Metallica
 Metallica's
debut album, Kill 'Em All, was released in 1983 when Iron
Maiden were still the biggest, newest noise in Heavy
Metal. Metallica combined the power of classic rock with the
raw speed and DIY attitude of punk. Thrash Metal had arrived.
Originally released on Megaforce and later reissued on Elektra,
Kill 'Em All was originally set to be named Metal Up
Your Ass. When Megaforce told the band that distributors
wouldn't go for an album with such a title, bassist Cliff Burton
replied "why don't we just kill 'em all?". Voila - a new
album title.
But Metallica grew up fast. On 1984's Ride The Lightning
they broke with the conventions of thrash metal to record the
genre's first power ballad in Fade To Black.
Two years later came Master Of Puppets (1986), their
masterpiece. If Nirvana killed
hair-metal, Metallica delivered a hefty blow with this smart,
streetwise, uncompromising, multi-million seller.
Following the death of bassist Cliff Burton in a tour-bus crash
in Sweden on 27 September 1986, Jason Newsted made his debut -
albeit inaudibly - on 1988's ...And Justice For All,
which featured much overblown riffage and the future classic One.
 Using
Bon Jovi's producer Bob Rock on 1991's Metallica
(aka The Black Album), the group adopted a more direct
approach with Enter Sandman and Nothing Else Matters,
rivalling Guns 'N' Roses for the
title of Biggest Rock Band In The World.
After a five year hiatus, Load and it's partner album Reload
were released in successive years, alienating some hardcore
fans with the retro-rock flavour of tracks such as 2 x 4
and pictures of the band in makeup.
Garage Inc collected the band's cover versions, while S&M
- a credible experiment with the San Francisco Symphony
Orchestra - proved Jason Newsted's swansong.
In January 2001, bassist Newsted walked out on Metallica with a
yearning to make "cutting-edge music".
There was a bitter irony for the band in Newsted's departure.
For this was a band who revolutionised Heavy Metal in the 1980's
before the influence of age and money led them too close to the
mainstream for their bassists liking.
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