Metallica: Commercial Success or Commercial Failure?
June 18, 2007 by Jo Minor
While we know that Metallica officially suck nowadays - I’ve been harping on this topic for a long time now - I’d like to describe the direct relation between commercial success and musical failure: the curse that befell one of the brightest heavy metal prospects the world has ever seen.
So, what really happened to Metallica? Well, to keep it short and simple: they let the success get to them. There are two distinct ways a band can handle success: they either let it inspire and motive them to improve the quality of their music, or it distracts them and turns them into complacent has-beens. Metallica, sadly, took in the luxuries and perks of success and threw away the drive and musical creativity that made them a worldwide phenomenon in the first place.
There are bands who share Metallica’s common plagues: of being relative unknowns at first and enduring hardships - and putting in an immense amount of hard work - to attain a level of success that is admirable. Strangely, most of these bands have gotten better as they’ve grown: American metal stalwarts Nile, Nevermore, Iced Earth and German thrash legends Kreator, Sodom and Destruction come to mind.
Then why did Metallica decline in their musical focus over the years and ended up being worn out shadows of their former self?
They just couldn’t handle the temptation that money and fame brings. Complacency is the keyword here - they just got more and more comfortable with their wealthy and lofty heights that they totally rejected the idea of pushing the envelope of their musical edge and vision (something they have done, with amazing results, during the course of Kill ‘Em All to The Black Album).
For those who want to revisit the glorious years of Metallica, do check out the Cliff ‘Em All DVD, and dust off your Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets albums and give them a well deserved spin on the stereo. Now that’s the real Metallica.
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