3. No Life 'Til Leather: Spreading The Cassette Demo
Following their meeting in 1981, James and Lars rounded out their first, original band lineup and crafted a handful of songs to release on their own as their first demo cassette tape. Recorded in July of 1982, the compilation of songs was titled No Life 'Til Leather and released by the band on their own Metallus Maximus Music "label." This demo cassette tape included the now-legendary Metallica classics Seek & Destroy, Hit The Lights, The Mechanics (later renamed The Four Horsemen), and Jump In The Fire. http://youtu.be/EBotKJTwMV4 No Life Til Leather changed the way fans acquired their music in the early 1980's. Much like the events with Napster that would follow decades later, Metallica revolutionised the pre-digital sharing of music with the Leather collection. The demo cassette ignited the spreading of their music across the United States and the world: copies were made which lead to copies of copies as tape-trading flourished - being passed along and mailed across the country and the world as part of Metallica's birth into metal music. Their name was spread by fans sharing this demo with other fans and non-fans, introducing countless people to a new sound that would revolutionise rock music for decades to come.
