| Alcoholica | A nickname for Metallica coined somewhere in Europe in 1985, because of the bands love of drinking. A fan was spotted wearing a T-shirt he had made of the cover of "Kill 'Em All", only instead of a hammer and blood, the T-shirt showed a bottle spilling Vodka. The band members liked it so much, they adopted it for their own use. |
| Anaheim | In this Los Angeles suburb, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Ron McGovney and Dave Mustaine played their first gig at Radio City. It was the first in Metallica's career. |
| Apocalyptica | Apocalyptica is a quartet Finnish band that released a tribute album for Metallica in May '96. The songs on this album where chosen because they could be arranged for the cellos, so songs with fast guitar solos weren't selected. They even did a video for Enter Sandman! |
| "Bang the head that doesn't bang" | It was written in big block capital on the back cover of "Kill 'Em All" album. The motto was rumoured to be stolen from Ron Quintana who wanted to use it for his fanzine. From then on, Ron has never revealed to Lars either names, titles of slogans etc. |
| Believe | This was the first name, which Metallica though for the "The Cure" song, because of the repeating "I Do Believe" phrase. |
| Billboard | "Kill 'Em All" reached #120 in February of 1988, 5 years after being released.
"Ride The Lightning" reached #100 in the spring on 1985.
"Master Of Puppets" touched #29 shortly after its release.
"Garage Days Re-Revisited" reached #28 about a month after release.
"...And Justice For All" topped at #6, four weeks after release.
"Metallica" debuted at #1 and stayed there for 4 weeks.
"Load" debuted at #1. |
| Blackened | The song "Blackened" was recorded with several guitars recorded and played backwards |
| Blitzer | Lars and James tried to find a suitable name for the band. They names they came up with at first were "Blitzer", "Grinder" and "Red Vette". But, later ended up with "Metallica". |
| Cali Tee | The daughter of James and Francesca. Cali Tee was born on 13th June 1998. |
| Carpe Diem | Carpe Diem is latin for "seize the day". |
| Chophouse | "The Chophouse" is Jason’s home studio where he is busy working on other projects besides Metallica. |
| Cliff Burton | Born on 10th February 1962. He was the former bass player for Metallica. Cliff lost his life in a bus accident on 27th September in Sweden. He was only 24 years of age. |
| Cliff 'Em All | "Cliff 'Em All" was a tribute video released in 1988 for their departed member Cliff Burton. The video included the band's private footage of their three years with Cliff Burton. Metallica did not do any promos or marketing for it because the aim of the video was to show Cliff and the band as they really were. The song "Orion" was a very emotional moment for the band, because it was the music they had chosen for Cliff’s funeral. It also included all about Cliff in his usual mood, that is playing the guitar. |
| Covers | A cover song is a version of a song performed by one band that was originally written and recorded by a different band. "Turn The Page", "Am I Evil" and "Astronomy" are prime examples of songs Metallica has covered in their latest album "Garage Days-Revisited". |
| Creeping Death | The lyrics for "Creeping Death" are about the tale of the plagues bestowed upon the Egyptians, inspired by the second half of the movie "The Ten Commandments."
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| Defcon | It is the name of the band in which Lloyd Grant - Metallica's first solo guitarist played. |
| Devils Dance | A track meant to be on the "Load" album that was pulled out in the last minute. The song was performed live a few times prior to that album. "Devils Dance" appeared in the next album titled "Reload". |
| Diamond | Jason’s first band with Kevin Kendrick, Todd Smiedendorf and Tom Depoy in Niles, MI in 1977. |
Die Krupps
| This is a German band that released a nine-song tribute album for Metallica. Their covers sound quite different from the originals. There is less of guitar work but more of keyboard, electronic drums and the lead singer has a strong German accent.
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| Doris | "Doris" is Lady Justice's nickname (the statue with the scales on the album cover of "...And Justice For All"). |
| The Dungeon | "The Dungeon" is the name of Lars's home studio. This is the place where Lars does all his research and most of the ideas have their origin here. |
| Ecstasy of Gold | It is Metallica's intro tape on their shows. "Ecstasy of Gold" is composed by Ennio Morricone, and is from the Clint Eastwood movie "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly." |
| Fade To Black | The bands equipment was stolen in Boston when they were preparing for their first European tour. This incident inspired James to write the song "Fade To Black". Among the stuff stolen was a Marshall amp that was special to James, they searched two continents looking for a replacement amp with the same sound. "Fade" was a direct reaction to having had all the gear taken from the band. |
| Flight Of The Bumble Bee | First song James learned on guitar. |
| Flotsam & Jetsam | This is the name of the band where Jason played before he joined Metallica.
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| F.O.B.D. | This stands for the demo tape of 'Until it sleeps' (read: "Fell on black days"). |
| Francesca | Francesca is James wife. They got married on 17th August 1997. |
| Grammy Award | Metallica get nominated in the Best Heavy Metal Category at the Grammy Awards in 1989 for their album "...And Justice for all". Metallica is considered the hot favourite to win. Considering it a fact, loads of 'GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS' stickers are ready to be stuck on the copies of the album "...And Justice For All". Metallica perform "One" live at the Awards Ceremony. Surprisingly, "Jetrho Tull" wins the award. So on the sticker, the word "LOSERS" is overwritten on the word "WINNERS" |
| Hamstercaster | It is the name of Kirk Hammett's fourth guitar
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Influences
| - James Hetfield: Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Ted Nugent, Tom Waits, Skynyrd Spagetti and Nick Cave
- Lars Ulrich: Motorhead, Diamond Head and Deep Purple
- Kirk Hammett: Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Satriani and UFO.
- Jason Newsted: Kiss, Black Sabbath, Rush and Ted Nugent |
| Jagermeister | It was the official drink in the 'And Justice For All' tour.
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Johnny Got His Gun
| The movie clips on the video for the single "One" are from the film "Johnny Got His Gun". The movie was adapted from the book by Dalton Trumbo, who also directed the movie.
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| James Alan Hetfield | Born on 3rd August 1963 in Los Angeles, California. James is the lead vocalist and guitarsist. James is responsible for majority of the guitar work. He plays the rhythm guitar and most melody and harmony guitars, including acoustics and the occasional guitar solo. James also created the original Metallica logo and is responsible for the new 4M star logo. |
| Jason Curtis Newsted | Born on 4th March 1963 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Plays the bass guitar in Metallica. |
| Kirk Lee Hammett | Born on 18th November 1962 in San Francisco, California. He plays the lead guitar in Metallica. |
| Ktulu | From the song "The Call Of Ktulu". The song was originally called "When Hell Freezes Over" included in a 1984 demo tape which also contained "Fight Fire With Fire", "Ride The Lightning" and "Creeping Death". "Ktulu" is a creation by author H.P. Lovecraft. Ktulu is a tentacled faced creature that lies dormant on the bottom of the ocean awaiting the call from its followers to awaken it. He writes fascinatingly ficticious, twisted and disturbed books and Metallica was influenced a bit by him after Cliff Burton had introduced his writings to the rest of the band. |
| Lani | Wife of Kirk Hammett whom he married on 31st January 1998 in Hawaii. |
| Lars Ulrich | Born on 26th December 1963 in Gentofte, Denmark. Lars is the founder member of Metallica and plays the drums and percussion’s. |
| Leper Messiah | The lyrics of this song talk about preachers on American TV. Although after the releasing of the song the topic became fashionable, James Hetfield got directly involved in the problem because his parents were disciples of the "Christian Science" sect.
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| Life | "Private Life? I don't think you can find this word in my dictionary... my life is Metallica 24 hours a day!" - Lars. |
| The logo | James is responsible for the design of the Metallica logo. |
| Make-A-Wish Foundation | Make-A-Wish Foundation is an organisation that attempts to make the dreams of seriously ill youngsters come true. Metallica actively supports and assists as often as possible. |
| Mechanix | Dave Mustaine had written a few tunes with Lars and James while he was a member of the band. "Mechanix" was one of these, which later was modified and given a new name, "The Four Horsemen." The original version of the song can be heard on some old demos, as well as on the first Megadeth album. |
| Megaforce Records | The first record label who signed Metallica. The album "Kill 'Em all" was first released on this label. |
| The "Memory Remains" - dialogue | Marianne Faithfull chose a few of her favourite movie one-liners to add to the feel of the song "The Memory remains". One of the movies is Marilyn Monroe's "The Misfits" from which the line "Say yes. At least say hello." is taken. |
| Metallibashers | The official term for Metallica fans. A famous motto says: "We are the proud, the few, the true Metallibashers, all the others can die by this end." |
| Metal Massacre I | A compilation album including metal and rock bands like "Bitch", "Ratt", "Malice" etc. It also included the song "Hit The Lights" by Metallica. |
| Metal Militia | Metallica’s first official fan club. |
| Morricone, Ennio | It is the Italian author with whose intro Metallica start all their gigs. The music is taken from the soundtrack of the very famous western film "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly."
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| Mouldy | This was the name of the song which was later renamed "'Hero of the day". |
| The Name | Lars stole the name "Metallica" from "Mr. Metal" of San Francisco, Ron Quintana. Ron was getting ready to launch a metal fanzine and had a few names in mind. He asked his friend Lars for suggesions, and after hearing the name "Metallica," Lars quickly suggested a different name and kept "Metallica" for himself! |
| No Life `Til Leather | This is the name of the demo Metallica recorded in July 1982. This demo-tape was never officially released, but copies were made and spread like a bushfire. It included the tracks: "Hit the Lights", "Mechanix" (later renamed "The Four Horsemen"), "Motorbreath", "Seek & Destroy", "Metal Militia", "Jump In The Fire" and "Phantom Lord", which were later released on "Kill 'Em All" album.
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| Obsession | James’s first band with Jim Arnold, Rich and Ron Veloz in 1978 |
| Osbourne, Ozzy | A month after the release of "Master Of Puppets", Metallica went on a very long tour in America with Ozzy Osbourne. In a very short time their career graph rocketed with the album ascending rapidly the US charts and reaching number 26! |
| Phantom Lord | James forms a band called "Phantom Lord" with Jim Mulligan and Hugh Tanner in 1980. |
| Pushead | He is the author of Metallica's most outstanding graphic production. A great part of the official merchandise picture are by him.
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| Q-Prime | Metallica's management company, employing Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein, the two are responsible for the group’s successes. |
| Recycler | In May 1982, Lars Ulrich placed an ad in the magazine 'RECYCLER' to make up a band. On the same page there was also an ad by James Hetfield. James answered the ad, but was unimpressed with Lars playing the drums because the cymbals kept falling over everytime he hit them. Soon Lars went to England to follow his favourite band, Diamond Head on tour, and after returning to the States, got a spot on Brian Slagel's "Metal Massacre" album. Lars used this as bait and talked James into recording a song for the album, and the rest is history. |
| Scrap Metal | At the 1987 Aardshok Festival in Zwolle, Holland, a group of Metallica roadies under the name "SCRAP METAL" opened the nine hour festival, that Metallica headlined, playing a set of covers! |
| Skateboarding | James Hetfield's favourite sport although he has paid a heavy price in terms of the injures suffered. |
| The Snake | The "Snake" on the the cover of the Black Album is from the Culpepper Minutemen flag, from which the motto "Don't Tread On Me" also originates. The flag is actually from the Revolutionary War. There are a couple of different versions of it. There is a yellow one, a white one, and one with red and white stripes, which was the first American Flag! The white one reads at the top "The Culpepper Minutemen", and the yellow one just has the snake and "Don't Tread On Me" at the bottom. |
| Snake Pit | "The Snake Pit" was a large pit in the middle of Metallica's diamond-shaped "Wherever I May Roam" stage, set aside so a few lucky fans could stand right in the middle of the action on stage. It is also an online meeting place for Metallica fans on AOL. |
| Skylar | Skylar is Lars’s wife whom he married in Las Vegas in early 1997 |
| Tommy's Joint | Tommy's Joint is a Hofbrau (meat, potatos and BEER!!!) located in San Francisco and was a hangout of the Metallica team. It is also the place where Jason was asked to join the band! |
| The God That Failed | "The God That Failed" is a very personal song written by James. The song was inspired by the death of James’ mother's at the hands of cancer. Due to her staunch Christian Science beliefs, she felt unable to accept any modern day medical care and relied solely on her faith in God to heal her. |
| Trumble, Dalton | Is the author of the book "Johnny Got His Gun" from which Metallica drew inspiration for the lyrics of the song "One". The black and white images in the video have been taken from the film of the same name.
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| TT | Has always been a problem for the band. While Brian Slagel used to add one T to MeTTallica on the cover notes of 'Metal Massacre', few remember not to take a final T away from Kirk's surname!
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| The Unforgiven | The video of the single "The Unforgiven II" is about a young boy forced to conform to society's rules and becoming an old man and regretting not defying the rules to do what he wanted to do. |
| Videos | Metallica are not a very enthusiastic lot in terms of making videos of their songs. For many years they did not want to make videos. "The videos draw us away from our fans... people end up be seeing you as a 'product'. We'll go on like this until we have a 'new' idea" says Lars. They come up with the ‘new idea’ in 1987. In December 1987 their first home video 'Cliff 'Em All' is released. It is a compilation of the amateur clips/shots recorded by their fans. Even though it was rough and badly recorded, yet is was quite innovative. It reaches No. 1 in the Billboard home video sales chart for the highest sales in the whole history of home videos. |
| Wherever I May Roam | James recorded "Wherever I May Roam" with a "sitar", an Indian folk instrument and also various percussion and electronic sound effects in the background. |
| Wrist | It is part of the body of James that has suffered innumerable injuries due to his skateboarding! |
| X | "There was a period during our 1988-89 American tour in which I used to get a map, close my eyes and then mark with an X a point on the map. Then I used to call my manager and ask if it were possible to play a gig in the place I had marked on the map..." - Jason. |
| Zazula, Johnny | Metallica's first manager and Megaforce Records present boss. It's the record company with which the group made their first two records. Their relationship ended at the beginning of 1984. |
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