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Metallica

Metallica

By far and away the most successful of thrash metal's big four, Metallica dwarfed their rivals' achievements with an aggressive but melodic sound which produced one of the best-selling albums of all time. The original core line-up of frontman James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hammett (who had replaced Megadeth's Dave Mustaine) bassist Cliff Burton and Danish-born drummer Lars Ulrich first came together in Los Angeles in 1983, and shortly after released their debut album, Kill 'Em All. 1984 follow-up Ride the Lightning helped them land a major label deal with Elektra Records, and the band continued to edge further towards the mainstream with 1986's Master of Puppets, a Top 30 hit widely considered their masterpiece. Tragedy struck later that year when Burton died in a tourbus crash in Dorarp, Sweden, but after hiring Jason Newsted as his replacement, the band bounced back with 1988's And Justice For All, a politically-charged affair which spawned their first US Top 40 hit, "One." The group then forged what would prove to be a long-lasting relationship with producer Bob Rock on 1991's Metallica, a blockbuster record which featured signature hit, "Enter Sandman," kickstarted a run of five consecutive number ones on the Billboard 200, and sold an astonishing 30 million copies worldwide. Following a lengthy two-year tour, including a series of co-headlining stadium shows with Guns N'Roses in which Hetfield sustained second-degree burns on stage, the band finally returned to the studio for 1996's Load. As with 1997 follow-up Reload, the record saw Metallica largely eschew their thrash metal roots in favor of a slower hard rock sound which attracted new converts while alienating some loyal fans. The group's sudden prolific streak continued with 1998's covers album, Garage Inc. and a brace of shows with Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony captured for 1999's S&M. But Metallica's music took a backseat in the early '00s thanks to a high-profile dispute with Napster which sparked widespread debate over the practice of music file-sharing, the departure of Newsted over creative differences and subsequent hiring of Robert Trujillo, and a Spinal Tap-esque documentary, "Some Kind of Monster" (2004), based on the recording of 2003's much-maligned St. Anger. Perhaps burned by the negative response, Metallica chose to work with Rick Rubin on 2008's Death Magnetic, a decision which paid off when the album received some of the best reviews of their career. In contrast, following an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a series of festival shows with Big Four legends Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, Metallica received the most scathing reviews of their career for 2011's Lulu, a collaborative album with Lou Reed based on two works by German playwright Frank Wedekind. In 2012, the group launched their own festival, Orion Music + More, in Atlantic City, while a year later they hit the big screen with "Metallica Through the Never," (2013) an experimental 3D concert film which interspersed live footage with the adventures of a young roadie played by Dane DeHaan.
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