Metallica: 10 Best Hard Rock Songs
From the Black Album onwards, what are their absolute best?
Metallica has been one of the most interesting bands to watch since the 80's. When they started out of the California Bay Area, their sound was no nonsense speed metal that went right for the jugular. Each subsequent record seemed to be another stellar addition to the thrash metal canon. Then the 90's happened...
When the band shifted gears into hard rock territory on their self-titled Black Album, fans felt betrayed that their favorite metal band was going soft all of a sudden.
What those fans were missing out on was the debut of Metallica as complex songwriters, whose knack for writing melodic hooks gave them an extra musical layer. Even when the band "sold out" in the late 90's, some of those records still feature cuts that could make anyone throw their horns up in the air with pride.
Though the band's thrash output remains some of their most timeless work, this was the period where we found out the band were capable of so much more. It no longer had to be confined to the 8-minute epic riff collage anymore.
After finding their identity, Metallica proved that they were a band that were not capable of writing just great metal songs, but songs that transcended the genre itself.
10. Hero Of The Day
I'll meet the hardcore metalheads halfway here with the band's more commercial release Load. While the album has a lot more bright spots than you might remember, the drastic shift towards alternative rock was a bit too much for most fans to stomach.
On the flip side, when Metallica decides to just write a simple song, you get gems like "Hero of the Day." The opening guitar strains are very pretty and almost...*gasp* inviting on a Metallica track. Whereas most of the band's early work cut right to the chase when hitting you over the head, this song plays it cool as it shows the struggles that afflict anyone who is down on their luck.
Just the way James Hetfield croons as he talks with his mother about the pain that he feels going through life seems genuinely heartfelt. In addition, this is most likely the only Metallica song to be written almost entirely in a major key. For many metalheads, major keys are no good unless your name is Iron Maiden, but this song does an exquisite job at marrying the heavy side of the band's sound with a more rootsy hard rock approach.
Though this may be a prime candidate to show Load's flaws, "Hero of the Day" is probably one of the most mainstream Metallica releases that could get non-metalheads initiated.