10 Times Metallica Did Whatever The Hell They Wanted

Traditionally averse to the idea of a music video, Metallica broke their rule following the release of 1988’s masterfully technical but deeply flawed …And Justice For All, when they recorded a music video which would go down in infamy, the video for One.

Telling the story of a WW1 soldier who loses his limbs, as well as the ability to hear, speak or see, the song is a harrowing depiction of isolation and unimaginable suffering, and the human cost of war.

Strongly inspired by the 1971 movie ‘Johnny Got His Gun’, Metallica took the decision to intersperse sections of the film with black and white footage of the band playing in an abandoned warehouse. As the song reaches its extended instrumental crescendo, the true horrors of the protagonist are realised, as an attempt at euthanasia is thwarted, and he is doomed to spend the rest of his days in a prison of his own skin.

Rightly regarded as one of the greatest music videos of all time, the horrific scenes allowed the music to hold audience interest across the entire 7:45 running time, in an era where bands were often perfectly happy to show off hard rocking party lifestyles in their own video output.

In typical all or nothing Metallica fashion, the band opted to purchase the rights to the movie instead of paying royalty fees for broadcast, and its heavy rotation on MTV, and longstanding legacy, proved this to be a shrewd business decision by a band whose mastery of the game was rapidly becoming unassailable.