Growing up, I loved Metallica. They helped channel that period of angsty teenage rebellion. Seek and Destroy, …And Justice for All, Creeping Death - they all were rallying cries for those frustrated, angry and ready to do something about it (that “something” being headbanging).
Their career built up to what might be the greatest metal album of all time: The Black Album. Any album that’s known by the color of it’s color has to be epic, right? It was an immediate legend. They toured for years, selling out stadiums across the world. Orchestras started transposing Enter Sandman and Sad But True to take the songs to a new audience. Then the band cut haircuts.
I think I mentioned it in my Terrible Tuesday pick from last week, but it seems that artists who push the limits of success start to view them former selves as their source of rebellion from that point forward. Whether it’s hair cuts, new clothes, new instruments, or new collaborators, it seems to remove the essence of what pushed that artist into the stratosphere.
In Metallica’s case, they chose to ignore their purely bad-ass backgrounds in favor of a little whine with their cheese. Mama Said is a half-country half-ballad song centered around a plea from son to mother to let him go out, grow up, and learn on his own.
Let’s get this straight. “Mom…may I please have your permission to go out on my own?”
Just five years prior, they devoted a song to “Don’t Tread On Me.”
What the hell happened? I’m serious. Any ideas, comments, thoughts? Post ‘em.
