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."