glad to see that the original three of the original four are at the top.
the Black Album was my last touch to them.
as far as the fan base changing, for me, it wasn't the look, but the attitude. Metallica had been a "band for the nerds/outcasts/misfits" from the beginning. A middle finger to all of the mainstream shlock that was out in the early/mid-80's. Persinally, as they became more popular, I was hoping they would keep their main focus on fast, loud and "F-U" going, and expose that to the mainstream, but instead, they "softened up" and became safe. That is what let me down the most. and t hat brought in a fan base of what we called "posers" back in the day. People who wanted the image, but not the lifestyle I guess.
We always joked that Metallica became one of those bands that the soccer moms would put the "alhoa" thumb and pinky hand sign up to instead of the metal horns sign b/c they didn't really get the culture, but wanted to sort of be a part of it. To me, that misuse of hand signs was super cringy. Non-metal heads from the 80's are probably thinking I am stragne b/c that bothers me, but it was like people glomming on to something that they made fun of at one point, just to be cool.
sort of like in the 2000's when being a nerd all the sudden became "cool", and all of these people who would normally make fun of nerdy stuff were trying to be "part of the group" with out going through the "hazing process"...
weirdness....I know...
I have always been the lone wolf, even since I was very little, I remember all the way back to 4 or 5 years old not following the "group leader".
I was not a weird kid, I just did my own thing, and I guess thanks to my mom, I had more advanced knowledge of things for my years so I always felt like
I gained nothing by following someone because everyone else thought they were cool. (
I am not claiming to be smarter, just that my mom never baby talked to me and always tried to make sure I was well educated and well read, I had read over 1000 books before the age of 14 so my view of the world was very different from that of my peers).
I also since then I believe not in re-inventing the wheel but improving it or discovering my own better way. Once I became a teenager this lead to people following me instead of me following them. I never asked for this but it happened. I also never wanted to follow what everyone else was doing (all the sheep) so all those bands and things that I grew up watching or listening to, (that are now considered cool), but back then I was the outcast, the one that didn't "conform".. (ugh I hate that word).
I don't feel Metallica became safe, I feel they naturally evolved and wanted to play something different. I can't imagine them making 10 albums in the vein of Master Of Puppets, how boring would that be? there are bands that have done that and are still somehow successful but I believe I am smarter than to be
buying the same thing over and over (kind of like those people that keep buying the Madden video game or any other franchise sports video game which is basically the same game with very minor changes). ACDC is one of those bands that have changed very little in their entire career, made very similar record and yet remain successful.
I Respect Metallica for not doing that, they would probably be less relevant now which would be a shame, I want future generations to at least listen to their music and I can guarantee they will like at least one of the albums because there is so much variety among them.
