Band initially known for their thrash metal sound decided to experiment in their first works
In 1984, thrash metal was increasingly on its way to becoming recognized worldwide for its heavy and fast-paced sound. THE Metallicaalready one of the main exponents of the segment, released his second album, Ride the Lightning.
However, there was something strange for most fans: it has a “ballad” in it. The term goes in quotation marks, since despite the slow pace, “Fade to Black” gains weight especially in its second half.
Still, there was a paradigm shift. A thrash metal band with acoustic guitars? It was something like Bob Dylan using guitar instead of the aforementioned acoustic instrument, almost two decades earlier, and being booed for it.
According to the magazine Metal Hammervocalist and guitarist James Hetfieldauthor of the lyrics, understood the shock of the most radical fans when putting himself in their shoes. The musician said:
If they had told us when we were recording Kill ‘Em All (first album, from 1983) that we would record a ballad on the next album, I would have said: ‘go f*ck yourself!’”
That’s exactly what happened. As the website says Igor Mirandaright before recording the second album, the band had all its equipment stolen, including a Marshall amplifier that was the apple of Hetfield’s eye. Motivated by melancholy, the frontman created the track’s first chords while playing with a guitar on a friend’s couch.
Despite being considered a ballad, by Metallica standards, “Fade to Black” is dark. No love problems here: the lyrics talk about the loss of the will to live, as death approaches. The theme doesn’t deviate much from what other songs by the band itself – or by other thrash metal medallions – brought at the time, but even so, the reception was not good.
In a 2013 interview with radio host Howard Sternthe drummer Lars Ulrich summed up the impact of “Fade to Black” well. He said:
When the ‘metal’ community heard a Metallica song with acoustic guitars, they all lost their minds.”
Live, the situation did not improve. Fanzine reports from the time reveal people in the audience throwing and waving wet wipes in mockery when the track was played. The bassist Cliff Burton he was irritated by the public’s reaction on some occasions. Little did fans know that it was just the beginning.
Metallica “sold out”
From then on, Metallica began to face several accusations that they had “sold out”. Another song by Ride the Lightning that generated such allegations was “Exhaust”considered too “happy”.
Perhaps the initial rejection served as fuel for the group to continue carrying out experiments. Clear examples include “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”from the disk Master of Puppets (1986), and “One”from …And Justice For All (1988) – the latter with a well-produced clip that also led to the group being accused of “selling out”.
With the arrival of the 1991 work of the same name — known as Black Album and with a sound inclined to hard rock —, complaints increased even more. More conservative fans were scared away once and for all.
But Lars Ulrich has a different view on this issue. For him, sounds like “Fade to Black” have always been in the band’s DNA and they just didn’t come before because there wasn’t the technical capacity for it.
THE Metal Hammerthe drummer explained what changed and allowed songs with a new approach to be made:
This type of music has always been in our background – we knew in our hearts that this was part of the Metallica sound, but we didn’t have the skill or finesse to approach it in Kill ‘Em All. When Cliff and Kirk (Hammettguitarist) arrived, we felt we had the ability to go down this path.”
In conversation with the Guitar Worldin 1991, James Hetfield compared his band’s stance in relation to other big names in thrash, who never dared to record a ballad – or anything close to it. The frontman said:
Bands like Exodus and the Slayer They don’t make ballads, but they stuck to that position, which we never wanted. Limiting yourself to please your audience is nonsense.”
The fact is that whoever was bothered by a ballad in 1984 was probably upset by the many others that came along. “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “Hero of the Day” and “Mama Said” are just some of them.
Collaborated: André Luiz Fernandes.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
