ARTIST

Metallica

For anyone interested in music of substance, the metal scene of the early '80s was a pretty bleak place, dominated by cheesy hair bands hawking bubblegummy rock that had been dolled up with beefy guitars and naughty lyrics. Metallica, along with contemporaries like Megadeth and Anthrax, had something altogether different in mind. Influenced by punk principles of raw musical directness and lyrical focus fraught with a dark and brooding idealism, they helped lay the groundwork for a whole new era of metal.

Metallica's many strengths were evident from the very beginning on their debut album. The scope, vehement playing, solid songwriting, and ambitious themes blended a stylized, almost Gothic sense of doom 'n' gloominess with an odd literary quirk and charged it...
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