Humanizing Metallica (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love 'St. Anger')

Any band or artist which survives nearly 30 years has to change and reinvent itself in order to stay relevant.

Shortly after the invention of this rule came its required secondary component: Let there be resentment to said alterations.

Metallica has been stabbed with both sides of that blunt sword during the course of the group’s nearly 30-year career. Their image, despite its many complicated mutations, has long been a key component of the group’s rabid following, a persona that could accurately be described as the exact opposite of candy, sunshine, hugs and flowers.


Perhaps that’s why the 2004 documentary feature “Some Kind of Monster” drew such sharp reactions. A number of critics -- ones paid for their opinion and those with no more than blog space -- laughed at the band, seeing them as little more than insecure, emotionally stunted rock stars who were finally coming to grips with a new level of maturity and growth.

“Some Kind of Monster” showed that no matter how much money someone makes, they’re still people. After 20-plus years of collaboration, there were plenty of cracks in the Metallica foundation. The picture’s tagline was “the film that redefines group therapy.” How fitting.

Before that film, Metallica had never pulled back the curtain and stood in one place long enough for anyone to get a clearer picture of who they are.

For further proof, let’s jump in the way-back machine and time travel.

In their early days in the 1980s, when they were emerging and refining themselves, Metallica made their name by playing as loud and as fast as possible. Their image matched the sound -- they were loud and brash. They had a reputation for knocking back a few too many, earning them the nickname “Alcoholica.” The liner notes of the early records joke about world domination. They even had a live demo recorded in San Francisco that’s title involves shoving their brand of rock into a certain bodily orifice (I believe the yiddish word is “tuchus”).

These guys would’ve called you names unsuitable for print if you told them they’d one day make a record with a therapist on 24-hour standby. What kind of sissy would do that, dude?

The ’90s saw their world domination come to fruition with the self-titled black album. It also saw one of the most drastic image changes the group has attempted, when they shed their speed-metal riffs and long hair for 1996’s Load. “Rocktalica” is what a friend of mine called them in this era -- “because they don’t play metal anymore.” They even played with a symphony in Berkeley.

A symphony? That is a decidedly un-metal move, dude.

This brings us to the last eight years. With today’s arrival of Death Magnetic, the group has released just two albums in that span. The changes continue: Rob Trujillo replaces Jason Newsted on bass, Rick Rubin follows Bob Rock as producer, drummer Lars Ulrich becomes the self-proclaimed “most-hated man in rock ’n’ roll” after taking on Napster.

Few of their reconfigurations were as drastic as the reshaping which came with St. Anger, the group’s therapy-fueled, love-it-or-leave, garage-band-on-steroids effort from 2003. It was a difficult record to love -- punishing guitars endlessly twined in fuzzy assault. Ulrich’s drums sounded like he was beating tin cans. It was a pulsing, beating mess of a record.

And there were no guitar solos!? Dude! Seriously!

After finishing my first listening, I hated it. But that changed. It took five years, but I learned to stop worrying and love St. Anger. The reason I came to like it is because of Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger’s “Some Kind of Monster” film.

Far too many critics categorized the film -- which showed Rock, Ulrich, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett hiring a therapist, as well as Hetfield’s year-long departure to rehab, as they wrote and recorded Anger -- as proof of how shallow and immature the members were.

I had quite a different reaction. I came to appreciate St. Anger and the band’s members more because of the film. It showed them as people. Successful people, yes, but flawed people just like you and I. They had a completely unexpected side to them -- Hetfield took his daughter to ballet class, Hammett surfed, Ulrich collected expensive works of art.

Seriously? Ballet class? That does not rock, dude.

But an unintended consequence of “Some Kind of Monster” was it humanized the members of Metallica. It was difficult to see Ulrich as a flame-throwing, Napster-scorching Godzilla when he was talking about wimpy crap such as feelings. The Metallica I knew didn’t have time for feelings.

When Metallica played the Bridge School Benefit show last fall, they opened with a cover of Rare Earth’s “I Just Want to Celebrate.” As a byproduct of the movie, seeing Hetfield croon “I just want to celebrate another day of living” didn’t seem corny or inappropriate. It wasn’t difficult to believe that he truly meant it, either.

So Friday, maybe as some of you are reading this, I’ll be on my way to the record store to pick up Death Magnetic. I’m excited. I admire Hetfield, Ulrich and Hammett for their honesty, to challenge themselves and perceptions about the group, and their willingness to put themselves in a new light.

Oh, and because regardless of everything else, they still rock, dude.

Comments

[Sean]

I give them credit for putting everything out there, but the tone of everything they said, even if it was heartfelt, came off as them being bitchy millionaires who, despite their wealth and success, want more. Through the entire thing they seem unapologetic about their feelings and don't show a desire to change, only bring more people into their collective misery.

An example of their tone was best seen when they went to see Jason's new band. They almost treated it as a joke the entire time (though they were saying nice things and trying to be encouraging). But with all of the baggage the three guys were dragging around it's no wonder Jason left after the set to avoid them. I think if I saw a destructive force like them in my life I'd want to disappear too.

Just my opinion.