Somewhere in the middle of Birth School Metallica Death, there's this delightful anecdote of a telephone operator calling Xavier Russell (editor of rock magazine Kerrang!) at 3 a m and asking him if he could take a "reverse charge call from California". Asked who the caller was, the operator simply grunted, "It's some guy called Metallica."
It's hard not to wonder what the lady would, in the following years - or decades - think of that call from, no, not by some loony head called Metallica but Lars Ulrich, drummer and iconic co-founder of one of the biggest bands of all time. In its long heyday, the heavy metal band sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won nine Grammy Awards, grew its fan base in different continents and had five consecutive albums hit number ones on the US Billboard charts.
Anecdotes like these make this book, well, "complete insanity". Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood have come up with a tome that faithfully documents the Metallica story and is loaded with insights, objective criticism and a narrative that goes back four decades to the childhood days of the Metallica gang - that band doing "all that mindblowing stuff". The title is based on the band's back story long after Metallica tasted international success. It was on a tour in Europe that Metallica came up with a quartet of words on the back of just one particular t-shirt that would eventually resonate simply because there would be no other band with whom fans could - or, rather, want to - replace the third word.
The book inspires confidence even before you start because the two authors have a strong background and unimpeachable pedigree as the UK's foremost music writers. Although the passion for telling Metallica's story is obvious in page after page, the authors are adept at replacing the fan shades with the critical lens when they discuss the group's albums and songs in minute detail - part of the reason the fifth chapter, in particular, is so engaging for anyone familiar with the band's work.
Though this isn't the first book documenting Metallica's journey (and the authors have liberally referred to earlier works on the band), it is still vital reading for the rock aficionado for the way the narrative develops. It starts with Hetfield's "fractured" relationship with his father and how the reticent teenage boy took to music as a way of grappling with issues at home. His story is a contrast to Lars Ulrich's secure childhood, full of adventurous journeys across continents, because his father was a professional tennis player.
The first two chapters show how thrash metal in the US and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal - "this noise, this fury, this power" - would lead two talented lads to found Metallica. This was the band that created life-altering music even as its founders forged a friendship that despite a fair share of ups and downs, lasted decades - unusual for such a high-octane act.
Because this isn't a one dimensional "fan-boy-club book", it doesn't discount some of the colossal personal upheavals that the band endured to secure Metallica's rise. And what upheavals! Back-stabbing and chucking away "close" friends because they were inept musicians (scarcely different from the way a multinational would hand out pink slips). Fistfights with other bands on stage. Threatening crowds with hammers. Inflated egos as success comes surging in. The over-the-top indulgence in sex and drugs (remember them being nicknamed Alcoholica?). Confessing to an inability to cope with their heady accomplishments. Dealing with the sudden death of a fellow band member…. But all this also a pointer to a certain kind of celebrity - few in India, unfortunately - who is willing to be starkly honest to himself and his music (which graduated over the years from heady thrash metal to a more mature, more personal sound and lyrics).
It was the band members' (and ex-members') willingness to admit to early mistakes in public, in press interviews (though they were unforgiving to journalists too, punching quite a few in the face, but that's another story) that makes Metallica's story so absorbing. Known as the "Led Zep" of our times - after the hugely popular '70s rock band Led Zeppelin - the reader is made aware of the band's discomfort, even after all these years, at being labelled metal - Ulrich said something to this effect in 2012 when the band organised a bespoke, self-curated music festival, the authors write.
Birth School Metallica Death effectively captures the warring emotions of confidence and vulnerability that assailed a bunch of super-talented guys trying to understand just how they connected to one another through the music of this monster called Metallica. The book chronicles the vulnerable transition from "band-to-brand", of how a group of individuals came together against the backdrop of the political upheavals and counter-culture of the late sixties, seventies and eighties to contribute to the heady, underground, thrash metal sound as an escape, a refuge and an attempt to understand themselves.
Thoughtfully structured - the chapters, which cover Metallica's journey till 1991, are divided on the basis of some of the band's all-time hits - the seamless narrative of success and tragedy is told with a light, knowledgeable and humorous touch and will engage not just the hard-core fan but anyone interested in the music of the time.
And yes, we'll forgive the occasional typo and long-winded sentences. Because, just as flaws in the recording room can become the soul of a song (and some of Metallica's earliest numbers are proof of this) this, too, becomes a minor quibble in an otherwise free-flowing, engaging book. Eventually, it is the story of Metallica that resonates, and, quite literally, nothing else matters.
BIRTH SCHOOL METALLICA DEATH VOLUME I
Author: Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Pages: 378
Price: Rs 899
It's hard not to wonder what the lady would, in the following years - or decades - think of that call from, no, not by some loony head called Metallica but Lars Ulrich, drummer and iconic co-founder of one of the biggest bands of all time. In its long heyday, the heavy metal band sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won nine Grammy Awards, grew its fan base in different continents and had five consecutive albums hit number ones on the US Billboard charts.
Anecdotes like these make this book, well, "complete insanity". Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood have come up with a tome that faithfully documents the Metallica story and is loaded with insights, objective criticism and a narrative that goes back four decades to the childhood days of the Metallica gang - that band doing "all that mindblowing stuff". The title is based on the band's back story long after Metallica tasted international success. It was on a tour in Europe that Metallica came up with a quartet of words on the back of just one particular t-shirt that would eventually resonate simply because there would be no other band with whom fans could - or, rather, want to - replace the third word.
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Why did the band become so vital to not just the US and UK (the two countries they initially straddled so unsuccessfully)? What made Metallica tick despite the shaky start with just a handful of fans before they started "making millions even in cotton" (read, merchandise, the cheap ripoffs being such a hit even in India)? The first volume of Birth School Metallica Death (the second is slated for an autumn 2014 release) provides a detailed analysis of a music group that made the transition from failure to success, from empty stadia to vast arenas packed with screaming fans who sing Metallica's hits right back to James Hetfield, co-founder and the band's songwriter.
The book inspires confidence even before you start because the two authors have a strong background and unimpeachable pedigree as the UK's foremost music writers. Although the passion for telling Metallica's story is obvious in page after page, the authors are adept at replacing the fan shades with the critical lens when they discuss the group's albums and songs in minute detail - part of the reason the fifth chapter, in particular, is so engaging for anyone familiar with the band's work.
Though this isn't the first book documenting Metallica's journey (and the authors have liberally referred to earlier works on the band), it is still vital reading for the rock aficionado for the way the narrative develops. It starts with Hetfield's "fractured" relationship with his father and how the reticent teenage boy took to music as a way of grappling with issues at home. His story is a contrast to Lars Ulrich's secure childhood, full of adventurous journeys across continents, because his father was a professional tennis player.
The first two chapters show how thrash metal in the US and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal - "this noise, this fury, this power" - would lead two talented lads to found Metallica. This was the band that created life-altering music even as its founders forged a friendship that despite a fair share of ups and downs, lasted decades - unusual for such a high-octane act.
Because this isn't a one dimensional "fan-boy-club book", it doesn't discount some of the colossal personal upheavals that the band endured to secure Metallica's rise. And what upheavals! Back-stabbing and chucking away "close" friends because they were inept musicians (scarcely different from the way a multinational would hand out pink slips). Fistfights with other bands on stage. Threatening crowds with hammers. Inflated egos as success comes surging in. The over-the-top indulgence in sex and drugs (remember them being nicknamed Alcoholica?). Confessing to an inability to cope with their heady accomplishments. Dealing with the sudden death of a fellow band member…. But all this also a pointer to a certain kind of celebrity - few in India, unfortunately - who is willing to be starkly honest to himself and his music (which graduated over the years from heady thrash metal to a more mature, more personal sound and lyrics).
It was the band members' (and ex-members') willingness to admit to early mistakes in public, in press interviews (though they were unforgiving to journalists too, punching quite a few in the face, but that's another story) that makes Metallica's story so absorbing. Known as the "Led Zep" of our times - after the hugely popular '70s rock band Led Zeppelin - the reader is made aware of the band's discomfort, even after all these years, at being labelled metal - Ulrich said something to this effect in 2012 when the band organised a bespoke, self-curated music festival, the authors write.
Birth School Metallica Death effectively captures the warring emotions of confidence and vulnerability that assailed a bunch of super-talented guys trying to understand just how they connected to one another through the music of this monster called Metallica. The book chronicles the vulnerable transition from "band-to-brand", of how a group of individuals came together against the backdrop of the political upheavals and counter-culture of the late sixties, seventies and eighties to contribute to the heady, underground, thrash metal sound as an escape, a refuge and an attempt to understand themselves.
Thoughtfully structured - the chapters, which cover Metallica's journey till 1991, are divided on the basis of some of the band's all-time hits - the seamless narrative of success and tragedy is told with a light, knowledgeable and humorous touch and will engage not just the hard-core fan but anyone interested in the music of the time.
And yes, we'll forgive the occasional typo and long-winded sentences. Because, just as flaws in the recording room can become the soul of a song (and some of Metallica's earliest numbers are proof of this) this, too, becomes a minor quibble in an otherwise free-flowing, engaging book. Eventually, it is the story of Metallica that resonates, and, quite literally, nothing else matters.
BIRTH SCHOOL METALLICA DEATH VOLUME I
Author: Paul Brannigan and Ian Winwood
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Pages: 378
Price: Rs 899