Posted August 12, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Cyanide” was the third single from Metallica’s 2008 album Death Magnetic, which was seen as a return to form and their early thrash metal roots. The song kicks off with a high energy, wah-fueled introduction that quickly gives way to a surprisingly grooving series of hard rock-inspired riffs under lyrics about suicide and death. About halfway through, the heavy metal riffage gives way to a key change, moving to a softer, yet ominous bridge with Hetfield playing clean guitar chords. This calmer section is short-lived, however, as Kirk Hammett rips a disgusting solo over a series of changing keys, which leads back to the previous verse and chorus, closing with the opening section that introduced the song.
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Posted August 11, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Blackened” is the first song on Metallica’s iconic album, …And Justice For All. It features a minute long intro that gives way to a much heavier rest of the song, as Metallica so often does, but the band must play a prerecorded intro when playing “Blackened” live. This is necessary because the introduction part on the recording is actually a layered chorus of harmonized guitars played backwards, which would be impractical, although not impossible, to pull off live. The song describes the end of days from some sort of worldwide catastrophe, which reflected fears at the time of nuclear winter from hostile relations between the nuclear powerhouses USSR and the USA.
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Posted August 10, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
Metallica’s “Battery,” from their 1986 album Master of Puppets is one of their fastest songs, tearing through five minutes of lightning-fast riff-based thrash metal. Like many Metallica songs, however, it starts with a calm acoustic guitar intro by James Hetfield (who is classically trained). More layers are added on one by one until the rest of the band comes in with much heavier parts. Once they hit the speed metal riff, they do not return to the calmness of the intro, favoring the power and speed of their signature thrash metal. The title “Battery” doesn’t refer to any electricity or Duracell-related themes, although it might seem like it would from other Metallica material (Ride the Lightning comes to mind). Instead, the lyrics refer to “battery” as in “assault and battery,” or the criminal offense for physically attacking someone.
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Posted August 9, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
“Am I Evil?” is a song originally by Diamond Head, a heavily influential heavy metal band from Britain, generally regarded as one of the key groups of the new wave of British heavy metal. The song was made famous by metal giants Metallica through their cover, which appeared on the 1988 reissue of their iconic album Kill ‘Em All and plenty of live shows over the years. Metallica has also covered many other Diamond Head songs in concert, including “Sucking My Love” and “The Prince.” Of the Diamond Head version, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has said it is “the heaviest song that’s ever been recorded.”
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Posted August 8, 2011 at 9:00 am | No comments
“All Nightmare Long” is the fifth single from Metallica’s most recent release, Death Magnetic, and features nearly eight minutes of Metallica’s unique brand of destructive thrash, but with a heavy lean towards more progressive metal than they have been known for in the past. It is one of the songs from Death Magnetic that helped Metallica get back in the good graces of fans after their somewhat disappointing 2003 album St. Anger. Learn this song to get a quick, hard schooling in thrash riffage from guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, who throw down like no other for this marathon headbanging session.
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Posted August 7, 2011 at 6:27 am | No comments
As Metallica’s fifth longest song, “…And Justice For All” is really difficult for the band to play live due to its complexity and layered nature. Although they vowed never to play it again live in 1989, Hetfield and company have been bringing it out again in recent tours, and it appears on their live DVD “Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria,” which was recorded in Mexico during touring in support of Death Magnetic, the metal juggernauts’ most recent effort. The song, which is the eighth track from the album …And Justice For All, gets its title from the last four words of the United States Pledge of Allegiance and plays off the idea that those words are a sick irony.
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Posted August 6, 2011 at 7:12 am | One comment
Although Robert Plant has said that “Kashmir” is the quintessential Led Zeppelin song, “Stairway to Heaven” remains the popular go-to tune by the legendary Zep. Played so often in guitar stores that owners have put up signs demanding “No Stairway to Heaven,” the song has one of the most iconic (and possibly over-played) introductions in all of music. Those fingerpicked chords build in intensity and power until the Plant, Page, Bonham and Jones are at full tilt, accelerating their way into Jimmy Page’s monumental guitar solo. With lyrics inspired by Lord of the Rings, “Stairway” climbs higher and higher until the isolated and despairing last line, “And she’s buying the stairway… to heaven.”
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Posted August 5, 2011 at 7:12 am | No comments
“Since I’ve Been Loving You” is a slow minor blues tune by the legendary Led Zeppelin. Featured on their third album, Led Zeppelin III, the song was reportedly one of the hardest to record. Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones put down his bass for “Since I’ve Been Loving You”, instead playing a Hammond organ, using the foot pedals for the bass notes. After having difficulties during the recording process, they ended up recording it with almost no overdubbing, save for Jimmy Page’s guitar solo. That solo has been hailed as one of the best solos in the history of rock music by audio engineer Terry Manning, and wow, if it’s not the best, it’s definitely up there.
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Posted August 4, 2011 at 7:12 am | No comments
“Over the Hills and Far Away” has, along with “Stairway to Heaven,” possibly one of Zeppelin’s most distinctive guitar introductions. Jimmy Page plays it once through on a six-string acoustic then joins on overdubbed twelve-string, over which Robert Plant begins crooning about a lady’s love. This soft intro builds into the seemingly unrelated hard rock riff that forms the basis of the rest of the song, and the intro music isn’t heard until after the band fades out, when it is reprised by a distant electric guitar to close out the song. “Over the Hills” is a veritable mine of blues-rock riffage, guaranteed to give you plenty of ideas for riff-based rock of your own, so get down to it!
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Posted August 3, 2011 at 7:12 am | No comments
“Kashmir” is one of Led Zeppelin’s most powerful songs. Appearing on their sixth album, Physical Graffiti, it was technically too long to be played by radio stations (clocking in at 8:28, although the original LP jacket had it listed at 9:41), but since “Stairway to Heaven” was so popular, most stations played it anyway. At the period of time the song was written, Jimmy Page had been experimenting with a sitar and different ethnic tunings. Consequently, “Kashmir” employs many characteristics of Eastern music, giving it that unique flair that differentiates it from the rest of Zep’s catalog. As one of the band’s most beloved classics, even Robert Plant has said that it is “the definitive Led Zeppelin song”.
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