Much More From the Heart: The Story of Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters'
Originally founded by current members Singer and Rhythm Guitarist James Hetfiled and Drummer Lars Ulrich, alongside Bassist Ron McGovney and Lead Guitarist Dave Mustaine, Metallica actually parted ways with both McGovney and Mustaine due to various personal and professional conflicts before recording and releasing their 1983 debut album, controversially titled ‘Kill ‘Em All’. McGovney was quickly replaced by revered Bassist, the now-late Cliff Burton, while Mustaine was replaced by legendary member-to-this-day, solo-master Kirk Hammett. Still an incredibly rough-around-the-edges Thrash Metal band, Cliff Burton would have a massive influence on the maturing of Metallica for their second album, Ride The Lightning. Metallica would follow Ride The Lightning up with 1986’s Master of Puppets No longer just making music for the underground metalheads of the world, ‘Puppets’ marked Metallica’s Major Label debut with Elektra Records. The album was roundly received as one of - if not the greatest metal album of the time, with critics noting how much Burton’s influence in particular had progressed the band’s sound. Tragedy would strike Metallica in September of 1986 - mere months after MOP’s release, as Cliff Burton would die in a bus accident in Sweden, while on tour promoting the record. By 1987, Metallica would find their necessary replacement for Burton - Bassist Jason Newsted. With Newsted in the band - Metallica geared up to release their final album of the 80s, called …And Justice For All. Tragedy would strike Metallica in September of 1986 - mere months after MOP’s release, as Cliff Burton would die in a bus accident in Sweden, while on tour promoting the record. Burton was only 24 years old when he was ejected from the window of Metallica’s tour bus as it skidded off the road suddenly, while the band members slept. The bus would land on top of him, killing him instantly. While the fault of the crash was hotly (and legally) debated at the time, ultimately Metallica’s tour bus driver was found not to be at fault for the freak accident. By 1987, Metallica would find their necessary replacement for Burton - Bassist Jason Newsted. Years later, Newsted would tell VH1’s That Metal Show that he secured the gig by stealthily finding a Metallica setlist, learning all the songs on it to note perfection, and demo-ing them out for Ulrich, who hired him two days later. YOUTUBE CLIP VH1 1 With Newsted in the band - Metallica geared up to release their final album of the 80s, called …And Justice For All. By this point, Metallica had very much made a name for themselves as the premiere Metal band, and Justice would prove it; peaking at number 6 on the Billboard album charts, going double platinum across its album cycle. Mainstream critical success would also soon follow for the band; although they would lose out on winning the first (and only) ever Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental GRAMMY Award to very-much-not-a-metal-band Jethro Tull’s very-much-not-a-metal album Crest of a Knave in 1989, Metallica’s song One would snag them the inaugural Best Metal Performance award in retribution at the following year’s ceremony. Eventually - …And Justice For All would follow in the footsteps of its pivotal predecessor, going more than 8x platinum to date. Now, you may be thinking by this point that this is truly unprecedented success for a metal band. Of course, there’s always a place in music for aggressive, heavy tunes, but as the 80s turned to the 90s - you would be forgiven for assuming that the roughly 4 to 5 million records sold in America across 4 monster albums, was about as good as it could get for any metal band, and perhaps they’d finally hit their glass ceiling. But Metallica, simply put - were not just any metal band, and were ready to change the way the world perceived heavy metal forever. For the first time ever, the band understood that they didn’t know everything there was about not only composing music - but producing it, and they were going to need someone to help guide them through the process, if they were going to do it right. So what did they do, you ask? Call in a Canadian, Naturally. This is the story of Metallica's Epic -' Nothing Else Matters' with newly unearthed footage from the band themselves - including interviews live from the studio while recording the iconic Metallica (Black Album).
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