside and weep like a widow
to feel inspired, to fathom the power,
to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain,
to swing on the spiral
of our divinity and still be a human.

With my feet upon the ground I lose myself
between the sounds and open wide to suck it in,
I feel it move across my skin.
I'm reaching up and reaching out,
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
We'll ride the spiral to the end and may just go where no one's been.

Spiral out. Keep going, going...

PEOPLE JUDGE ME BEFORE THEY GET TO KNOW ME. IT SUCKS AND HURTS,BUT NOTHING I CAN DO.

Well theres a light in your eye that keeps shining
Like a star that cant wait for the night
I hate to think Ive been blinded baby
Why cant I see you tonight?

And the warmth of your smile starts a-burnin
And the thrill of your touch gives me fright
And Im
shaking so much, really yearning
Why dont you show up, make it all right?
Yeah, its all right.

And if you promised youd love so completely
And you said you would always be true
You swore that you would never leave me, baby:
What ever happened to you?

And you thought it was only in movies
As you wish all your dreams would come true
It aint the first time believe me, baby
Im standin here feeling blue
Yeah Im blue

Now I will stand in the rain on the corner
Ill watch the people go shuffling downtown
Another ten minutes no longer
And then Im turning around

The clock on the walls moving slower
My heart it sinks to the ground
And the storm that I thought would blow over
Clouds the light of the love that I found

Now my body is starting to quiver
And the palms of my hands getting wet
Ive got no reason to doubt you baby,
Its all a terrible mess

Ill run in the rain till Im breathless
When Im breathless Ill run till I drop, hey
The thoughts of a fools kind of careless
Im just a fool waiting on the wrong block, oh yeah
Light of the love that I found...

"No matter what happens to us in the future, everyday we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours."















LIFE SUCKS

Never fell in love
until i fell in love with you
Never know what a good time was until i had a good time with you
If you wanna get the feeling and you wanna get it right
Then the music gotta be loud
for when the music hits i feel no pain at all

Warm summer night i was drinking with my dad
He tried to give me the love that i never had
But he gave more love to his bottle of wine
So i had to go out and find love of another kind

Here it is
Here i am
Turn it up
fuckin' loud

Radio, Radio, Radio...

When i got the music
i got a place to go

Radio clash
magnificent 7
I was a choir boy
you showed me no heaven
Two tools surely lost
no remorse ignoring the cost

Here it is
Here i am
Turn it up
fuckin' loud

Radio, Radio, Radio...

When i got the music
i got a place to go

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. remember. we are eternal.
All this pain is an illusion.

Long ago in days untoled
Were ruled by lords of greed
Maidens fair, with gold they dared
To bare their wombs that bleed
Kings and queens and guillotines
Taking lives
denied
Starch and parchments laid the laws
When bishops took the ride

Only to decieve

Oh I know i
Lived this life before
Somehow I know now
Truths I must be sure
Tossin turnin, nightmares brunin
Dreams of swords in hand
Sailing ships, the viking spits
The blood of fathers land

Only to decieve

Living times of knights and mares
Raising swords for maidens fair
Sneer at death, fear only loss of pride
Living other centuries
Deja v? or what you please
Follows true to all who do or die
Screams of no reply
They died
Screams of no reply
And died
Lordy, lordy, they died

WOW,20 YEARS AGO TODAY, MAY 28,1989 OPERATION IVY PLAYED THEIR FINAL CONCERT. IT WAS HELD AT 924 GILMAN STREET IN BERKELEY,CA. TIM ARMSTRONG AND MATT FREEMAN WENT ON TO FORM RANCID. THE SINGER AND DRUMMER,I HAVE NO IDEA ON WHAT HAPPEND TO THEM. HERE IS THE SETLIST FROM THEIR FINAL SHOW.

1.YELLIN'IN MY EAR

2.I GOT NO

3.SOUND SYSTEM

4.JADED

5.HERE WE GO AGAIN

6.THE CROWD

7.KNOWLEDGE

8.HEALTHY BODY

9.GONNA FIND YOU

10.TAKE WARNING

11.VULNERABILITY

12.ROOM W/OUT A WINDOW

13.BOMBSHELL

14.OFFICER

15.FREEZE UP

16.SLEEP LONG

17.TROUBLE BOUND

18.HOBOKEN

19.HEDGECORE

20.UNITY


THINK I AM GOING TO GO LISTEN TO SOME OPERATION IVY NOW.





OH, I ALSO WENT AND SAW NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2,ITS A B- OR B. IT WAS A GOOD MOVIE. WORTH SEEING IN THE CINEMAS.

Mr. Bungle was formed in 1985 in Eureka, California. The original line-up included Trevor Dunn on bass, Mike Patton on vocals, Trey Spruance on guitar, and Jed Watts on drums. The band took its name from two short films which appeared in early episodes of the "The Pee Wee Herman Show," in which an ill-mannered, un-hygienic puppet clown demonstrated how good grade-school kids should not behave (only later did band members learn, through Faith No More bassist Bill Gould, that the porn flick "Sharon's Sex Party" also stars a character named Mr. Bungle).

Mr. Bungle's first demo tape, "The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny," was recorded in 1986. It featured a low-fi, fast, death metal style that also managed to incorporate the sounds of bongos, a trainwhistle, a saxophone, and a kazoo.

In the next year at least two versions of a tape called "Bowel of Chiley" were recorded and distributed by Mr. Bungle, mainly to local radio stations. One of these was reproduced and sold without the band's permission (on tape in 1991 and on CD in 1997), creating one of the more popular Mr. Bungle bootlegs, the erroneously-titled "Bowl of Chiley". The music of "Bowel of Chiley" was radically different than that of "The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny," mixing the sounds of ska, swing, and funk. By this time drummer Jed Watts had been replaced by Hans Wagner, and the band's new sound required the employment of Scott Fritz & Theo Lengyel as horn players.

In 1988 Fritz was out, Luke Miller was in, and Mr. Bungle released "Goddammit I Love America!" Similar to "Bowel of Chiley" (described by band members as "a Fishbone rip-off"), but with a tighter sound, two of the seven tracks on "Goddammit I Love America!" would find their way onto Mr. Bungle's first major label release.

1989's "OU818" was the band's final demo tape before finding themselves with a major label record contract. It was also the first to feature drummer Danny Heifetz & tenor sax player Clinton "Bär" McKinnon, and contains tracks that make up half of Bungle's first major label release. Combining songs from earlier demos with new ones, it was a little lighter on the ska, and had a heavier overall sound than the two previous releases.

Having established a strong following in Northern California, and with the hiring of vocalist Mike Patton by popular Reprise rock group Faith No More, Mr. Bungle was signed by Warner Bros. Records. Their first album, produced by John Zorn and titled "Mr. Bungle," was released August 13, 1991. There were several new songs on it, but the sound was much the same as that of "OU818," commonly described as "funk metal" by music critics. The album sold well, and Mr. Bungle toured North America successfully to support it.

A multitude of side-projects and artwork delays contributed to the the four-year gap between the self-titled album and the release of "Disco Volante" in October of 1995. It was made up almost entirely of new songs, and musical styles combining jazz, techno, tango, and death metal, to name a few, set it apart from all previous efforts. Tours (featuring guest percussionist William Winant) of North America, Europe, and a wildly popular tour of Australia followed its release. They were finally wrapped up with two shows in San Francisco in November of 1996.

Mr. Bungle's latest album, "California," was released on July 13, 1999. Theo Lengyel does not appear on it, and is not expected to be involved in any future Mr. Bungle projects (management cites "creative differences" as the reason for his departure). A supporting tour of North America began in Santa Cruz, California on July 12, however, a conflict between Mr. Bungle's record company & past distributors prevented "California" from being available overseas (other than as an import) for several months. Overseas touring was put on hold long enough to allow three consecutive North American tours in support of "California" to take place, including an opening spot at Sno-Core 2000. The band finally made it's way to Australia in March of 2000 and Europe in August & September of 2000 before taking a break from touring & recording to focus on the other things going on in its members' lives for awhile. At the same time, ideas for new Bungle songs are being shared.

And while you try to survive the latest four-year wait until a new Mr. Bungle album, you may find some of the band members' side-projects entertaining. For information on Virgil Shaw & The Killer Views (with Danny Heifetz), visit Virgil Shaw's Website. Trey Spruance's Secret Chiefs 3 has several websites devoted to it, including Trey's own WEB of MIMICRY, and SecretChiefs3.com by Corey Morton. The Selected Discography of Trevor Dunn has audio samples and contact information to help you acquire some of the many recordings featuring Mr. Dunn. Bär McKinnon and Danny Heifetz appear on the latest Barefoot Hockey Goalie album. The adventures of Mike Patton & his Fantômas cohorts are always chronicled at Caca Volante and the Ipecac Recordings website.

TODAY I SAW ANGELS AND DEMONS, GOOD MOVIE,LOTS OF TWISTS AND TURNS. GIVE IT A B+ OR A-

Ive been a prisoner
Trapped in by fear
Ordered for the rest of my life
Condemned in a jail cell
Aint seen life in years
Escape is the only way out

Restart my life or self destruction
To climb this wall of dark construction
Holding the quest for freedom
That beckons me

My sanity is all but gone
My patience is growing very weak
I need to get a hold of myself
I stare at the wall
For the right time has come
Escape must occur on this night

Restart my life or self destruction
To climb this wall of dark construction
Holding the quest for freedom
That beckons me

Stand in my way
And Ill run you straight through
Theres no one to stop me now
For Im on the loose
And Im ready to start
Torture and hell on this town

Over the wall !

The search will not stop
And the hounds will not rest
Till I am back in my cell
For if I am caught
I will try it again
Over the wall I will go ...

I will go !
Go !

Restart my life or self destruction
To climb this wall of dark construction
Holding the quest for freedom
That beckons me

Don't wear a red shirt and khaki pants while shopping at Target; you'll end up stocking the shelves.


Some dumb girl wore that to Target and everyone kept asking her where everything is.



In other news,I got some Nine Inch Nails mp3's and i threw them to a disc. here is what i got.


1.the slip

2.year zero

3.with teeth

4.the fragile-2 disc

5.downward spiral-2disc

6.pretty hate machine

7.and all that could have been

8.Singles collection,England import.

got a few other cd's.

1.Napalm Death-Scum

2.Green Day-21st century Breakdown

3.Toxic Holocaust-An Overdose of Death

4. John Zorn-Taboo and Exile


There's a few more,but i don't feel like typing all of them out at the moment.


















Over and out

"Only A Pawn In Their Game"

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game.

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

From the powerty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in their game.

this is a pretty cool Bob Dylan song. never thought i could like Bob Dylan,but some of his shit is good.

It has been "weird" times in the life and mind of me,yes me. I keep getting in the ass by not being able to find a job. I have been having some bizarre dreams, first i am fighting off Zombies and then my mother showed up,yes,the deceased one. what a horrible chat me and her had in this dream. I wonder what it means to be visited by the dead in your dreams?????

One is for envy
And one just for spite
The cuts in my heart
They show in your eyes
Don’t make it better
The twisting knife
Turns all by itself
Move on to someone else

Your self-liberation
Will leave this behind
Beyond slings and arrows
That rain on our minds
You’ll make it better
Shake it off
It never mattered anyway

If we don’t make it alive
Well it’s a hell of a good day to die
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

And it’s ashes to ashes again
Should we even try to pretend?
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

The banner you’re waving
Is burning in red
It’s blocking the sunlight
That shines overhead
You against the world
Diamonds and pearls
Voices inside you churn
Watch the city burn

Your own liberation
Will leave them behind
All the slings and arrows
That rain on your mind
Don’t make it better
Break it cause
It never mattered anyway

If we don’t make it alive
Well it’s a hell of a good day to die
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

And it’s ashes to ashes again
Should we even try to pretend?
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

I
Won't
Calm
Down

The banner you're waving
Is burning and red
You against the world
Diamonds and pearls
It never mattered
Mattered
Mattered anyway

If we don’t make it alive
Well it’s a hell of a good day to die
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

And it’s ashes to ashes again
Should we even try to pretend?
All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

All our light that shines strong
Only lasts for so long

Metallica

Induction Year: 2009

Induction Category: Performer

James Hetfield (vocals, guitar; born August 3, 1963), Kirk Hammett (guitar; born November 18, 1962), Jason Newsted (bass; born March 4, 1963), Lars Ulrich (drums; born December 26, 1963), Cliff Burton (bass; born February 10, 1962, died September 27, 1986), Robert Trujillo (bass; born October 23, 1964)

Black Sabbath invented heavy metal in the Seventies, and Metallica redefined it in the Eighties. Since erupting on the scene with their debut album, Kill ‘Em All, in 1983, Metallica has been a cutting-edge band – the standard by which metal’s vitality and virtuosity are measured. No band has loomed larger, rocked heavier, raged more angrily or pushed the limits further than Metallica.
The group formed in 1981 around the core of James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, who both lived in Los Angeles They met when Hetfield answered an ad placed looking for someone to jam with. The pair bonded over their mutual love of metal – especially the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal.” Ulrich, a Danish immigrant, turned Hetfield on to this faster, punkier wave of British heavy metal. The sensibility of that movement – feisty, aggressive, anti-fashion and, most of all, independent in spirit – rubbed off as they assembled an American band that would break free of commercial glam-metal cliches. The name Metallica unambiguously expressed their metal salvage mission, and they became identified with the subgenre known as thrash-metal.
In addition to singer/guitarist Hetfield and drummer Ulrich, Metallica’s first lineup included guitarist Dave Mustaine (who’d found Megadeth after leaving) and bassist Ron McGovney. Their first release was a seven-song tape, No Life ’Til Leather, that spread their name through heavy-metal’s rabid tape-trading underground. After slogging it out on the L.A. scene for two years, Metallica relocated to San Francisco. With a revamped lineup that included bassist Cliff Burton and lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, they flew to New York to cut their first full-length album. Kill ‘Em All, released in 1983 on the Megaforce label, revitalized the stale domestic metal scene. It was one of heavy-metal’s most significant debuts, helping to establish the thrash-metal sound in America. It also revealed the group’s obsession with themes of death, destruction and the darker realms of the human psyche.
Metallica followed Kill ‘Em All with Ride the Lightning (1984) and Master of Puppets (1986). Shortly after the release of Ride the Lightning, Metallica signed to Elektra Records, making them the first American thrash-metal band to land a major-label contract. Ride the Lightning peaked at #100 but spent a year on the charts and sold more than 5 million copies over the next 20 years. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, Master of Puppets proved to be another pinnacle, exhibiting considerable ambition and intensity. Metallica opened for Ozzy Osbourne on a six-month tour that furthered the album’s success and returned their previous releases to the charts as well. A headlining tour of England and Europe followed, ending in tragedy when Metallica’s tour bus ran off an icy road in Sweden. Bassist Burton was killed instantly.
Much like AC/DC after the sudden death of vocalist Bon Scott, Metallica soldiered on, convinced that Burton would have wanted them to do so. Metallica recruited Jason Newsted, from a band called Flotsam & Jetsam, as Burton’s replacement and returned to the road to play the unfulfilled dates. Once off the road, Metallica pondered the future. They would eventually record several major metal masterworks, but first they dealt with all the changes and an injury – Hetfield suffered a compound arm fracture in a skateboarding mishap – by getting back to basics. While warming up for their next project in Ulrich’s garage, they covered some of their British metal and punk favorites. They inexpensively packaged the best of them as The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited.
Then came the hard work. It took a full year for Metallica to record ...And Justice for All, a pulverizing double-album showcase of lyrical rage, intricate arrangements and expert musicianship. Its songs were built from the ground up, starting with riffs and themes and painstakingly assembled from there until each complex piece was complete. Containing such favorites as “One” and “Blackened,” ...And Justice for All represented a giant step forward for Metallica.
In an article written before its release of, Jon Pareles incisively described their music: “Metallica pounds out irregular, stop-start rhythms, squeezing bits of melody between salvos of guitar chords. Its jumpy, skittish music is closer in structure to art-rock than that of most of the band’s heavy-metal cohorts. The songs move far too fast and unpredictably to sound like pop. And the lyrics have nothing to do with fun, escapism or lust.”
After all the demanding complexity of ...And Justice or All, Metallica made an album of shorter, less intricate songs. Simply titled Metallica, producer Bob Rock gave the collection a slightly more accessible edge. There was still plenty of sepulchral gloom, and the all-black cover – fans called it “The Black Album” – bore witness to the darkness within. It turned out to be the right album at the right time, vaulting Metallica into the hard-rock stratosphere.
All of a sudden, on its own terms, headbanging thrash metal became went mainstream via Metallica’s untitled masterpiece. Metallica entered the album chart at #1 and stayed there for four weeks. The album has sold more than 14 million copies in the U.S. alone. It even introduced Metallica to the Top Forty with the singles “Enter Sandman” (#16), “Nothing Else Matters” (#34) and “The Unforgiven” (#35).
Moreover, the music industry began an unlikely love affair with metal and Metallica, bestowing the first of seven Grammys (to date) on the group with Metallica’s victory in the Heavy Metal Album category at the 1992 awards ceremony. (Somewhat controversially, Metallica lost to Jethro Tull in the same category in 1989.)
“Everyone has one album when everything comes together,” said Ulrich of Metallica. “This was ours.”
The band toured for two years in the wake of Metallica’s release and then took time to assemble a big box of live Metallica for hardcore fans. Titled Live Shit: Binge and Purge, it included two entire concerts (spread across three videotapes), a CD of a third concert, a 72-page booklet, and tour souvenirs. All told, there were nine hours of music on Binge and Purge, which was packaged like an equipment crate and retailed for $90.
In 1995, Metallica set to work on a batch of material that would seed two studio albums: Load and Re-Load. “We wrote 27 songs, 1 to 27, and we recorded 27 songs, 1 to 27,” said Lars Ulrich. Load came out in 1986, a year that also saw them headline the Lollapalooza alternative music festival. After that, they embarked on an extended headlining tour, performing in the round on two revolving stages that formed a figure 8. The tour, as usual, upped the ante for staging, pyrotechnics (225 explosions!) and performance. The second set of material from the prolific 1995 writing sessions was completed and released as Re-Load in 1997. Both Load and Re-Load topped the charts, giving Metallica three consecutive #1 albums in the Nineties.
In 1998 Metallica returned to the Garage Days concept, quickly cutting a batch of hard-rock and heavy-metal covers. They combined a disc these with a second disc that included the out-of-print Garage Days Re-Revisited EP and various other covers that had turned up on B-sides and non-album projects. The artists covered included everything from Motorhead to Diamond Head, the Misfits to Mercyful Fate. The result was the hard-hitting, fan-pleasing 27-song double-disc Garage, Inc.
On April 21st and 22nd, 1999, Metallica appeared with the San Francisco Orchestra. The two-night stand, performed at Berkeley’s Community Theater, was edited into a distillation punningly entitled S&M (i.e., “Symphony and Metallica”). A period of group therapy and sobriety ensued for Metallica in the early years of the new millennium. As they worked on a new album, St. Anger, as well as themselves, longtime bassist Jason Newsted left the band and was replaced by Robert Trujillo. This difficult time of change and confrontation was forthrightly documented in the 2004 film Some Kind of Monster. St. Anger divided longtime fans, some of whom were already upset with Metallica for their litigious stance on illegal music downloads over peer-to-peer networks like the original Napster. Nonetheless, St. Anger became Metallica’s fourth #1 album, sold two million copies and won the group another Grammy for Best Metal Performance.
Working with Rick Rubin, Metallica returned to its harder, riff-rocking roots with Death Magnetic, released in 2008. An album of lengthy, multi-part songs, it returned the group to the thrashy sound and style of its late-Eighties epics, Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All. It also gave Metallica their fifth chart-topping album, and the old-school thrash-metal approach attracted some formerly alienated fans back into the fold.
Over the course of three decades, Metallica has conquered the world, selling over 100 million albums and playing for millions in concert all over the world. They created a mass audience for the metal genre and made it possible for many other aggressive-sounding bands to get signed and heard. Metallica has always opted for honesty over artifice. They’ve also challenged themselves relentlessly, thinking big and acting ambitiously. They continue to make a mighty compelling noise.

TIMELINE
February 10, 1962: Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica, is born in Castro Valley, California.

November 18, 1962: Kirk Hammett, guitarist for Metallica, is born in San Francisco.

March 3, 1963: Jason Newsted, bassist for Metallica, is born in Battle Creek, Michigan.

August 3, 1963: James Hetfield, singer and guitarist for Metallica, is born in Los Angeles.

December 26, 1963: Lars Ulrich, drummer for Metallica, is born in Copenhagen, Denmark.

October 23, 1964: Robert Trujillo, bassist for Metallica, is born in Santa Monica, California.

1981: Inspired by the new wave of British heavy metal, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich form Metallica in Los Angeles. Their first recorded song, “Hit the Lights,” is included on Metal Massacre, a multi-band compilation on the Metal Blade label.

July 1982: Metallica records a seven-song tape, No Life ‘Til Leather.

May 1983: Metallica records its first album, Kill ‘Em All, a tour de force of virtuosic thrash metal. It is released on the Megaforce label and re-released by Elektra Records in 1986 and (with bonus tracks) in 1988.

August 1984: Metallica’s second album, Ride the Lightning, is released on Megaforce Records. It will be re-released three months later on their new label, Elektra Records).

February 1986: Master of Puppets, Metallica’s third album, is released. It will become Metallica’s first gold album.

September 27, 1986: Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica, dies instantly when the band’s tour bus crashes on an icy highway in Sweden.

August 1987: Metallica releases The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited. It comprises covers of five favorite British metal numbers.

1988: Metallica releases Cliff ‘Em All, their first long-form video, consisting largely of fan-filmed concert footage. It would eventually be certified four times platinum by the RIAA.

May 27, 1988: The Monsters of Rock tour, a hard-rock and heavy-metal package tour, begins in Michigan. The bands include Metallica, Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come.

September 2, 1988: ...And Justice for All, by Metallica, is released. This titanic double album includes “One” (#35), their first hit single.

November 15, 1988: Metallica commences its first headlining tour of American arenas, a 120-date marathon.

February 21, 1990: “One” wins Metallica its first Grammy for Best Metal Performance at the 32nd annual Grammy Awards.

August 12, 1991: Metallica’s untitled fifth album (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) is released. The album yields five hit singles, including “Enter Sandman” (#16), “The Unforgiven” (#35) and “Nothing Else Matters” (#34).

February 25, 1992: Metallica wins a Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Album for Metallica (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) at the 34th annual Grammy Awards.

November 23, 1993: Metallica issues a triple-CD, triple-videotape box set titled Live Shit: Binge and Purge.

June 22, 1996: Metallica’s Load is released. It enters the album chart at #1, selling 680,000 copies in the first week and becoming the year’s best-selling rock album.

June 27, 1996: This summer edition of the Lollapalooza tour, headlined by Metallica, kicks off in Kansas City.

November 13, 1997: Metallica issues Re-Load, the followup and companion album to Load. Like its predecessor, it reaches #1.

November 24, 1998: Metallica’s Garage, Inc., a double-disc of metal and hard-rock covers, is released. It reaches #2 on the album chart.

April 7, 1999: The mayor of San Francisco proclaims “Metallica Day.” Later this month, Metallica performs two concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, the highlights of which are released in November as the two-disc S&M.

2001: Longtime bassist Jason Newsted quits Metallica. His replacement, Robert Trujillo, isn’t hired until 2003.

June 5, 2003: Metallica releases St. Anger, its eighth studio album of original material and fifth #1 album.

January 2004: Some Kind of Monster, a candid documentary about Metallica’s efforts to confront its long-simmering demons with psychotherapy, debuts at the Sundance Film Festival.

December 17, 2003: Metallica’s self-titled 1991 release (a.k.a. “The Black Album”) is certified 14 time platinum (signifying 14 million copies sold) by the RIAA. Their Binge and Purge CD and video box set is certified 15 times platinum on the same day.

March 13, 2006: For Black Sabbath’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Metallica performs several of the British metal pioneers’ songs at the induction ceremony.

September 12, 2008: Metallica’s Death Magnetic, the group’s 10th studio album, is released. It enters Billboard’s album chart at #1 and receives platinum certification (1 million copies sold) a month later.

April 4, 2009: Metallica is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 24th annual dinner. tk is their presenter.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS

1. One
2. Enter Sandman
3. Master of Puppets
4. The Unforgiven
5. Fade to Black
6. Whiplash
7. Blackened
8. Wherever I May Roam
9. Harvester of Sorrow
10. Hit the Lights

RECOMMENDED READING

Behrlinger, Joe. Metallica: This Monster Lives – The Inside Story of Some Kind of Monster. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Doughton, K.C. Metallica Unbound. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1993.

Fricke, David. “Don’t Tread On Me: Metallica’s James Hetfield.” Rolling Stone (April 15, 1993): 42-46.

Fricke, David. “Louder, Faster, Stronger: How Metallica Conquered Bad Habits, Group Therapy and Ego Clashes to Make Their Heaviest Record Ever.” Rolling Stone (October 2, 2008): 58-67.

McIver, Joel. Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica. London: Omnibus Press, 2004

Pareles, Jon. “Heavy Metal, Weighty Words.” New York Times Magazine (July 10, 1988).