Metallica Greatest Hits Part 1

[Milan Skidmore]

Whathappens next, however, is a surprise. Somehow, it comes up that James has a passion for beekeeping. And it turns out that Joe Rogan is very interested in this. Way more interested than anyone who is not a beekeeper has ever been in discussing bees. So they spend the next 30 minutes talking about bees. Which seems like a long time for James Hetfield and Joe Rogan to talk about bees. But at some point, the bee talk stops being about just bees and becomes a way for James to reveal an essential part of himself.

Before we continue, I should state something plainly: James Hetfield is the most interesting part of Metallica to me. He is unquestionably one of the greatest metal frontmen ever, even though he does none of the things that metal frontmen traditionally do. He is not a natural-born showman and outlandish character (like Ozzy Osbourne). He does not have an operatic vocal range (like Ronnie James Dio). He does not have an athletic stage presence or a license to pilot Boeing 747s (like Bruce Dickinson). He did not smuggle leather gear associated with gay subcultures of the 1980s into one of the most overtly macho genres of music ever (like Rob Halford). James Hetfield is surly. He is growly. But he is also vulnerable and fragile. He appears to be simultaneously indestructible and irreparably damaged. He is a sweet man who pretends to be scary. James Hetfield is his audience.

A certain kind of person will read that and laugh. This same kind of person is also inclined to dismiss Some Kind Of Monster as the real-life This Is Spinal Tap. (As opposed to appreciating the film as the real-life This Is Spinal Tap.) He will laugh at the suggestion that being the focal point of Metallica is in any way like fighting in a war.

Now. imagine standing in front of that many people, and seeing the helicopters buzz the crowd and Soviet soldiers pacifying the moshers while on horseback, and asking that mass of humanity the following question:

Unfortunately, there were two problems. One, they waited so long to make a follow-up that grunge was also dead by the time Load came out. (Metallica faced a similar problem when they embraced the sonic characteristics of n-metal on St. Anger right when the public had soured of n-metal.) Two, Lars and Kirk took the creative reins from James, and the majority of their artistic decisions at the time were motivated by a toxic combination of drugs and an impulse to troll their singer. (Hence the publicity shots featuring prominent nipple rings and drummer-on-guitarist makeout action.)

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