I've been listening to this band a lot lately, because they mean so much to me and my identity. I was wondering what they mean to you guys.
I'll go first. I'm a 29 year old male. My parents both grew up with this band and are DIE HARD fans. Never missed a show, own every CD they've ever put out, the documentaries, etc. It's like the thing that holds their marriage together. Their thing, they both love.
My mother has home videos of me as a baby in the 90s headbanging to "Whiplash" in a car seat. When I was about 8 years old my dad bought me one of those old portable CD players with headphones and a copy of "The Black Album". I listened to it over and over. Fell in love with the sound.
As a teenager (and a troubled one at that) began to get more into their older stuff, now understanding the lyrics, I fell in love all over again. Metallica was LIFE!!!
As an adult I haven't really listened as often, aside from the occasional cry session to "Fade To Black" when mental illness got the best of me, or they'd pop up on my playlist. I'd gotten more into punk music and heavier metal as I grew older.
The other weekend they ran through my city (Denver), I got tickets for my whole family. For both days. Both nights I held arms with my parents and we went HARD together. Headbanging, dancing and even crying. It was in that moment I realized my parents were just as damaged people as I am. They felt this music and related to it, exactly the same way I do. It was the best bonding experience I've ever had with them.
Metallica may not be the greatest, most talented, most hardcore metal band ever. But damn. They hold a fucking special place in my heart. I wish I could personally thank them for being the one thing that has held a broken family together for all these years! ❤️ 🤘
I've been listening to them since '89, and at this point I see them as some family I've never met but I love and support anyway, kind of some weird uncles I keep hearing about and I think they're awesome, but they live out of reach. We may not always be on the same page, but I'd never betray them, because they've made some records that to this day mean so very much to me, and my life has been better because I had their music. Good times or bad times, MetallicA has always been there for me.
If they are not the greatest and most talented in rock and metal, then who is? Their songs are so engaging to learn that they become the default band for anyone starting to play metal. They have everything from punk to ballads, have inspired countless bands, and people have personal connections to their music, much like you do.
While their technical performance may not be flawless, the truth is, many musicians who excel technically struggle to write songs as powerful and memorable as Metallica’s. You are a very lucky person to have a family like that, thank you for sharing your story.
That is a fair point. There are many metal bands, especially nowadays that far surpass them technically. Especially Lars, he's just honestly a pretty basic drummer, but it still fucking slaps when it's all put together. There's something special and emotional about their music that just doesn't quite feel the same with any other band.
And yes I am very lucky, my family kicks ass. Thank you!
To me they mean music for all reasons, all seasons, and all moods. That’s what teenaged me would have told you. Middle-aged me says they were a great springboard into a wider world of music under the aegis of heavy metal.
I got into them at 13 and I'm in my 40s now - always listened to them through my whole life - songs and albums I could always come back to. Incredibly consistent in what they've done over decades. My gateway to metal. While I listen to many genres, nothing hits me like metal, and that's a world Metallica opened to me.
Weirdly I never saw them live till this time last year and I loved it so much. All time great moment in life. They started with Creeping Death and finished with MOP and everything in between was amazing!
Not just great music but also great lyrics - always something to say. Many songs that have given me strength through hard times and given me a soundtrack to make good times better.
"Never alone for the feelings alike... Lux aeterna"!
They have been a constant source of inspiration, strength, and fun to me.
More than linkin park means to a 90s kid
Everything.
I first heard them in probably around 1991. My mate played me Fight Fire With Fire when i was aged 11 and I was transported. I then begged and recorded bits from other friends. I had a tape with Master of Puppets recorded the wrong way round so it started with Disposable Heroes and finished with Sanitarium. By 1993 I had all the albums up to that point and learned them by rote. I learnt guitar and learnt every single thing I could with my limited talent at that point. When Load came out I was fully in the fandom. First gig was Earls Court 1996. Have seen them 5 times since. I still know every riff, every lick, every solo. St Anger was incredibly important in helping me get through a really difficult time.
That T shirt... Birth, School, Metallica, Death. That is me. They are the constant in my life. I don't even listen to the albums that much as I don't really need to, they're as ingrained in me as my own name. They were the way I got into metal, and at 45, I still adore them as much as day 1.
I think they're a very good band who knows how to write and perform great music
Metallica was the start of my love for heavy metal. I had listened to hair metal growing up , but they brought me into wanting more
A gateway
One of the few things in life that I enjoy.
Music is so special and I'm so thankful for how close it brings my family. I've been to over 60 shows and easily over half have been with them. Wouldn't like half the tunes I do if it weren't for them. Hope to take my mom to a Metallica show one day. She saw em back in 93 in our hometown and I saw them 18 years later a couple hours away so she couldn't make it. Metallica means a lot to me. Them, GNR and AC/DC were all the start of me really getting this genre of music and was what made me want to pick up a guitar. Always wanted to be as cool James, being able to play a solid rhythm, and be the frontman. While also being able to shred cool solos like Slash and have the swagger of Bon Scott. Someday haha
Metallica was the lead on getting into metal back in the 80's. It was the place where us outsider kids found each other. The not cool kids, the poor kids, the weird kids, the quiet kids, the awkward kids, we found each other through metal and Metallica. The friends I found on that day are still my closest friends today.
They changed the history of modern rock music. Like Chuck Berry, Elvis, and The Beatles they created a whole new sound (what we now call speed metal, or thrash) along with other Southern California bands that were going to the same shows and listening to the same records. Metallica had a head start on most bands because of Lars exposure to European metal like Budgie, Merciful Fate, and Celtic Frost. The word and sound got around fast and Exodus was right there with them as well as Megadeth of course, Metallica sharing members with both... Kirk and Dave. Slayer in LA put the cherry on top... aggressive speed metal with Satanic and violent lyrics meant to shock. It did shock our parents and us kids loved it more for it I believe. Testament, Death Angel, and a slew of other speed metal bands came out setting them apart from the popular glam metal movement headed by Motley Crue, Ratt, and a million other lipsticked bands. Metallica, Slayer, Exodus,etc. made thrash metal which set it apart from glam. Anthrax was the East Coasts answer to thrash. None of this would have happened like it did if Metallica never existed. Lars. Fucking Lars.
Got me into metal music, with the basics like “Enter Sandman” and “Nothing Else Matters.” My favorite song by them is and always will be “To Live Is to Die.” Lots of nostalgia from my childhood, my dad listened to them in their heyday, and introduced me to it when I was young. It’s not my favorite band of all time, but a lot of these songs bring back so many memories. It’s gotta be the most nostalgic band I listen to.
YEAHEEEEEYEAAHHHHHUUUUHHH
They're basically the reason I started playing the guitar, and I consider that a defining part of me even though I don't play often these days.
So they kinda mean a lot.
I've been a fan since 86. Metal was still in the hair and makeup phase. I converted my wife. I raised my kids on Metallica. I've had some depression episodes over the years, some minor some serious. Thinking about hair bands and the pressure society puts on people, Metallica was always themselves. My wife has musical training, and is the smartest person I know. She has multiple degrees, and is a serious person. She's a huge fan. We've traveled to multiple cities/countries to see them. It was a dream come true to take our kids to a Metallica show once. We've done it 4 times now. So when James says "Metallica family", I feel like I'm part of that family. My family is always there for me.
Metallica: proper noun; an American heavy metal band.
Strength, emotion, bad assery, my first love, my brother - everything.
Everything.
A constant presence in my life, the soundtrack of my life, my inner resonance sound..
Wish I had this kind of connection with my folks.
They are the soundtrack to my life.
The Black Album was my intro to Metallica I loved them since I was 12. I'm gonna be 47 on Friday I love their older music.
Metallica is a band I fuck with
Saw them in Boston 83. Had a vague notion of who there were but damn they were great. Followed them until AJFA. After that something changed got to big maybe but the music wasn’t the same. So now Metallica means to me what once was.
Why would they mean so much to your identity?
I guess that might be poor wording. They aren't like my everything or my whole personality or anything. Hell I don't even listen to them much anymore.
They just are a part of me I guess. My roots, if that makes sense.
Ok
Being an unrepentant bully.
They were everything until Load came out
Honestly, they got me into metal, so they mean a lot to me, I may have never seen them live yet, but I'll be forever grateful for them. They got me through some stuff
I hope you get to see them live soon! I’m 44 years old and finally got to see them this summer after being a fan for 30+ years.
Yeah I feel you they've gotten me through some shit for sure.
I've been to so many metal shows at this point I've lost count. But you should absolutely go see them live if you ever can. One of the few bands that actually sounds better live than on their records IMO. If I wasn't poor I'd be following them to Europe at the moment 😂