Metallica joins an august group of artists with its induction on April 4, 2009 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, joining with hundreds of performers inducted into the Cleveland museum in the past two decades.
An American band, Metallica formed in 1981 after founder and drummer Lars Ulrich was joined by James Hetfield. The two used a cheap recorder to record their first track, with Hetfield singing and playing rhythm and bass guitar. They were later joined by bassist Ron McGovney, a housemate of Hetfield’s, and Dave Mustaine on lead guitar and soared to become a top 80's rock band.
Metallica Among Best Metal Bands in 80's Rock, Earn Rights to Hall of Fame Induction
In the years since, a Metallica concert has become a transformational experience for audiences as its members worked to define the sound of heavy metal music. Being inducted as part of the Metallica honor are Ulrich, Hetfield, today’s lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass player Robert Trujilo. Bassists Cliff Burton, who died in a band tour bus accident in 1986, and Jason Newsted, who left the band in 2001 to pursue his own musical career, are also being inducted.
From the beginning, the band has blazed a trail with hallmark lightening fast tempos, precision instrumentalism and hypermasculine aggression, earning it a lead role in the thrash metal scene. Its release of Master of Puppets in 1986 is still proclaimed as a key influence in the heavy metal world and one of the best metal bands ever.
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Metallica guitar player Kirk Hammett, named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, symbolizes for many the heart and soul of thrash metal.
The band’s 2003 release of their album St. Anger outraged many of their fans who viewed its songs as abandoning the heavy metal genre with its absence of blistering guitar solos and tin-sounding drums. The film Some Kind of Monster documented the band’s creative process and took its name from a song on St. Anger. The film also won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Honors One of the Best Metal Bands
For a band that began with such strong underground roots, and enjoys success in a sub-genre of rock music, Metallica has charted high critical praise. The Hall of Fame induction at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame confirms their legendary status.
It would be their 1991 self-titled album that would allow Metallica the commercial success to hit number one on the Billboard 200 charts. Since then, the band has won seven Grammy Awards and has achieved the singular status of having five consecutive albums debut at number one on Billboard 200.
The following are Metallica’s albums, according to Rolling Stone Magazine:
- 2008, Death Magnetic
- 2006, The Dash
- 2004, The Wilting
- 2004, Some Kind of Monster
- 2003, St. Anger
- 2001, Metallic Assault: A Tribute to Metallica
- 1999, La Ultima Noche en la Tierra
- 1999, Your Own Thing
- 1999, S&M [Edited]
- 1999, S&M
- 1998, Garage, Inc.
- 1998, Garage, Inc. [Clean]
- 1998, Chicken Out
- 1998, Reload
- 1996, 13th
- 1996, Load
- 1991, Metallica
- 1990, Three O’Clock High
- 1988, ...And Justice for All
- 1986, Master of Puppets
- 1984, Ride the Lightning
- 1983, Kill 'Em All
Metallica is a pioneering band both in music and style and retains its rights as an 80's rock band that became one of the best metal bands ever. From joining other bands in 2000 to battle and win against the copyright-infringing Napster to the release of its risk-taking 2008 album Death Magnetic, Metallica are rock legends and guitar legends who hold their heads high in the as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction.
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