Metallica Bio Part 2

Journey To Rock Part Two

They did publicly state that the majority of 2005 would be spent re-charging those creative and mental batteries, and true to their word it was a quiet year, except for two little hometown gigs with the Rolling Stones at SBC Park in November. We all knew an entire year would not pass without at least a sighting of the guys!

 

With batteries re-charged after the two shows with the Stones, the guys hit the studio in early 2006 to start writing a new album and were excited to announce that they would be working with a new producer, Rick Rubin. The spring and summer found them escaping from the studio once again with shows in South Africa (their first ever visit to the continent!), Europe, Japan and Korea. Proving that they hadn’t just spent the last many months slack off, Metallica debuted two new songs during these shows: The New Song premiered in Berlin, Germany on June 6 and The Other New Song made its debut August 12 in Tokyo, Japan. While still works in progress, both songs give us all a little taste of things to come with the remainder of the year scheduled for more writing and jamming.

Before teasing audiences with brand new material during that ‘06 summer jaunt, Metallica had decided to take a different approach to the studio, now working with Rubin. Having been availed of long-time twiddler Bob Rock's expertise and unifying qualities, the band wanted to see what happened when working with the decidedly hands-off Rubin. His message, when the band entered the studio in April of '07 to record, was simple; don't be afraid of your past, don't be afraid to rediscover your roots, embrace the ethic of performance over editing and get back to what Metallica essentially is. Thus began months of work with hands-on engineer Greg Fidelman handing the daily duties and Rubin overseeing and dropping in for tête-à-têtes to make sure matters remained on course. In essence, Rubin removed himself from the process as an ally to anyone and forced Metallica to find their own solutions and resolutions. He also made everyone re-record entire parts if they were unhappy to avoid a pro-tools dominated approach to creation, the idea being that it was always about the performance. Ironically, Rubin would later comment in the band's magazine So What! that the bulk of the album was recorded in a month, despite the fact it didn’t see the until September 12, 2008, celebrating the release with two low ticket cost charity shows in Berlin and at London's O2 Arena.

The popular response was enormous, with the album smashing the charts at #1 and critical acclaim acknowledging that this was, indeed, the return to business that Metallica had threatened for so long. The groundwork for Metallica’s creative process had been laid with St. Anger and the results were both clear and abundant with Death Magnetic, with cuts such as The Day That Never Comes, Broken, Beat & Scarred and All Nightmare Long becoming instant fan favorites. In addition to the Death Magnetic album, on March 29, 2009 the band also saw Guitar Hero: Metallica released. An Activision game, GH:M features 28 Metallica favorites and 21 songs from bands Metallica like, as well as guest appearances from King Diamond and Lemmy from Motörhead.

Along with all these releases, the band of course hit the road, as the 'World Magnetic' Tour started on October 20, 2008 in Glendale, Arizona. It is a tour that keeps on giving, keeps on coming, and will flow deep into 2010, the band hoping to perhaps play in some places they've never been before. Gone, however, are the grueling days of 8-10 weeks at a time on the asphalt, instead the schedule ensures Metallica are never on the road for longer than a couple of weeks before taking at least a week off back at home. It is a highly effective solution to the problem of making the road work with family and home life, and as such the tour thus far has seen some of Metallica's best performances ever as 'burn-out' is not even a factor. 

And as the 'World Magnetic' tour pressed on, it was documented via two very special releases. Following three sold-out nights in Mexico City at Foro Sol Stadium in June of 2009, the live DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México (directed by Wayne Isham) saw the band offering something special for their Latin American fan base, as the release only available in Mexico, Central and South America (and of course metallica.com!).  The summer of '09 also saw a very special performance from, of all places, an ancient Roman amphitheater: The Arena of Nimes of Nimes, France.  The show was subsequently released as a French-only' DVD entitled Français Pour Une Nuit.  The remainder of the year saw the band rocking through Europe and in North American arenas, finishing the year with a uproarious Bay Area crowd December at San Jose, California's hp Pavilion.

2009 wasn’t all just DVDs and arena tours, of course.  There was, in April 2009, the small matter of Metallica's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame. A memorable night saw Cliff Burton's father, Ray, and Jason Newsted reunite on stage for the induction.  What followed were blistering, suited-and-booted performances  of Master Of Puppets and Enter Sandman which saw Newsted jamming with his former band mates for the first time in years. Amidst the ongoing '...Magnetic' tour, there was also a very special evening at Madison Square Garden in New York, when on October 30, 2009 Metallica played the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame's 25th Anniversary benefit concert. Other performers on the bill included U2, Mick Jagger, the Black Eyes Peas and Aretha Franklin, but Metallica only got to prove their mettle (hah!) by collaborating with a select few legends.  Playing with Lou Reed (Sweet Jane and White Light/White Heat), Ozzy Osbourne (Iron Man and Paranoid) plus Ray Davies of The Kinks (You Really Got Me and All Day And All of The Night), it was a very special evening which underscored the range and dynamics of the band's musical abilities.

2010 saw the band kick-off the year by returning to South American for the first time in over 10 years, with additional shows in Central America and Mexico during January and March, respectively (which also included the band playing in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Panama for the first time ever!).  After thoroughly dominating Latin America, Metallica took to Europe yet again in April for a Spring that was a mixture of arena dates and festivals as a series of historic Sonisphere dates loomed on the horizon. The bill for these monumental June shows? Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax...the fabled Big 4 of modern heavy metal. Any quips, comments or complaints exchanged between the quarter in the past had long-since evaporated by the time the bands met in Warsaw, Poland on June 16, 2010 for the first of seven Sonisphere dates together. Indeed, the old friendships rekindled, the vibe was electric and the balance perfect as each band consistently delivered storming sets to hundreds of thousands of satisfied fans. Historically, the show in Sofia on June 22 was beamed back to over 1,000 cinemas around the world, a same-day performance broadcast slightly delayed due to time differences. And as if this wasn't enough, there was a live DVD, blu-ray and box-set cunningly titled 'The Big 4 Live From Sofia, Bulgaria' with box-setters getting a Big 4 pick, two DVDs documenting the entire show, five live CDs too, a 24 page booklet, and a photo of each band.

Not stopping to catch breath , the boys went all antipodean for the final leg(s) of the tour as they headed down to Australia and New Zealand THREE TIMES to close out the World Magnetic tour in front of screaming fans from Christchurch to Perth to Sydney (they also slid two Tokyo dates in there during September). Finally, on November 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Metallica played the last show of the 'World Magnetic' tour, before heading home for a spot of hibernation.

There is no doubt that this is a band who likes to work hard and rest easy, however there's also no doubt that with this being the 30th Anniversary of Metallica, peeled-eyes will be the order of the day for every Metalli-fan. Already a Big 4 show in Indio, CA has been announced for April 23, 2011 with five others in July in Europe, plus the band will headline Rock In Rio (in Rio De Janiero, Brazil) on September 25, 2011. 

It therefore does not take a detective to figure out that as calm as the Metalli-waters are this minute, there's a tidal wave brewing ahead...