Metallica

Oh sweet googly moogly

Metallica has finally given in and gone digital. Big f'n deal.

Here's my problem with this. I worked in Radio for many years as a DJ. I followed this band when no one would listen or play them. They became famous by fans trading tapes of live shows. They finally get a great record deal and come back (after the loss of Cliff Burton) to come out with ...and justice for all. As a musician, this is one of my favorite albums. It's raw, and it allowed the band to musically deal with Cliff's death. I also cheered when they won a Grammy (think it was the grammy) for the song "One" which got NO radio play from any major stations. There were some college stations and a few lucky folks,like myself, who could play it but only after 10pm or on a specialty show.

Then came Napster.

I was using napster at the time and it was REALLY great. Better than ANYTHING out now. I also understand that it is illegal (not at the time though) but what chaffed my butt was that Metallica was at the FRONT of this attack on Napster. As a muscition I understand that you need to protect your property. Cool. But after they announced the court order Napster exploded. Most of the original people were gone at that point.

My bitch is that with them making all that money from word of mouth I felt it was very "sell out" to handle it the way they did. Being at the for front. If I read their name on a list of other bands then I wouldn't be mad at all. But since that I haven't purchased any of their music.

With that said.

They still are, and always will be, the definition of heavy metal. (IMHO)

So here goes the next rant.......

in iTunes music store, if you check out Metallica's section the most popular downloads are all the new stuff!! Damn kids, try learning music the right way!! Start with the early albums and see what the meat of the band (any band) is about. The mainstream stuff almost always sucks. From my time in radio I cannot tell you how many bands either right one or two songs specifically for the radio or they hire a writer that will pen a radio friendly song.

So please, kids, stay away from "some kind of monster" and "unforgiven" and grab "seek and destroy" or "ride the lightning"

your friend
Fenix