Metallica Concert Review
The I will be reporting about is Metallica. Specifically, the Metallica concert in Salt Lake City, Utah. This concert was brought back and posted as a support for the people who are currently dealing with the unfolding events. This was the first time in ten years that Metallica performed in Salt Lake City. This was the 13th time that Metallica has played in Utah.
Metallica first played in Salt Lake City on May 17, 1986, at Salt Palace Arena while supporting Ozzy Osbourne (Metallica.
com). This was the first time that “Hardwired,” “Atlas, Rise!,” “Now That We’re Dead,” “Halo On Fire,” and “Moth Into Flame” were played in Utah.
This was the first time in 26 years that “Through the Never” was performed in Utah.
It was last played here on February 10, 1992, at the Delta Center. This was the first time in 21 years that “Whiplash” was played in Utah. It was last performed here on January 2, 1997, at the Delta Center. This was the first time in 20 years that “Fight Fire with Fire” was performed in Utah. It was last played here on September 7, 1998, at Steward Stadium. Metallica performed 18 songs from the following albums: Kill ‘Em All (2), Ride the Lightning (3), Master of Puppets (2), …And Justice for All (1), Metallica (4), Reload (1), and Hardwired…To Self-Destruct (5) (metallica.com).
Metal music is powerful music, but what I mean here is that Metallica is powerful as a band. Their ability to emotionally connect with fans all over the world is indeed a powerful thing. Metallica has been a constant presence for 30+ years in pop culture.
Metallica has influenced plenty of rock and metal artists these days, like Sepultura, KoRn, Slipknot, Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine, and avenged septuple. They vie everything from thrash to lighter music. the guts of Metallica’s success is that the constant itinerant they’ve done throughout their career. the quantity of albums they made is a smaller amount compared to the span of your time they have been around. To compensate for that they’ve given some monster rock performances all round the world. Because the quality of music Metallica produces. Their earlier work was mainly revolutionary Thrash metal that spawned a whole generation of fans that have been loyal to the band. James Hetfield’s riffs, Cliff Burton’s monster bass, Kirk Hammett’s aggressive lead guitar set the tone for a new generation of Heavy metal. Because they survived the Grunge rock times of the 90’s when many bands fell prey to the awful 90’s sounds. Although the albums released by Metallica during the ’90s were not as aggressive and fast as previous ones they were musically sophisticated. n the 80’s they got a huge underground following. As a thrash metal band, they were hardcore in a way you would never hear on the radio. They were also some of the best songwriters in the genre. Their musicianship got better and better with each album. Metallica even persisted when their bassist, Cliff Burton, died in a tragic accident. They also worked their asses off back then touring, which helped their reputation.
In the ’90s, they finally got mainstream recognition. The Black Album turned into a household name. The songs were simplified and shortened, which allowed them to advertise themselves with radio singles. While this alienated some hardcore metalheads, it brought Metallica a huge fanbase that was not into heavy metal before. This also happened right when grunge became popular, so people were looking for alternatives to the kind of music that was popular in the ’80s.
From the Big Four (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer) Metallica was certainly the most influential and crowd-pleasing. They had a gift in the form of their bassist Cliff Burton whose influence was heavy on their earlier works. In my opinion, Metallica’s best years were 1986-1993, they showed immense songwriting talent in Master of Puppets, Fade to Black, Orion, Sanitarium, etc. Metallica has 14,000,000+ followers on Spotify, which is a far greater follower count than the other thrash metal bands that make up the so-called ’Big 4’ of late 80’s early 90’s thrash metal. Granted their most popular songs, Nothing Else Matters and Enter Sandman(on Spotify), do not really thrash songs and represent a departure from the more intense stuff of their early days.
In a review of their concert, it was amazing. Their melodic touch to the “trashiness” was beautifully placed and gave their songs an edge over the others. For example: Fight fire with fire, Battery, Fade to Black, and constant use of melodic sections as seen in Master of Puppets as well. But what really elevated Metallica in my eyes was the album And Justice for All (AJFA), it showed more of their technical side with well thought out phrasing and intricate guitar work, one Song in particular “To live is to Die” is what I consider their best instrumental and Metallica at its peak. One other thing that people don’t seem to credit Metallica with is their lyrics. Their lyrical department has always been strong whether it’s related to political tension, self-loathing, or social evils. The little paragraph towards the end of To Live is to Die is pure gold.
Next, I will be talking about is Radiohead. The concert I will be writing about happened is called Radiohead – In Rainbows From The Basement (April 2008) At Home #WithMe. “The #WithMe playlists include something for everyone with videos created by celebrities, famous YouTubers, and everyday people who just want to help make staying indoors to slow the spread of COVID-19 easier, a lot less lonely, and far more appealing.”. This was a live show that was premiered on June 4, 2020.
In the nineties, it wasn’t really a given that people would be talking about them this way. They weren’t particularly popular among the alt-rock of that time, and their first album is considered a creative flop. So they did push themselves hard for recognition on their second and third albums. Then in the post-OK Computer era, it seemed prevalent that critics and an increasingly big fan base saw them as the world’s best band. Nevertheless, Radiohead never grew comfortable with that tag and continues to push themselves creatively at every step. Every album is a statement, made of a different canvas. They made an incredible album (A Moon Shaped Pool) just last year, thirty years into their history. Too many B-Sides are incredible. They are a band in a unique position. They have received almost no blatantly negative criticism over the course of their extensive career, some exceptions including how otherwise-diehard Radiohead fans regularly glaze over the existence of their debut album, Pablo Honey, and the mixed review of their eighth studio album, The King of Limbs, which received criticism for sounding more like a Thom Yorke solo album.
Onto the concert report, I find their music very dense and satisfying. There are so many things happening, and all of them are very sweet and coherent. I think the key is that each of the band members put a significant amount of creative effort into each of their songs. Nothing is random or lazy- there’s a thought behind every little sound and nuance. That’s why they are so good for second, third, fourth listen. So much to explore, and when you find all of them and put them together, it’s so beautiful! Reckoner just stands out to me. Perhaps it is because I knew this song way before I was into Radiohead. Not because I had ever heard it, though. I knew the words to one part, “Because we separate Like ripples on a blank shore.” and how that was sung. And I heard it in random places, snippets. But had never tried to find out what it was. And then, when listening to In Rainbows, I heard this line sung the way I remembered it and, you could almost say, it was like a Jigsaw Falling into Place. Reckoner is quite calm and serene. 15-step was an opener, but this song just has such great energy that you don’t really see in many other Radiohead songs. In Rainbows as an album is much more energetic than the rest of the catalog, and I think this really proves it. Also, it’s actually in 5/4 time, which is interesting.
