Metallica "Some Kind of Monster" documentary...

[vi5]

Anyone see this? It's by the guys who did the documentaries Brother's Keeper and also Paradise Lost about the West Memphis 3.

Metallica was a pivotal band for me back in the early to mid 80's so even though I had sort of lost interest in or kept track of them I was curious to see this.

I thought it was good but weird watching this one time rebellious band go through group therapy on film and go through all these growing pains and show the pampered lifestyle they lead. BUt I give them credit for showing it all.

[jandrok]

1. I tried to watch it and only got halfway through.

I just felt sick to my stomach at how far Metallica has fallen. I couldn't stand the thought that this once great behemoth had become such a self-parody.

I couldn't enjoy it, it just made me sad.

[vi5]

5. Yeah, it was tough....

I mean Metallica literally changed the way I think about music and because of the punk and hardcore bands that they namechecked and got me into, I also indirectly owe part of my political and social awareness to them as well. But I haven't owned or listened to an album of theirs since Master of Puppets.

But it was sad to see. Did you at least get as far as the Dave Mustaine part? I thought that was interesting.

[jandrok]

11. Yeah, I turned it off right after the Mustaine thing.

Lars just basically kicked him in the sack again.

I gave up on 'em after the Black Album. They were still bringing it on "And Justice", but by that time a lot of other bands had improved on the formula (most notably Pantera, who took Metallica's ethos to new heights of brutality).

Master of Puppets changed my musical reality, too. It still stacks up as one of the greatest metal albums of all time, if not THE greatest.

But that Metallica died long ago. Much like Mike Tyson, that Metallica died around 1990 or so. Now, much like Tyson, they are beaten and bruised, an embarrassment to the genre they helped to define.

[youspeakmylanguage]

7. One man killed Metallica...

...and his name is Bob Rock. The minute they fired Flemming Rasmussen and hired this clown was the minute Metallica ceased to be, well, Metallica.

[vi5]

9. I agree completely...

I hate when bands put so much stock in producers and give them too much input. But at times that relationship can yield positive results. Their work with Bob Rock is not one of those positive results.

[jandrok]

12. Bob Rock was a contributor, but I lay most of the blame on.....

....James Hetfield. James, old man, you forgot where you came from and why you were playing. It became a business to you. Your ego took over. You started to take the shit WAY too seriously. You let the drinking and the drugs distract.

James has to take the fall in my book.

[vi5]

14. More so than Lars?

I always got the impression, and this documentary cemented that, that Lars was always in charge of the direction and business end of things and was always the one who wanted to jump on trends and go with the flow rather than sticking to what they do best.

[jandrok]

19. Well, I only saw the first half.....

Maybe I would have come away with that if I had the intestinal fortutide to stick out the whole show. As it was, I just wanted to PUKE!

Lars should definitely shoulder a lot of the blame, too, but it's still Hetfield who is the big villian for me. He kicked Newsted in the twig 'n' berries, and all of the drama with him and Lars was just unreal. For the first half of the show, Lars just looked disinterested. He seemed to like his art collection a lot more than Metallica.

James seemed to still be fighting with himself over having to grow up. He forgot the fans and went on the ego trip. Maybe Lars did want to ride the trends, but James could have reeled that in and kept the focus. At some point they decided to just trash the concept and make shitloads of money.

[vi5]

22. Good point...

I think his main problem was that he ceded too much control to Lars. I think for so long he and Lars had been controlling everything including Kirk, Cliff, and Jason that when he started to get complacent, he saw how it felt.

There's a great moment later on after he gets out of rehab. He can only work from 12-4 as part of his recovery and he confronts the group and says that he doesn't like them working after that without him and him having to come in and be told that decisions are already made. Kirk laughs and says "Yeah, that's how I've felt the past 15 years!".

[youspeakmylanguage]

15. I still think Rock was the one...

...who inflated their egos and dumbed down their music. Compare the brilliance of "...And Justice For All" to every album since.

[jandrok]

18. Rock definitely dumbed 'em down, but I still lay blame on....

....the band, particularly James (and Lars). Rock was the enabler, but those guys drove the band into the shit.

That's just the way I see it. I know a lot of folks will agree with you on the Rock thing, and I certainly don't discount his contributions to the downfall.

[youspeakmylanguage]

20. You're right...

...they weren't small children or cultists.

[tigereye]

2. hmm

haven't seen it ( not really a metal fan, but it sounds interesting). Maybe I should see it and contrast it with End of the Century about the Ramones.... ( also sad, but in a different way)

[vi5]

3. It doesn't even really have much to do with the music...

It's much more about the band and their issues and lives and such.

[tigereye]

4. so is the Ramones film

maybe I will put the Metallica film on my summer "to see" list...

[Archae]

16. Besides...

The Ramones always sucked. ;-)

[tigereye]

21. why I oughta....

;)

[Archae]

6. Watch "This Is Spinal Tap."

It'll put it all into persective. :rofl:

[vi5]

8. Are you kidding?

Spinal Tap is my favorite comedy ever.

In fact what's funny is when that was made, metal hadn't even reached it's fully parody level yet. It's amazing how much that movie predicted before it actually happened.

[Archae]

10. Exactly.

That movie was sheer genius, and SOOOO prophetic.

Now Van Halen is trash, AC/DC broke up, all we have now is prog pop.

[youspeakmylanguage]

17. I know MANY professional musicians...

...that don't even view it as a comedy. It's too real and true-to-life, even in this day and age.

[name not needed]

23. Damn right

Hell, they both have "shit sandwich" moments too!

[Parrcrow]

24. I got it for my fiance

She was a fan of Metallica way back when. I've never been a fan but I've seen a few documentaries about them. It makes for pretty interesting watching; the clash of egos, the self absorbtion, the petty squabbles, and two alpha males in constant battle.

I still don't know whether or not these guys hate each other, or if they are so self-centred that they much clash with everyone.






and their music is still awful as far as I'm concerned.

[SmokingJacket]

13. I thought it was great and hilarious...

but then again, I've never liked their music, so I saw it as a kind of social experiment -- how these characters got along, or mostly didn't...

I especially liked the part when the guitarist was trying to defend guitar solos -- he was famous for them, the #1 shredder -- but the other band members thought they were outdated. "Just because it's a trend not to have guitar solos doesn't mean we should follow that trend..."

:rofl: