In 1985, Metallica released Master of Puppets, their first top 30 album. While on tour in Sweden, Cliff Burton was killed when the bus flipped over, throwing him out the window, and then falling on top of him.
Pressing on through the grief, Metallica held auditions for a new bassist. Jason Newsted was chosen from over 40 applicants. The band released the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, and began work on the next album, ...And Justice for All, in 1988. ...A.J.F.A. went to #6 on the charts and earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Metal/Rock performance. Metallica's first music video, One, was the first of two singles off the album.
The bands next album was the self-titled black album. Behind the single "Enter Sandman" the album went immediately to #1, and stayed there for several weeks. "Metallica" ended up selling more than 15 million copies worldwide, and won a Grammy and multiple MTV and American Music Awards. The band went on tour for almost three years straight, and decided it was time for a break.
Nearly four years later, in 1997, Metallica released Load. With the album came a change in look and a change in sound. In 1998, ReLoad was released from all of the extra tracks recorded during the Load sessions.
Metallica's next album, Garage, Inc., was a compilation of covers of the bands favorite songs. Then, in 1999, Metallica released S&M, a live album working with the San Francisco symphony orchestra. In the summer of 2000, the Summer Sanitarium tour filled stadiums across the country.
In early 2001, Newsted left the band. However it did not stop James, Lars, and Kirk from hitting the recording studio. On July 16, 2002, G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories was released, containing a track featuring the compilation between Metallica, Ja Rule, and Swizz Beatz called "We Did It Again." In February, the search for a bassist ended: Rob Trujillo was named Met's fourth member. May 6th, 2003, MTV's ICON: MetallicA aired. It featured tributes by many artists (one of whom had no business being there ::cough:: Avril Lavigne) but most importantly, a killer performance by the boyz themselves. The video for St. Anger was released May 27 and it is some powerful shit. It was taped in San Quentin prison in California.
On June 5, 2003, St. Anger, the first original album since '97, was released. It is the ballsiest Metallica album by far. If you don't have it, GET IT. They will be doing shows in Europe, and on July 4, Summer Sanitarium 2003 will kick off in Detroit. Last night, July 26, I went to the show in Chicago. It was aabsolutely amazing. They put on a flawless show with just about every song you ccould put in a good argument for playing. For more info on the tour go to metontour.com. For latest news, check the top of the page. Vote for me (in the bottom right) if you like my site. If you don't like it, vote for me anyways.
