On music fandom and the nature of trust
We live in a disposable world. Our attitudes towards physical products have rewarded us with landfill mountains and polluted oceans, and that’s just the items we’re told are being recycled.
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Ride The Lightning: Metallica and the sound of Sweet Silence
By the time they arrived in Copenhagen in February 1984 Metallica were established as thrash metal pioneers.
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Metallica’s St Anger on trial: the defence
I guess you could call me a St Anger apologist, but it’s not a term I use myself. Why? Because it suggests Metallica has something to apologise for on this record.
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Metallica’s St Anger on trial: the prosecution
There are certain rites of passage that every Metallica fan experiences regardless of when they discover the greatest metal band there’s ever been.
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Me, Brand New and separating art from its creators
In the summer of 2017 the fifth album from Brand New finally arrived. It was, even then, expected to be their last, and its critical and commercial success reflected the love the band enjoyed all over the world.
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Exodus: guardians of the thrash metal faith
Growing up as a thrash metal fan on the south coast of England in the late 1990s was a rather different experience to living through its beer-soaked genesis in the San Francisco Bay Area in the first half of the 1980s.
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Cut from Diamond: how the Midlands made Metallica
“Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with. Tygers Of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden.”
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Your future is Palm Reader
This British scene, whatever it is, is in phenomenal shape. We already have a scintillating Employed To Serve album this year.
13 genuinely great nu-metal songs
Funny old game, nu-metal. As a moment in time it was perfection, bringing fresh ideas and even fresher fans into the alternative subculture.
Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct lives up to its creative launch campaign
Despite long gaps between records, Metallica haven’t exactly been taking it easy.
Metallica’s ‘Orion’ at 30
Metallica’s Master Of Puppets album is recognised as one of heavy metal’s finest ever.
The 20 best bands at 2000trees Festival 2016
Last week I was in the Cotswolds having a really rather lovely time at 2000trees festival – the fab three-dayer that champions new and underground British music (with the odd act from further afield thrown in for good measure).