On December 8th, 1980, Beatle John Lennon was shot and killed outside the entrance of the Dakota apartment, in New York City. His influence and significances don’t require any explanation.

On December 8th, 2004,  Pantera/ Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot on stage during a live performance; a most grisly scene. Dime was one of the most influential metal guitarists of the last thirty years. His significance was even greater during the 1990’s because he continued to play lengthy guitar solos, even when they weren’t in style. He carried the torch for the current generation of shredders.

When I realized that both of these men were murdered on the same day 24 years apart, I felt it was fitting to write a piece on fallen musicians in their honor. I have been planning on writing this for some time, but I didn’t know what I was going to say until I sat down to write.

So many exceptional musicians have died far too young.

Duane Allman lead guitarist for the Allman Brothers (1971), John Bonham drummer for Led Zeppelin (1980), Jeff Buckley (1997), Cliff Burton bassist for Metallica (1987), Kurt Cobain vocalist & guitarist for Nirvana (1994), Jim Croce (1973), Bobby Darin (1973), Jimi Hendrix (1970), Buddy Holly (1959), Robert Johnson (1938), Janis Joplin (1970), Phil Lynott bassist and vocalist for Thin Lizzy (1986), Freddie Mercury vocalist for Queen (1991), Keith Moon drummer for The Who (1978), Jim Morrison guitarist and vocalist for The Doors (1971), Berry Oakley bassist for the Allman Brothers (1972), Randy Rhodes guitarist of Quiet Riot & Ozzy Osbourne (1982), Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990), Allen Woody bassist for Gov’t Mule & the Allman Brothers, and most of the original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd come to mind, but there are many many more.

Randy Rhodes lived a clean life and died at 25.

These people died young, many of them before they hit the peak of their career. Guys like Duane Allman, Cliff Burton, Jimi Hendrix, SRV, and Randy Rhodes were so ahead of their time. Their innovations still impact music today. Nevertheless, I can’t help but imagine what they would have done with the rest of their lives. The bright side is that they will forever live on through their recordings, and in the hearts and minds of those who have been touched by their music.

The more I think about it, as sad as it is that so many talented musicians died prematurely, it’s amazing how many have lived and continue to live long lives… many in spite of their lifestyles.

I read Eric Clapton’s autobiography when it came out two years ago, and the book read like a combination music history/ twelve step program pitch pamphlet. With all of the shit that Clapton did to his body, the man is still alive and on stage; and he’s not alone.

BB King is well touring well into his 80’s, and Buddy Guy is 73 (going on 50). Greg Allman managed to escape what seemed like certain death. He was a partial influence for the song “That Smell,” by Lynyrd Skynyrd; the chorus was written about him:

Ooh, ooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell?
Ooh, ooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you.

I’m shocked that all of the guys from Aerosmith are alive (although I wish Steven Tyler was in better shape). And all of the longtime members of Pink Floyd have lived long lives (Pianist Richard Wright passed away last year at age 65).

I could go on forever with this. So many more incredible musicians have continued to live, create, and entertain than those who have died.

In honor of Lennon and Dime, I am choosing to focus on those who have survived them.

It’s easy to fixate on tragedy.

Death is a story, life isn’t.

Who's in YOUR Superband?

When I posted my review of Them Crooked Vultures, I got thinking about the idea of superbands. The idea of taking the “best” parts of other bands, and putting them together in a new band in the hope that this conglomeration of artists could produce something better than they could on their own. Of course, this is all down to personal taste, the idea of what you consider good about different bands and artists, how you hope they would fit together and the sound you are yearning to get from them.

I’ve been mentioning these ideas to people, and it seems that even when people think they are putting effort into their choices, there seems to be some consensus. It seems that most people’s dream superbands take one of two routes. On the one hand, you have the people I will call “Legend Lovers”, who will give you a list of names of classic artists, most of whom are dead, but all are instantly recognisable. On the other hand, you have the “Virtuoso Votaries”, who will pick the artists who are famous for playing fast and complex, and little else. There is some overlap between these groups, but unless people actually sit down and research artists, all their choices fit into these two groups. When it comes to me, my first instinct was to be a Legend Lover as, to be honest, they are legends for a reason!

Vocals: Freddie Mercury/Robert Plant/Roger Daltry

Guitar: Jimi Hendrix/Brian May/Pete Townshend/Eric Clapton/Jimmy Page

Bass: John Entwistle/Geddy Lee/Paul McCartney

Drums: Keith Moon/Neil Peart/John Bonham

Virtuoso Votaries

Vocals: Freddy Mercury/Bruce Dickinson/Ian Gillan/Steve Perry

Guitar: Jimi Hendrix/Joe Satriani/Steve Vai/Yngwei Malmsteen/Eddie Van Halen/Herman Li

Bass: Flea/John Petrucci/Geddy Lee/Cliff Burton

Drums: Neil Peart/John Bonham/Mike Portnoy

The Rules

So, with all this useless research, where does this leave my superband concept? Well, I’ve been putting thought into this, and decided upon some rules for myself. By following these rules, I think I have come up with my personal perfect superband, who could actually have a chance of working together, and is somewhat original.

Rule 1: Avoid Legend Lovers and Virtuoso Votaries lists as much as possible

Rule 2: No dead musicians

Rule 3: Put together a band I think will actually work, musically.

The Band (All Photos Lead To Standout Performances)

Brian Viglione

Drums: Taking up the rhythm duties for my dream superband is Dresden Dolls drummer, Brian Viglione. I know, I’m off to a slightly obscure start, but hear me out. This guy is a really energetic and expressive drummer, and has enough stage presence to not just disappear at the back of the stage. While primarily a rock drummer, with punk influencing the sheer speed of some of his playing, he is also heavily influenced by Jazz, after his father took him to see “The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine” at the age of 11. Playing with Amanda Palmer in Dresden Dolls has given Viglione a good range. He knows when to play softly and not get in the way, but even in these moments he can add sweet little nuances, and not just cymbal taps.  Also, when the time comes, he is able to really thicken up a sound with complex beats, jazzy fills and high-energy rock and roll swagger. He’s the perfect rock to hinge my band on.

Tim Commerford

Bass: One thing I love is when the bass can create movement in a piece of music. It sounds like an oxymoron, but melodic basslines are something we’ve sadly almost lost, but are one of the things that create that classic rock sound that is slowly dissapearing. Listen to most bands, and all you hear from the bassist is the root note of whatever chord the band is rocking. Add the ability to make any song truly funky and you begin to see that the bass guitar is a wonderful instrument and not one to be neglected like this. With Tim Commerford on Bass duties, I know it definitely won’t be. Bassist for Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave, this guy is the king of melodic, funky, alterna-rock basslines. Despite this being quite a narrow category, it’s one that he really does truly own. Ok, in terms of alterna-rock funk, the crown goes to Flea, but it’s moments like the intro to RATM’s Calm Like A Bomb that earn Tim his place in my superband. He’ll probably have to drop the effects box to fit into the sound, but that will just make his great playing easier to hear.

Allison Robertson

Lead Guitar: This is where I get controversial. The lead guitarist I have picked isn’t a true guitar virtuoso, or even particularly a big name in their own right. However, the perfect guitarist for this band is coming in and breaking the boys club it is becoming so far, as this superband needs the axe stylings of Allison Robertson. The lead guitarist The Donnas has an irresistible classic rock style, drawn from bands like AC/DC, The Ramones and Kiss, but rather than being big headed and pretentious, her playing style is just a hell of a lot of fun. Chords are big and full, solos are fast and fun, and lead lines fit in brilliantly with everything else that’s going on. My superband has a little bit of classic rock lean, and Allison forms the heart of that sound.

Dave Grohl

Vocals (and Rhythm Guitar): Ok, this band is lacking two things. The first one is star power, the second is a killer front man. This is why we need to call in the services of Dave Grohl. While starting his career as a drummer, Dave has really made it as the singer and guitarist for Foo Fighters. He can disarm you with sweet tones, or scream straight through you, all the while maintaining a sound that very few people will object to. His skilled rhythm playing will round out the sound too, giving Allison the backing she needs for her solos, and help come up with some really memorable riffs to get this band in the public eye and ear. Also, on the subject of singing, all the other band members have had to handle backing vocal duties in their original bands, so there’s potential for some great harmonies and multi-vocal stabs.

I know none of this would ever happen, but it’s a lot of fun to think about and try to put together. Now the question is, who would you want in yours?

On this day in 1987 – Metallica released the “Cliff ‘Em All” video collection. The bootleg and unprofessional recordings had been shot during 1982-1986 when Cliff Burton was still with the band.

SOTD: Surfaris – A Surfer’s Christmas List

CAHOTD

DOTD

RCOTD

Question of the Day:

What is the best Christmas themed candy?

Metallica – Kill ‘Em All (1988, Elektra Records)
Original Release: 1983, Megaforce Records

1. “Hit the Lights” … 4:17
2. “The Four Horsemen” … 7:08
3. “Motorbreath” … 3:03
4. “Jump in the Fire” … 4:50
5. “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth” … 4:27
6. “Whiplash” … 4:06
7. “Phantom Lord” … 4:52
8. “No Remorse” … 6:24
9. “Seek & Destroy” … 6:50
10. “Metal Militia” … 5:05

Band:
James Hetfield — Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Kirk Hammett — Lead Guitar
Cliff Burton — Bass, Backing Vocals
Lars Ulrich — Drums, Percussion

Producer: Paul Curcio & Johnny Zazula

My first impression when I heard this album was that I found it pretty funny how young James sounds. He’s practically a baby! No one can dispute this is a heavy metal classic and it’s a very important album for the world of metal just for the fact that it is Metallica’s debut album. That said, they did far better releases throughout the rest of the ’80s as their songwriting became more complex and mature.

There’s an innocent charm and a great sense of purity to Kill ‘Em All though. Metallica was just another metal band at this point, not greedy whiny billionaires meticulously over-analyzing  and calculating every album they wrote. Anyway, this album is speed and thrash metal for the sake of speed and thrash metal!

Of course, I can’t say egos weren’t they yet because they were and that is part of what led to Dave Mustaine being kicked out before even getting to record this album with the band. His raging alcohol problem was the major reason for the band giving him the abrupt boot, but Dave himself and others have speculated that given Dave’s natural-born leadership qualities, it just didn’t mesh with the equally headstrong Lars & James. Apparently, Ulrich and Hetfield were willing to co-captain the Good Ship Metallica, but didn’t want a third guy his hands on the steering wheel too. Enter Kirk “Go With the Flow” Hammett as the new lead guitarist just in time to record.

Mustaine’s hand prints are still all over this album with him getting four song credits and original bassist Ron McGovney (who was let go by the band for being too passive) gets one credit. “The Four Horsemen” was based on a Mustaine song called “The Mechanix” with a little altering from Hetfield and Hammett. Dave released a more faithful version simply called “Mechanix” for Megadeth’s debut. Dave says he asked James and Lars to not use ANY of his music for the album, but they deny that claim. Such drama, it’ll never end!

The album was originally released on CD in ‘83 by Megaforce, but the band’s longtime label Elektra did a reissue in ‘88, which is the version I own. I don’t even have the jewel case or insert for it. I was supposed to be borrowing this album from a friend and in exchange I let him borrow the Black Album. Well, he ended scratching up that album pretty bad and told me I could keep this one as compensation. That was 9 years ago and I still have never replaced that Black Album!

Okay, finally getting back to the music, there are some really great songs on this album but for me some of the weaker songs just kind of blend together. Very good release, but Metallica has done better (and a LOT worse) so it’s not near the top of my grab list when I want to hear some Metallica.

Highlights: “Hit the Lights”, “Motorbreath”, “Jump in the Fire”, “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth”, “Whiplash”, Seek & Destroy”

www.metallica.com
www.myspace.com/metallica

Extremt trevligt solo av Cliff Burton.

This was a pretty easy one. Record companies bitch about stuff being downloaded over the internet, and Metallica have had their say in the matter as well. The fact of the matter is that if you are great, you are great. Whatever Metallica gives out, I will buy. It is simply because they are the best band out there now, and perhaps of all time.

James Hetfield, king of rock, monster of metal and God...

People talk about The Beatles all the time, as do I, but one has to remember that they didn’t play live. I think that whether a band is good or not is determined by how they play live. Metallica is even better live than on albums. I don’t know any other band where I’d rather listen to a live recording than to a studio album. My love for the band began in 1991, when the black album came out. Enter Sandman was something bone chillingly cool, something I’d never heard before. I can’t remember if we had a cd player back then, but as a kid, 8-9 years old, I didn’t have the money to buy the album. We usually copied vinyls or cd’s to cassette. The whole notion of going to the store to buy an album was a little strange, because I’d never really liked anything the way I liked Metallica. Guns N’ Roses gave out their Use Your Illusion albums the same time, but although I liked them, I never really thought they were as good. They were a little stupid with Axl’s cycling shorts and all that. I was afraid of James Hetfield. I thought he was going to kill me if I ever went to a Metallica concert. I was without any money and raised back then to believe that if you want something, you can only get it on your birthday. Me and my friend used to go to a library that was close to our school and listen to the album there. I remember how they had these cool soundproof rooms, where you could turn up the volume as high as you wanted to. I was a kid growing up and a year was a long time, so naturally when the band took their sabbaticals, I also forgot about them. It wasn’t until about ten years ago when I returned and this time I wasn’t going away.

(Here’s a little taste from their upcoming live DVD.)

It’s the Sick of the Studio ´07 tour. The much anticipated day kicked off around 8 am. That’s when the alarm went off. It was surprisingly difficult to get out of bed, seeing as how this was a day much anticipated. After breakfast me and the missus headed over to the stadium where Metallica would go on stage in just under 12 hours.
The idea was to get there in time, get the passes for the snake pit and then just hang around the general area without having to worry about any queues. This was wishful thinking. We arrived there half a day before the show would start and found hundreds of die hard fans standing in line. Did I mention it was raining? The rumor was that the first 5000 fans would get passes to the “snake pit” the area right in front of the stage. This was where we were headed and nothing would come in our way. We were informed pretty quickly that these rumors were true, but we also learned that we would get them once inside the stadium. This is what I thought might be the procedure but I didn’t want to take the chance of coming too late and being left with a crappy view of the stage. After about 20 minutes of standing at the end of this long snake of a line, something started to happen. Suddenly the line started moving forward and fast. The walking turned into running, the running turned into tackling and elbowing and in just a few seconds it was every man for himself. All desperately fighting for something, not really sure what. Why was the line moving so damn fast? Were they letting us in already? Or was there in fact someone with the passes to the snake pit handing them out to a few lucky ones. The reason for this sudden rush was that the line had to be tightened. Just minutes ago we were hundreds of yards away from the stadium gates, and now we were around 15 yards from those metal gates. My bashing elbows and tackles had worked out great for us. But what now? We were like sardines packed in that line. It was so tight that even talking to the missus demanded great effort. So now it was 7 hrs until the gates would open and the situation we were in sucked ass. Standing in line with a bunch of assholes, packed so tight that their dandruff brushed off onto my shoulders for the next 7 hrs was not how I had planned this day to turn out. But what else would I do? Here’s a chance to see James Hetfield, a guy I have idolized since I was about 9 years old, from a few yards away. On the other hand I could fuck off from this line, go to the Metallica party being held in a bar a few blocks away, and kick back a few brewskies and just chill out. I would have to sacrifice my front row tickets. No way, we came to see Metallica and that’s what we were going to do. Literally. So the next 7 hrs just flew by. Not. It was the worst thing ever. A bunch of drunken kids having a food fight and hitting me in the face with various meats. If the line wouldn’t have been so tight, they would have gotten a piece of my meat hooks. BEEATCH!
5 PM, the line starts moving. The gates are open. “No running!” the security guards scream. Having been in that line all day, standing without moving, knees locked all the time, made it really hard to walk at all. When that line started to move I noticed that my legs just weren’t working. They were collapsing under me. Now everyone was running despite what the guards were shouting. Dammit, I’m not gonna make it. My legs are spaghetti. But I had to move. I need to get in there. I walked through the security checks and through the gates like an injured spider. We almost ran through the tunnel that led out to the stadium field. The light at the end of the tunnel made the experience almost religious. Coming out of that tunnel and on to the field in front of that huge stage was unbelievable. How could all these tickets have been sold out in under 45 minutes. 65000 tickets. I couldn’t get tickets myself. I had to buy black market tickets at four times the cost, but it was so worth it. Even with my legs all beat up. We get inside the snake pit among the first hundred fans. No problems what so ever. –But now what? It’s not like the show will start. It’s still hours until the band takes the stage. We made our way to the front of the stage. It was really crowded and you couldn’t really see anything that close anyway because of how high up the stage was. So we decided to move to the back of the snake pit where we could sit down and chill for a while. I had already purchased my t-shirts and accessories while my wife held our spot in the line, so we were pretty settled. Now my wife needs to pee. We look around and see that there is a peeing section way back on the other end of the field. This is the cool thing about being in the snake pit. As we walk out of there we get the armband that allows us to get back in there. So now we can walk around.

We buy some nachos and pizza slices and eat them while we walk towards the urine section. That might have been the most expensive meal I’ve ever eaten. When we get to where the Porta-Johns are, my wife disappears into one of them. Surrounded by walls of Porta-Johns , in the middle, was a star shaped object made out of five one-man-urinals with their backs connected to each other. –I could pee, I thought and went to do my business. I unzipped and tried to pee, but nothing came out. I looked up and noticed that I am actually trying to pee in front of tens of thousands of people. Some other dudes came and peed in their own urinals, now facing me so close that we could actually kiss without having to lean forward. I couldn’t get a drop out. The line behind me grew bigger. Come on!!! PUSH!!! I thought to myself. Nothing… Finally I just gave up and walked over to my wife who wasn’t so happy with her experience either. As we walked back towards the pit some piece of shit band started to warm up the crowd. I couldn’t care less. All I could think about was whether or not I would manage through the entire concert without having to pee.

A few hours and a couple of bands later, the loudspeakers started to play Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone. This only means one thing for those who know Metallica. The concert was starting. Ennio fades out, the crowd is screaming as Lars enters. He walks behind his drums, hits his cymbal four times and so the concert begins with Creeping Death. Hetfield, Hammett and Trujillo all enter from various parts of the stage. The crowd goes wild.
It’s just after the 3 minute mark of the song. Hammett has rocked his solo and the crowd all know what to do. 65000 fans all start pumping their fists in the air screaming die, die, die, die, die, die, die. It is amazing. Hetfield covers his ears, like the sound of us is making his tinnitus act up. Thank you Metallica.

Max Koljonen at the Cliff Burton memorial in Sweden, summer 2009.

After the 2007 tour the band returned to the studio to polish their album Death Magnetic. This took some time, but eventually the album came out in September of 2008. The album is the band’s fifth consecutive studio album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States, making Metallica the first band ever to achieve five consecutive number one debuts. Metallica went out on a world tour with their new album. I planned a trip to Copenhagen, Lars Ulrich’s hometown and where Metallica would be performing five nights in a row, in July of 2009. I would also be visiting the Cliff Burton memorial in Sweden. On September 27, 1986, during the European leg of Metallica’s Damage Inc. tour, members drew cards to see which bunk of the tour bus they would sleep in. Burton won and chose to sleep in Hammett’s bunk. Around dawn near Dörarp, Sweden, the bus driver lost control and skidded, which caused the bus to flip several times. Ulrich, Hammett, and Hetfield sustained no serious injuries; however, bassist Burton was pinned under the bus and was killed. Hetfield recalls, “I saw the bus lying right on him. I saw his legs sticking out. I freaked. The bus driver, I recall, was trying to yank the blanket out from under him to use for other people. I just went, ‘Don’t fucking do that!’ I already wanted to kill the guy.”
The trip was sort of a success, except for that I somehow got my mother and my sister, who lives in Denmark, to join me and my wife. Now, my car is a 2004 Volvo stationwagon with the deluxe comfort package, but there was no comfort on that trip. Everything I’d planned was voted down by these women in my life. My mother, the dark cloud, couldn’t go an hour without talking about how little money I make and that I should get a proper job. My sister, well… Let’s just say that watching Janice on The Sopranos always gives me Déjà vu. But alls well that ends well. Then I had the food poisoning. The day of the Metallica show. Had some mussels the night before, and spent the next two weeks on the shitter. I was able to pull through and make it to the concert, the first one of the five scheduled. I had around twenty anti-diarrhea pills and they kept it in just long enough for me to get back to the hotel. The concert was great though. Indoor concert, a small crowd and pyrotechnics. I have to say that the Death Magnetic album truly comes to life on stage. The album doesn’t do justice to the raw power of the songs when played live. My wife is not a Metallica fan per se, but she always comes with me because we’re partners and best friends. We were in the front row during Mastodon and Lamb of God, but someone threw a pint of beer on my wife between Lamb of God and Metallica and she threw a fit. She barged away leaving me alone, thinking if I should follow her and check if she’s alright or stay where I was, front row. I had to follow her, and as she came out of the bathroom the music started. Ennio that is. This was such a small venue that even though we decided to hang back, we were only some meters away from the stage. Awesome show. Awesome album. Awesome band. Thank you. Let’s not forget the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Guitar Hero: Metallica. –Thank you again… –SEEEEK AND DEEEESTROOOYYY!!!

Discography:
Kill ‘Em All(1983), Ride the Lightning(1984), Master of Puppets(1986), …And Justice for All(1988), Metallica(1991), Load(1996), ReLoad(1997), St. Anger(2003), Death Magnetic(2008)

]]> http://elrecavorfabron.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/biografia-cliff-burton/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:40:35 +0000 MiiMee http://elrecavorfabron.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/biografia-cliff-burton/ http://foluzik.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/when-metallica-bass-player-cliff-burton-was-killed/ Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:16:15 +0000 foluzik http://foluzik.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/when-metallica-bass-player-cliff-burton-was-killed/

WHEN METALLICA BASS PLAYER CLIFF BURTON WAS KILLED ON SEPTEMBER 27, 1986, in a freak tour-bus accident in Sweden, it was a huge loss for the band and for metal in general. Virtual Private Cloud Burton’s heavily distorted, finger-playing style was revolutionary, and his impact on the evolution of Metallica’s sound was immense—after all, he introduced his band members to influences as diverse as the Misfits, Johan Sebastian Bach, and H.P. Lovecraft. And yet, though the influences of his premature demise resounded, and continues to resound, through the headbanging world, it was even more tragic than many fans understand. As author Joel Mclver (see sidebar, page 61) writes in his new biography of Burton, To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton (Jawbone Press), the bassist passed away not only just as his band was starting to take off but also as his personal life was reaching an all-time high newest films.  This excerpt joins Metallica shortly after the completion of their magnum opus, Master of Puppets, and just months before Burton’s shocking death.

IT WOULD BE TOO EASY to resort to cliches, and report that [Cliff Burton] was snatched away “in his prime.” However, this seems to have been exactly the case. Cliff started 1986 on a new plane: his stagecraft, playing technique, songwriting and arranging skills, and busi¬ness sense were all fully evolved. A B Quintanilla III And Kumbia Kings – La Historia Los Videos He had also fallen deeply for a new girlfriend, Corinne Lynn, with whom he made an inseparable couple. [Metal Mania zine founder and the man who came up with the name Metallica] Ron Quintana says, “Corinne was beautiful. I totally had a crush on her; everybody loved Corinne,” and [longtime Metallica pho¬tographer] Ross Halfin adds, “Cliff was the one with the

rock-star girlfriend, whom I’ve got pictures of him with and whom I quite fancied. She was a Spanish-looking girl, and he took her on tour with them, one of the last times I saw him, in America. It was the first time I’d seen one of them with a steady girlfriend. Andy Serkis Biography He was quite serious about her, and he wasn’t exactly boyfriend material: He was very good-looking!” Meanwhile, [band friend and photog¬rapher] Harald Oimoen says, “They would probably have gotten married, they were so close. She was a great friend of mine.”

1986 must have felt like Metallica’s Year Zero to the band, given the expectation that surrounded them as it dawned —and indeed it would be, although not in the — way that any of them would have wished.

Asi van hasta ahora de izquierda a derecha!
Pueden Votar en Most Missed – NME.COM
Voten por Kurt Cobain y Cliff Burton

Hi Cliff, see you soon…

Cominciarono a trapelare indiscrezioni, diffuse dalla band e dai loro collaboratori, che il nuovo album avrebbe contenuto un contributo alquanto particolare di Cliff. “Ci sono cose che mi hanno stupito e stupiranno anche parecchi altri, quando le sentiranno”, presagiva Lars. “soprattutto ‘Orion’, il pezzo strumentale. Cliff ha tirato fuori un pezzo con un sound molto diverso da tutto quello che abbiamo fatto finora. A me sembrava un canto folcloristico svedese… E ci è veramente piaciuto ascoltarla e suonarla, perciò abbiamo costruito tutto il pezzo su quella parte centrale”.
I fan dello stile mozzafiato di Cliff su Kill’Em All e Ride The Lightning erano incuriositi. Ci si aspettava che Cliff, ormai il virtuoso di basso più rispettato sulla nuova scena del metal estremo, effettuasse la sua miglior performance di sempre: una performance matura in linea con il nuovo livello di esperienza raggiunto dalla band nel complesso. Questa ammirazione era condivisa dagli altri tre Metallica, che rimanevano impressionati dalla sua tecnica straordinaria.
Lars dirà poi meravigliato: “Spaziava a tutto campo, era difficilissimo inquadrarlo musicalmente. Era sempre pronto a cambiare, a incasinare le cose … Per certi versi era anche contraddittorio: si concentrava parecchio sulla melodia, per esempio… C’erano tante energie opposte”.
A questo punto della biografia di Cliff, sarebbe fin troppo facile ricorrere alla retorica e scrivere che fu strappato via “nel fiore degli anni”, o qualcosa di simile. Eppure, comunque la si voglia mettere, sembra che le cose stessero proprio così.

(da Cliff Burton. To live is to die. Vita e morte del bassista dei Metallica di Joel McIver, Tsunami Edizioni)

…legendarny basista Metalliki, który zginął tragicznie w wypadku samochodowym w Szwecji, podczas trasy koncertowej zespołu. Dzisiaj miałby 47 lat.

Jego wkład w twórczość Metalliki jest nieoceniony. To spod wiosła Cliffa wychodziły genialne linie z Oriona, The Call Of Ktulu czy basowego koktalju (Anasthesia) Pulling Teeth. Z Metallicą nagrywał w najlepszym okresie zespołu, a więc w thrashowych latach 80-tych. Na jego konto weszły łącznie trzy LP: Kill’ Em All, Ride The Lightning i Master Of Puppets oraz całe mnóstwo zagranych koncertów i tona inspiracji dla młodych basistów.

Jestem zdania, że gdyby na …And Justice For All, wydanym rok po śmierci Burtona, pojawiły się linie basowe Cliffa byłby to najlepszy thrashowy album wszechczasów.

Vou tentar a partir de hoje publicar toda quinta-feira uma série de vídeos com as mais incríveis performances musicais que já assisti.  O primeiro deles não poderia ser outro a não ser da minha banda preferida, o Megadeth!

A música é In My Darkest Hour (do álbum So Far, So Good, So What!). Ela foi escrita por Dave Mustaine no momento em que soube da morte do ex-baixista do Metallica, Cliff Burton. Entretanto, sua letra é inspirada em Diana, uma ex-namorada de Dave, que inspira outras músicas da banda também.

Sobre o show, aconteceu na Itália em 1992. Porque é a melhor performance de todos os tempos? Porque é a melhor banda do universo, em sua melhor fase, com uma interpretação fantástica e uma música espetacular. A banda estava totalmente entrosada. Nick Menza tocando com extrema agressividade e precisão, David Ellefson com uma linha de baixo presente e marcante, Marty Friedman como sempre dispensando comentários e Dave Mustaine interpretando a música com toda a fúria que ela pede enquanto toca sua “flying W” (como diria um amigo meu). So, enjoy the video!

Ok, maybe I shouldn’t be one to talk…since I haven’t done a very good job keeping up with my own blog. But sometime I’ve got to come out of the hiatus when people over look the obvious. In case you’ve ever read Rob O’Conner’s blog on Yahoo!  “List of the Day” – you might know what I’m talking about. This isn’t the first time I thought he did a terrible job with his picks. See the blog he gets paid for here — http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/listoftheday/131478/10-musical-legends-whose-deaths-were-legendary/

Alright, now what should be the real list:

10. Jeff Buckley – Much more talented than just being ranked #10. But, he didn’t get much of a chance to leave a mark on the world. His voice was amazing. No other version of “Hallelujah” comes close to his cover.

9. Randy Rhoads/Duane Allman - I believe the youngest people on this list. They made everyone re-think how to play the electric guitar. Allman died at 24, in a motorcycle wreck and there’s no limit to what he did and could have done to Southern Rock. Randy died while pranking Ozzy Osbourne with his low-flying pilot – the plane actually clipped the tour bus and crashed. Randy brought classical music into metal. Only making it to 26, he had already changed the face of 80’s hair metal.

8. Keith Moon/John Bonham – I don’t really want to group these 2, but they were both insanely good drummers. Their influence still lives on.

7. Cliff Burton – Maybe the least recognizable name on this list. But, he’s the reason we know of the band Metallica. Still considered one of the best (if not THE BEST) bassists ever. He did things with 4 strings that people didn’t think were possible at the time. If he had lived through the 80’s, its very likely that Load – St. Anger would not be considered low points for Metallica.

6. Bob Marley – While I’m not that big of a fan of Marley. (Sorry, I just don’t appreciate Reggae that much) I still have a huge amount of respect for a guy that defines his entire genre. Nobody makes that kind of music without getting compared to him — or at least sharing his last name.

5. Kurt Cobain – This was Rob O’Connor’s biggest oversight. The music of the 90’s wouldn’t exist without him. He single handedly killed hair-metal. His suicide made a whole lot of people re-think their fantasies about being famous. If nothing else he continued the rockstar tradition of making it to 27.

4. Elvis Presley/2pac — I know, I know…its very weird to combine the two. Elvis makes it this high, because of the obvious. But 2pac gets this high for me because he shares the same after-death treatment as the king of rock-n-roll. They both have huge cult followings that believe they didn’t really die. Elvis had peaked long before his death, but his legend only grew. And 2pac became arguably the most famous and respected rapper – especially with so much of his work released posthumously.

3. Michael Jackson – He gets mentioned, but then not placed on Rob’s list …interesting. I’m sorry, but this is the same thing as #4, only this will be bigger than Elvis. I’ve already heard people trying to spread rumor that Jackson’s death is a hoax, there’s question of murder or accidental death, and lets not forget – its freakin Michael Jackson. His music is timeless, his life-style was insane, and his influence will never end. 

2. John Lennon – Possibly the most tragic death on this list. This guy was a Beatle. That alone qualifies you for most influential people of all time. He had been there – done that. He didn’t need to accomplish anything else. Yet, it still feels like he was robbed from the world. We all want to know what else he could have done.

1. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison – The 60’s died when these 3 heavy hitters left the world. The legend of “age 27″ starts with them. Joplin was a pioneer for women in rock. Morrison was an anomaly that changed everyone’s image of the classic “frontman”. Jimi Hendrix only needs his guitar to do the talking.

Alright so my ‘top 10′ included 15 people – sweet. And, just for the fun of it – Honorable mentions…

Bradley Nowell- Sublime is still one of the most influential bands of the 90’s, after like what…one album?
Sid Vicious – He only made it to 22…really?
Dimebag Darrell- One of the best metal guitarists of all time. The way he was killed in front of his brother is horrible.
Freddy Mercury – It doesn’t matter what his sexual orientation was…he will always be a requirement for top singers lists.
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, The Big Bopper – 3 major tragedies all in one.
Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines – Southern rock suffered a huge loss with this plane crash.

Near misses -

Travis Barker – He and DJ AM nearly lost their lives in a plane crash. Tragically, DJ AM found another way to go.
Billy Joel – 1 suicide attempt and 3 car crashes…is he cheating death or have a death wish?
All Members of Motley Crue – Seriously. Tommy Lee, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx…how did they survive?

I wrote about them last year <“Rodrigo Y Gabriela” – The Most Badass Guitarists You’ve Never Heard of>, and last night, I finally saw them live… they blew away my lofty expectations.

Hearing their percussive, metal influenced classical guitar harmonies on album is one thing… seeing them do all of this crazy stuff live is a whole different experience.

Last night’s show at Terminal 5 in Manhattan was their first show since releasing their excellent new album 11:11 (Yet another thing I ran out of time to write about. I’m going to skip an individual review post and just say that it’s excellent. You should listen to it). Gabriela explained that it was only supposed to take them six months to make their last CD but they recorded it and re-recorded it a few times until it was to their liking. She described it as being a lot like “Spinal Tap,” which cracked me up.

They played a brilliant mix of stuff from their first & second studio albums and a few things from their latest live album. They killed with each and every track. I clapped and danced my geeky ass off all night; it was one of the most fun and energetic performances that I ever had the honor of seeing.

Probably the most emotional moment of the show for me was when they played Metallica’s Orion. Orion was written in honor of Cliff Burton, Metallica’s bassist who died when the band’s tour bus got into an accident in Europe. Metallica basically never performs the song live, but Rodrigo y Gabriela play it essentially note-for-note, daring listeners who claim they “don’t like metal” to reevaluate that judgment. I can think of no better tribute for the late Mr. Burton.

This is kind of a discombobulated review (mostly because I am beyond exhausted), but my point is listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela (albums). If they are playing near you, do yourself a favor and go see them (tour schedule).

Ayer recordaba un poco lo que escribió Jelalo en un post, en el que hablaba, según su apreciación, de lo hypeadas que están bandas como U2, The Killers, Metallica, entre otras.

En primer lugar vamos a definir el término hype. Según Wikipedia, Se le llama hype a un producto mediático —como una banda musical, una película o un artista—, que ha tenido una sobrecobertura por parte de la prensa o una excesiva publicidad, obteniendo de esta manera una popularidad altísima independiente de la calidad del producto.

Bajo esa definición podemos establecer también que un producto hypeado es aquél que genera mucha expectación entre el público a quien va dirigido.

Ahora bien, vayamos a lo que interesa. Yo si creo que Metallica sea una banda hypeada, pero jamás sobrevalorada.

Si bien Metallica jamás ha sido una banda de una calidad musical de dimesiones épicas, tampoco es la mierda que todo aquél metalero-que-se-quiere-hacer-el-rudo dice que es.

Al hablar de Metallica hay que dividir claramente su historia en 3 épocas: 80’s, 90’s y 2000.

Los ochentas fué sin duda la etapa de mayor lucidez de la banda, con álbums plagados de impresionantes riffs, temas instrumentales llenos de hermosas y oscuras armonías y que nos muestra toda una evolución musical en la banda.

La muerte de Cliff Burton, una de los principales cabezas de la banda y, sin duda, el miembro (sientense y saboreen el momento)  más empapado y dotado de conocimientos musicales, fué quizás el evento de mayor importancia en Metallica (1986). Dejando como legado una de las obras musicales más grandes que haya hecho la banda de California, la instrumental To live is to die que aparece en …And Justisce For All, uno de los mejores discos del grupo.

Llega la decada de los noventa y con ella un nuevo disco de Metallica llamado simplemente Metallica (mejor conocido como Black Album), y con él el error más grande, a mi parecer, de la banda: contratar a Bob Rock como productor. Bob había trabajado con Bon Jovi, The Cult y Motley Crue, y se encargó de darle un sonido muy diferente a la banda, muy melódico, menos thrash y más comercial.

Aún así, el Black Album fué un éxito total alrededor del mundo y consagró a Metallica como la gran banda de heavy metal del momento.

A Metallica sucedieron los discos Load y Reload (1996 y 1997 sucesivamente), los cuáles son claramente los más flojos de la banda, y se mantienen en una línea tranquila y rockera pero menos metalera.

En el 98 Metallica lanza Garage Inc. un álbum de covers de las bandas que más influenciaron al grupo. En el 99 realizan un concierto sinfónico con la Orquesta sinfónica de San Francisco que queda plasmado en el disco S&M.

Pasaron 5 años para que Metallica volviera al estudio, nueva decada y nuevo sonido. St Anger del 2003 suena fuerte y rudo, pero carece de solos de guitarra y temas épicos. El resultado es un total fracaso.

En el 2008 Metallica graba un nuevo disco, ahora de la mano de Rick Rubin (ya sin Bob Rock), quien había trabajado con Slayer, RHCP, Danzig y muchas más bandas. Death Magnetic es sin duda el gran regreso de Metallica, y por mucho su mejor álbum en 17 años, devolviéndolos a las raíces del heavy metal que hicieron hace más de 20 años.

En conclusión, dudo que alguna banda de heavy metal pueda ser sobrevalorada por el simple hecho de que el género es muy poco conocido y analizado. Y en el caso de Metallica, la fama llegó cuando su calidad musical iba en picada; sus años lúcidos pasaron casi desapercibidos.

Metallica fué una banda que revolucionó el heavy metal y la historia del rock. Sus primeros 4 álbums son una clara muestra de cómo una banda puede lograr una marcada evolución musical; y por mucho, esto supera los siguientes 20 años de fracasos artísticos.

Por último, les dejo lo que para mí son los 5 mejores temas de Metallica.

To live is to die

Disposable heroes

Fade to black

Whiplash

The thing that should not be

PD: hoy sale a la venta Endgame de Megadeth. Ya lo escuché y en estos días les digo que tal está.

Yay for totally sparse posts!

Well…crap. See, I’m the type of guy to mostly trust what people tell him. I can be rather gullible at times and I hate that. This translates into my opinions of music and musical gear. I once used a guitar distortion on bass and I didn’t like it because it killed the tone. It was a guitar pedal, so it wasn’t really made to sound good on bass, so this wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Now a lot of bass players like to use the Big Muff Pi (a guitar pedal) as part of their rig and some of those bass players are rather notable. Cliff Burton (No, I’m not gonna put R.I.P., because he probably isn’t resting in peace. He’s probably burning in Hell, which I hate for him, but there’s not much I can do about that.) used a Big Muff and let me say that I am not a fan of his tone. Or his playing. But that’s an aside. This information was presented to me by a wonderful group of people known collectively as the Bass Forum. They have taught me a lot of what I know about bass and music and I trust them. For the most part, they do not like the Big Muff when it’s used as a bass pedal. They feel that the tone yielded from the pedal is unsatisfactory. Because I trust them, I trusted what they said. After all, I’d only seen crappy Youtube videos of kids that know nothing about tone and videos of people with good tone using the Muff, but they also have these huge bi-amped rigs with a clean signal running underneath. Thus, my dislike of the Big Muff started.

Recently, I was looking at different fuzzes, not necessarily for bass, but if it worked for both, that’d be awesome. My mind came back to the Big Muff and my bias against it came back as well. Well, I found a nice demo of it on Youtube and as a guitar fuzz, I actually really like it. That messes with my head, because I’ve let myself be convinced that I shouldn’t like it, granted for a different reason, but it still stuck in my head. The thought occurred to me that if I were to actually sit down with one and tweak it for a while, I might like the tone I get out of it with a bass.

I dunno, biases are weird. I might actually like a Big Muff. I am aware that they have the  Bass Big Muff, but for the idea I’m throwing around I think I might want a guitar fuzz. I’m off to GC and possibly the local shop to test some pedals. The Swollen Pickle by Way Huge Electronics sounds insane from the videos I’ve seen. Plus, it has the blue LED, so it has to sound good.

Indeed,

colty

Metallica jak to Metallica – lubi namieszać. Fajnie to robiła w latach 80-tych, bo wyłącznie dzięki świetnej muzyce, a trochę mniej fajnie w kolejnej dekadzie, kiedy obok jednego porządnego albumu i kilku wybranych utworów, ważniejszy stał się image i różne historie z nim związane.

I chyba tylko Clifford Burton, patrzący z niebios kpiącym wzrokiem na pogrążającego się Hetfielda i ćwiek w podbródku Hammetta, wiedział co jego dawni koledzy szykują na nadchodzące stulecie. Pierwszym albumem w trzeciej dekadzie działalności zespołu okazał się ten o tytule St. Anger.

Już przed samą premierą tego krążka w mediach wrzało. Nie tylko z tego powodu, że Metallica nagrywa nowy album, ale i dzięki różnym, pozakulisowym mniej lub jeszcze mniej poważnym plotkom. Pierwotnie zapowiadany na 2001 album ostatecznie zobaczył światło dzienne w czerwcu 2003 roku, ale… chyba nigdy to nie powinno mieć miejsca.

Metallica dała dupy po całości.

O tym, że Lars Ulrich osiągnął apogeum swoich możliwości na …And Justice For All gdzie szalał za bębnami jakby miał dwie dodatkowe ręce, wiadomo było już od dawna. Jednak trudno było oczekiwać, że ten znany drummer odstawi taką kaszankę przy St. Anger! Jego perkusja, brzmiąca w zamyśle “jak z garażu”, wypada zupełnie amatorsko. Jest pełna chaosu i niedokładności nawet przy nielicznych udanych fragmentach tego albumu.

Wokal walczącego z trudnościami Jamesa Hetfielda, został wyraźnie stłumiony przez rozpierdalającą każdą kompozycję perkusję Ulricha. Dla słuchacza mało ważne jest czy legendarny frontman ma jakieś problemy z alkoholem, czy nie, ale prawdopodobnie właśnie to wpłynęło na efekt jakby Hetfield stał o kilka metrów za daleko od mikrofonu.

Hammetta w tej produkcji odcięto od solówek zatem musiał zadowolić się jedynie krótkimi riffami. Niektóre, jak z tytułowego St. Anger czy Sweet Amber, są celne i daje się ich słuchać nie męcząc przy tym Eustachiusza. Tyle, że na tym albumie więcej Hammetta nudnego, pozbawionego jakiejkolwiek inwencji, pozbawionego tak często zarzucanego mu geniuszu. To wszystko słychać przy takich pseudonockach jak Dirty Window, Invisible Kid, Purify czy All Within My Hands (…przez ten ostatni nie potrafiłem przebrnąć do końca).

Fani czterostrunowców, fani tłumionego Newsteda, fani wymiatającego Burtona. Żadna z tych grup nie znajdzie nic dla siebie na St. Anger. Nagrywający basy Bob Rock (który też podpisany jest jako “inżynier dźwięku” sic!) dał upust surowemu, warsztatowemu klimatowi płyty i na basie szarpnął może ze dwa/trzy razy…

No i finał tego jest taki, że St. Anger nie bez przyczyny zebrał zewsząd tyle krytyki. Ok, poza wspominanymi już tytułowym St. Anger i Sweet Amber, kredyt zaufania można jeszcze dać Franticowi, ale czy te utwory choć trochę liznęły emocji dostarczanych przy starej Metallice?

Nie.

I naprawdę fajnie, że Metallica nagrała za kilka lat Death Magnetic, który trochę odkopał pogrążającą się legendę.

Werdykt: 2/10

This is ma fav band. Metallica is an american heavy metal band formed in the year 1981. Lars Ulrich is the founder of Metallica, he posted an advert in a local newspaper. Metallica’s line up was Rythm Guitarist and Vocals, James Hetfield, Lead Guitarist, Kirk Hammett, Bassist, Cliff Burton [ Earlier ] and now the Bassist is, Robert Trujillo, and last but not least the Drummer, Lars Ulrich. Metallica’s main genre is Metal or Heavy Metal. Ma fav song of them is a classic song, Master Of Puppets. And I even know how to play it on ma guitar, except for the last solo as i’m currently learning the solo. Metallica’s latest album was Death Magnetic. Ma fav from that album is, The Day That Never Comes. It’s a kewl song. Well anyways, it’s all about Metallica in today’s post. So I hope you all listen to this band’s music. And yeah I know there ‘a bit too old’ right now. Here’s a photo of Metallica then and now. Hope you like it. And take care guys. Ps = I took these photo’s from google.

From left to right, Cliff Burton, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield.

From left to right, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Rob Trujillo, James Hetfield.

Im Oktober diesen Jahres wird eine neue Metallica Biographie “All That Matters” veröffentlicht. Der Autor ist Paul Stenning, welcher auch schon Biographien für AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Rage Against the Machine und weitere Bands geschrieben hat.

Das Buch soll auf 320 Seiten den kompletten Werdegang, von Gründung der Band bis Heute, umfassend beschreiben. Im Mittelpunkt sollen Interviews mit den Bandmitgliedern, unter anderem auch über den Tod Cliff Burtons, stehen.

Links:

MySpace Blogeintrag von Paul Stenning zum Buch

On September 27, 1986, Metallica bass player Cliff Burton was sleeping in his bunk. Several minutes before 7 am, the tour bus hit a patch of black ice on a highway near Ljungby, Sweden. He was thrown from his bunk, through the window-and the bus ended up on top of him. He was 24 years old.

Cliff Burton – Bass Solo [Cliff 'Em All]

There is now a book that covers Cliff’s time in Metallica, which, some will argue, was the most creative time for the band. The book is called To Live Is To Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton by author Joel McIver. If you’re a hardcore Metallica fan you should check out this book.

Okay, I’ll admit it. Metallica is probably one of the best Metal bands ever, They are probably number 4 on my top 10 Metal band list. However they have one nasty infection, James Hetfield’s “Better Singing”.

Take a look at “Blackened” live this year.

Now I’ll point out the problems with the singing.

IT’S Death of Mother Earth, not Death of Mother EARRRRRTH, Never a rebirthhhhhh, NevE(OOOO)RRRR . God, just end it! For some reason I get the feeling that James never actually listened to Metallica.

I know that James blew out his voice… but come on. I have a couple of times (not on the scale James did), I perfected the problem. I didn’t start trying sound like Opera singer going through puberty. I can’t believe James took voice lessons… dude that’s not metal…. well it could be. The reason he probably sounds the way he does is because he went to the lessons drunk.

I wonder how that would go….

“It’s time to learn the scales James, sing after me, Doe ray me fa so la te doe.”

“Doeeee…. rayyyy….. meeeeee, fuuuuuuuccccccc, soooooo whatttttt *barf*, laaaaaaa*barf*aaaa, tittttssssss, dontttt steeeel mmy beeeeer *barf*”

“Excellent”

With all that said Metallica now is a hell of a lot better than Metallica during late 90’s to early 2000’s.

I leave you with a awesome old Metallica Live performance.

Lars Ulrich pudo quedarse sin empleo hace mucho tiempo

Lars Ulrich, baterista de Metallica, pudo haber sido despedido del grupo que fundó junto a James Hetfield, manifestó Dave Mustaine, líder de Megadeth en una entrevista que dio a la revista Rolling Stone.

El despido pudo haberse dado en la época en que todavía estaba vivo Cliff Burton, manifestó Mustaine, quien perteneciera a la primera alineación de Metallica, antes de que sacaran su primer álbum.

Esto llegó a oídas de Mustaine, por Scott Ian, guitarrista de la legendaria banda Anthrax.

 ”Eso es lo que Scott me comentó.  Me dijo que cuando llegó a casa Metallica, James,  Cliff,  y Kirk iban a despedir a Lars”, aseguró.

Aunque el despido no se hizo efectivo, cabe recordar que en los primeros tiempos de Metallica, Lars Ulrich no cubría al 10o por ciento las necesidades musicales de James Hetfield, y que su decisión de llevar a cabo el proyecto de la banda más importante del metal, fue debido a los contactos que tenía el baterista de origen danés, que incluso ya había acompañado a Diamond Head en una gira.