Metallica: A Tale of Squandered Potential

That guy from Suicidal Tendencies (Rob Trujillo BTW) did not feature on St. Anger. Stopped reading a potentially crap article from that point onwards. And yes, good headline "Squandered potential", yes we're only talking about the biggest metal band out there (drawing crowds, selling albums, bringing 3 generations of people together in one venue)....by far. 

I thought LA weekly would have better qualified staff among their ranks.

As a musician, songwriter and a lifelong fan of music, I truly believe it when Lars says his band is 'heavy metal' and not specifically 'thrash metal'. Metallica never once called themselves a 'thrash metal band'. All they said was 'METAAAAAL'! And that's it. The 'thrash' label is what the listeners stuck on them, not the band itself. So can you really fault them for not doing 'thrash metal' anymore, of course you can't.

I truly believe the boys are adventurous musicians who don't want to do the same thing over and over, like most other thrash metal bands do. They do different things and happen to have a massive fanbase and strong commercial appeal.

The thing with Metallica is that every single one of their albums are different. If they had commercial success and selling out on their mind they would've just kept writing the Black Album over and over. Guess what, they didn't. They did whatever the hell they wanted and were still playing stadiums and selling millions of records.

Metallica captured the whole thrash metal genre on their first four albums, plus those first albums have directly or indirectly influenced thousands of extreme metal bands. That alone gives them a pass in my book.

I have always believed Metallica are one of the more mature metal bands out there. They have progressed so much with each and every album they did in the 80s, from the young, fast and reckless KEA to their 'progressive thrash' zenith with AJFA. After that, they wanted to move on to something different. What's so wrong with that? They haven't son such a thing as 'squander their potential' at all, they have simply been there and done that. I appreciate their early work as much as I appreciate St. Anger, for example. Lulu isn't really my thing but hell, whatever floats their boat. That wasn't an official Metallica album anyways.

Like it or not, Metallica is hands down, THE biggest metal band out there. No other metal band sells the amount of records they sell and plays the huge crowds they play. They're waving the metal flag for all they're worth  and when they're gone, it's gonna be a sad day, because most likely there will never be a metal band as big as Metallica ever was.

As a musician, songwriter and a lifelong fan of music, I truly believe it when Lars says his band is 'heavy metal' and not specifically 'thrash metal'. Metallica never once called themselves a 'thrash metal band'. All they said was 'METAAAAAL'! And that's it. The 'thrash' label is what the listeners stuck on them, not the band itself. So can you really fault them for not doing 'thrash metal' anymore, of course you can't.

I truly believe the boys are adventurous musicians who don't want to do the same thing over and over, like most other thrash metal bands do. They do different things and happen to have a massive fanbase and strong commercial appeal.

The thing with Metallica is that every single one of their albums are different. If they had commercial success and selling out on their mind they would've just kept writing the Black Album over and over. Guess what, they didn't. They did whatever the hell they wanted and were still playing stadiums and selling millions of records.

Metallica captured the whole thrash metal genre on their first four albums, plus those first albums have directly or indirectly influenced thousands of extreme metal bands. That alone gives them a pass in my book.

I have always believed Metallica are one of the more mature metal bands out there. They have progressed so much with each and every album they did in the 80s, from the young, fast and reckless KEA to their 'progressive thrash' zenith with AJFA. After that, they wanted to move on to something different. What's so wrong with that? They haven't son such a thing as 'squander their potential' at all, they have simply been there and done that. I appreciate their early work as much as I appreciate St. Anger, for example. Lulu isn't really my thing but hell, whatever floats their boat. That wasn't an official Metallica album anyways.

Like it or not, Metallica is hands down, THE biggest metal band out there. No other metal band sells the amount of records they sell and plays the huge crowds they play. They're waving the metal flag for all they're worth  and when they're gone, it's gonna be a sad day, because most likely there will never be a metal band as big as Metallica ever was.

This is just a regurgitation of every other Metallica bashing article since 1991, when they came out with the black album.  Nicholas Pell please write some relevant.

I agree with newbuck12,the dumbest piece of ****. I have loved Metallica forever. Always will. Oh and by the way, I love St. Anger and Lulu. Who are these people in your 'popular' consensus? Certainly not Metallica fans. 

Metallica does the things they want, they do not pander only to fans. True fans will support whatever the band they love and follow do. While we may not like everything they do(I don't), we can at least respect that they will do what they want and be happy when we like it, sad when we don't. Go back to 'Kill 'em All', listen till your ears bleed, then grow the f**k up, they did.

@ Michael Hawk he's talking about squandered musical potential. As a fan I'd take another Kill Em All type of record over 9 bullshit grammy awards any day of the week. You completely missed the point...

Napster.

This might be the dumbest piece of **** I've read in a long time. 

First off, how the **** is Kill Em All their best album? Yes, its full of energy and did help kickstart the genre of thrash metal, but the quality of songwriting, skill, and sound is nowhere near any of their next 3 albums.

Second off, I don't think they believe they 'missed out" on anything. While Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax may still be true to their thrash roots, Metallica has made millions on millions of dollars through doing what they've always done: whatever the **** they want. And that's what Metallica is: freedom of expression. And that's what they have and always will be about.

Yes, 5 albums to debut at #1, 9 Grammy's, over 100 million albums sold... LA Weekly should probably stop hit farming with article headlines like "squandered potential" unless this writer really is that stupid. Like them or not, to say their career is unfulfilled is absurd.

1992

Even before Lars became a "Puppet of the music Masters," and sued the fans while the same recording industry was being sued for price fixing by the justice department, and all the news outlets glommed on to the Lars/Napster story instead.

....And Justice For All/ Monsters of Rock (1988'ish)

Too busy crying to the feds about people sharing their music with out paying them... pffft! Like totally hard core... ha, ha.

Lately your articles have been shit.

Eric Smith and I are the only good people left on the Earth.

The fact that LA Weekly is asking the question as the headline is absurd WHEN IN FACT IT IS HISTORICAL TRUTH THAT IT WAS AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

cheesy sell outs!

another dumb article which shows how narrow minded many are when it comes to defining heavy metal. Get over it. They evolved. They tried new things. Not always capturing magic (St. Anger is bad and Loutallica...yea...no point in arguing there....HORRIBLE), but nevertheless daring enough to attempt new things rather than hold on and continue to make the same stale old records. Seriously, if you love Kill 'em All then just listen to Kill 'em All...That's it...stop finding a reason to complain about A BAND.

When they found out their biggest fans were poor people and weren't quite happy with the idea.

never really liked them BUT their homage to Ennio Morricone (Ecstasy of Gold) is a treat

Does it even count as a peak if its always been at the bottom?

Yawn. Metallica was never as good as Megadeth. Never.

Ive seen metalllica 4 times in life .. always a blast

Says LA weekly ...

...And Justice For All

1988