Posted in: Musicouching by zoeyclark on May 9th, 2010 | 22 Comments
So did you hear about Metallica? If you are slightly in the rock, there is a chance you heard of them. But as it happens, they are not as popular as I thought. Read on.
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So did you hear about Metallica? If you are slightly into rock, there is a chance you heard of them. You don’t have to like them or you don’t have to be into thrash ( a type of metal music) to enjoy them. But yesterday a friend of mine told me he stopped playing Metallica on his guitar because no one in his circle knows about them. He is 20. When did this happen?
Now, I love some Metallica songs, either covers they did or their original. I don’t go to their concerts but my mp3 player has quite a few of their tracks. I grew up in the late 80s and 90s and probably belong to one of the last generations that express themselves with music. When I grew up, it was a shame not to know who Pearl Jam were or when Kurt Cobain died. It was cool to despise Courtney love and it was even cooler to love Guns N’ Roses. They would literally laugh in your face if you didn’t associate a certain type of metal with Metallica. Years passed by and there came a time when they were considered so mainstream… What happened? They did not fall off the face off the earth or stop filling stadiums or selling records…
Maybe this friend of mine should hang with different crowds or hang with some older people. Because he plays the electric guitar and it is fun and cool and necessary to play Metallica. I have a classic guitar. Just like most my peers around my age, it was bought with the hopes that I could one day upgrade to electric and play electric guitar solos. Oh, the dream! I most wanted to play Paradise City by Guns n’ Roses. Ah, the dreams of the youth. Kidding, I am still young and I still dream. It’s just that I am tone-deaf and far too busy launching a writing career. But I had taken a course years ago and one of the first things I learned was to play the main melody of nothing else matters by Metallica. Oh and Come As You Are by Nirvana. Good old times.
Well, thanks for reading this nostalgic rant of a rock a chick. So why not list your favorite songs by them? No, wait! Individual Metallica best ofs should be the subject for another article!
But for all the other rock addicts out there, below are links to my other posts on rock(nroll):
25+ Rocknroll Songs That You Can Dance to
Top Three Cover Songs: Alient Ant Farm, Warrant and Ugly Kid Joe
Fun Rock Poll for Rock FansFive Songs You Adore From Musicians You Don’t Normally Care About
Rock N Roll Mischief: 10 Dirty Rock Songs
Bon Jovi Were Born to be Followed
Sharif Ishnin May 9th, 2010 at 5:12 am
I used to play the full version of Nothing Else Matters with solo and all on the electric guitar. That was a decade ago. Lol. You lose what you don’t use .:)
deep blue May 9th, 2010 at 6:00 am
I heard about Metallica a lot and like some of their songs. Nice post, Zoey.
Guy Hogan May 9th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Nirvana and Pearl Jam definitely. Metallica? I run from thrash metal.
Christine Ramsay May 9th, 2010 at 9:28 am
Sorry, I’m not a rock fan. I enjoy country far more and like you had a guitar which is very useful for singing country songs. My son was mad on rock though. A good article.
Christine
zoeyclark May 9th, 2010 at 9:58 am
@ Sharif: You sohuld pick it up again. It may be harder than riding a bike but I am sure it will come back:)
@deepblue: Thanks.
zoeyclark May 9th, 2010 at 10:01 am
@Guy: Well, they have songs that are pure hard rock or rock. I like those, to be honest.
@ Christine: I think you should check out their Mama Said song. It has more country vibe than a rock song. I love it.
MartineP May 9th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Yes, I am a metal head and love Metallica. But I do not play any instrument.
Videomark May 9th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I’m not a fan of Metallica, but I do know a couple of their songs.
zoeyclark May 9th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
@ Martine: It is good to know we have music in common too. I don’t play any instruments now but I’d love to hone my guitar skills.
@ Videomark: There is a quite a few I like but I never loved a whole album of theirs.
Jimmy Shilaho May 10th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
I knew nothing about Metallica, am I so dumb? Thanks for the information.
zoeyclark May 10th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
You don’t have to know anything. It doesn’t make anyone dumb. It just means they are a little far away from music. because they are as mainstream as a rock/metal band can get.
VTech May 10th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Good Post
jharmon May 12th, 2010 at 4:27 am
If this 20-year-old friend of yours is into metal or hard rock, I’d suggest he keep playing Metallica on his guitar. So what if his friends don’t know about the band? He can be the one to introduce his friends to Metallica. Besides, if he’s really into guitar, I’m not hearing a lot of great guitar work from newer bands today, at least guitar work that isn’t overly derivitive of earlier bands.
lillyrose May 12th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I am shocked at this news Zoey, I thought everyone even those with only a little rock in them had heard of Metallica. I totally agree with Jharmon, he should set the trend and lead his friends down the path of Metallica.
zoeyclark May 13th, 2010 at 10:52 am
@ jharmon: He is really into hard rock, I’d say. He loves playing Enter Sandman. He was overjoyed when I knew and I liked Metallica plus a bunch of bands he never heard about. I suggested the same thing. Hell, I would play Metallica if I could.
@lilyrose: I know, right? It is ridiculous. Today’s generation is watching too much MTV and too little VH1. It’s disturbing.
jharmon May 13th, 2010 at 11:49 am
I stopped watching MTV when it stopped being about the music and became all about melodramatic shows. Plus I got old.
VH1 has come a long way, hasn’t it? 20 years ago it was awful. Nowadays it’s not too bad.
zoeyclark May 14th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
@ jharmon: Nope, you are not old. I am 25 and I hate MTV. OK, I am too old:D I hate reality tv and ergo I hate MTV.
I like VH1’s rock shows and user-generated lists. It’s not uncommon to see a scorpions video in the middle of the day or an ac-dc video in the afternoon and I love that.
Beelzebozo Partridge May 14th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
what is it about this band requires them to be around? their music has not been interesting in almost two decades. the way things worked out with those guys (musically) makes me feel as if the only good songwriter they ever came near (when they weren’t stealing songs from their opening acts) was cliff. when cliff died they wrote songs based on the mostly finished stuff he had showed them and then went to complete crap. i am a professional musician and have learned some of their music (not by choice). the stuff without cliff’s influence is a poor attempt at mixing what they had with pop music. since they were already getting popular the quality of metallicas music didn’t matter anymore and the band took advantage of that.
Music Supervisor May 15th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I know who Metallica is and I mainly listen to hip hop. I’ve even been to a couple Metallica concerts. If you haven’t seen them live I feel sorry for you. They put on the best shows.
Hip Hop Beats
PR Mace May 19th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
I have heard of them and they rock.
itech May 21st, 2010 at 9:41 am
come on ! for those who has never heard of metallica go either buy Master Of Puppets or Ride The Lightning or eerrrm its so damn hard to recommend only one Metallica album (real ones , not the crap they made after 91) or go shoot urselves! Yet for the new generation, its better not to know metallica with crap like Death Magnatic and that base player who has escaped from zoo ohh Cliff we miss you !
Jon June 18th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I will forever know who Metallica is, there songs are etched into my brain. I can play most Hammett solos. I actually find the quick Hetfield rhythms harder, like Blackened or Dyers Eve.
MOP is my fav album. Fav song Disposable Heroes or Orion.
I enjoyed reading this blog post. Go Metallica. Who cares what anyone else says. Music sucks nowadays in comparison. Too much style, too much sex, not enough substance.