An American heavy metal band whose "Nothing else matters" is banned along with "Stairway to Heaven" in most guitar stores.
- Can I try this guitar?
- Yeah, but if you try playing Nothing Else Matters I'm gonna smash ya. Metallica can play it well enough, we don't need your shit.
by mmasny May 19, 2010
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A band which has been writing songs and albums since the eighties and is still writing them today. Unlike many heavy metal bands out there, such as Slipknot, they chose not to attempt to growl and scream about murder. Instead, they focused on more meaningful problems. St. Anger, for example, was an album almost entirely based around alcohol addiction.
Many fans believe that they "sold out" in the Black Album, which featured their most widely known (though not most popular) song, Enter Sandman, which was their first music video, and won best hard rock music video at the 1992 MTV music video awards.
Their most popular album is probably Master of Puppets, for the song represented in the title. Their most controversial is St. Anger, which was written shortly after James Hetfield (the lead singer) got over some really bad alcohol-related problems. Arguably the least popular member of the band is Lars Ulrich, who led Metallica's infamous lawsuit against Napster.
"Ride the Lightning" is still often referred to in popular popular culture, and is often used as a one-liner by characters in video-games and movies when killing someone with electricity.
"You know Metallica?"
"...Yes?"
"Totally sold out after the Black Album. I can't believe them."
"They changed their style, they didn't sell out."
"FUCK YOU, MASTER OF PUPPETS IS TEH BEST SONG EVER!"
"... Okay, but how does that actually reinforce your argument?"
"... FUCK YOU!"
"Okay then."
by Snowskeeper November 3, 2012
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One of the most influential and popular heavy metal groups of all time.
Metallica are the kings of heavy metal.
by Sam March 24, 2005
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San Francisco metal band formed in the early 80's. Their four albums from the 80's are class, and incidentally their best known offerings. However the material released post-1991 is of curiously low standard with the occasional great track.

In 2002 (or was it 03?) they released St. Anger, an album which shocked us again at how low they could go. They completely removed the guitar solo (a vital part of the heavy metal song) from all the songs. This resulted in their worst album and their grouping with nu-metal.

One shouldn't forget, however, that their 80's albums are some of the best from that decade, including great tracks like Fade To Black, Sanitarium, One, Ride The Lightning, Battery, The Four Horsemen, Master Of Puppets.
Me: Man, you seen that Metallica DVD?
Friend: With the symphony? Yeah, that was cool, pity James's voice has gone down the drain.
by Bollocks43 August 10, 2005
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A household name. The 7th biggest selling act in American history.
Metallica owns!
by Lbayncha1 February 15, 2009
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One of the greatest, and most prolific bands of all time. They were pioneers in the genre of thrash metal when they started out, with Kill Em' All. Their next three albums, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice for All, were, and still are, all considered speedmetal masterpieces. When the 90's rolled around, Metallica released a self titled album, nicknamed the black album. This record featured a softer, more mainstream sound, but still had that characteristic Metallica edge to it. After years of tuoring for the black album, Metallica finally went back into the studio to record their 6th album, Load. Load had a much different sound than any of their previous stuff, opting for a more bluesy, hard rock style than the speedmetal that everyone associated the band with. Not too long after Load came out, a follow up album was released, ReLoad, which consisted of other songs that were written during the same time but didn't make it onto the album. Afterwards, an collection of various old cover songs from the 80's was compiled with brand new covers, and released as Garage Inc. And not too long after that came out, Metallica recorded a concert in which they played many of their classic songs, as well as some new ones, with the San Francisco Symphony. The result was the S&M album. Years later, in 2003, Metallica put out their most recent album, St. Anger. The album had mixed reactions among fans and non fans alike, but now, more than two years after its release, hopefully the controversy has died down, and we can all look foward to the next album.
~ Metallica ~
James Hetfield - Guitar, vocals
Lars Ulrich - Drums
Kirk Hammett - Guitar
Rob Trujillo - Bass

Cliff Burton - Bass
Jason Newsted - Bass, Backing vocals
Dave Mustaine - Guitar, vocals
Ron McGoveny - Bass
Lloyd Grant - Guitar

Metallica Rules!
by rastablowtorch August 24, 2005
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the greatest band on earth. literally. no doubt about it. they have been producing songs since the eighties, in the heavy-metal genre.
a heavy metal band famous for their music in the eighties.
by mike. March 24, 2005
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