25 years ago today...

metalhead777 wrote:

It was the day Metallica died as a serious act in my opinion.

James B. wrote:

Any of you ever see or hear Trauma ?

yes, the past few years finally
- the demos, LP and "concert video" (which was done without an audience, like how HEAVY LOAD and other bands back then would make).,

Decent band, but I never seen their LP in my local import store or mentioned in zines back in the 1980s, except as a reference in Metallica interviews/ write-up's that Cliff was a member.

thejokeriv wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

Cliff Burton and Randy Rhoads died way too young... I sometimes wonder about the music they would have made if they lived. I know Randy was gonna leave Ozzy and do classical but I wonder if Cliff would have stayed with Metallica? He was a big fan of ZZ Top, Skynyrd and southern rock in general...

He would have and he would have been very happy to do Load/Reload with the southern rock influences

My favourite albums by Metallica.

I dont hate Load/reload but i dont think it is among their strongest material either.

For anyone wondering what Metallica would have sounded like had Cliff been alive today, probably not much different from the way it sounds now though we would have likely been spared some embarrassing moments such as St. Anger or Load's very own Mama Said.

Country was not Cliff's thing but on the other hand, Cliff's musical tastes were far more eclectic than those of James and Lars at that time. According to Lars, it was Cliff's wide interest in music that ultimately inspired the rest of Metallica to branch outside of its metal-roots:

Quote :

"You could certainly argue that me and James at that time were more kind of the squarer guys, 'cause we were more like, "MOTÖRHEAD, IRON MAIDEN!" Heavy metal T-shirts, and long hair and bang our heads into the wall. Cliff was just so fast in his palette of things that he was into and things that were inspiring him and the things that he was doing. So it was definitely his music, and his attitude, and his approach towards life that really inspired me and James to broaden our horizons, broaden METALLICA's horizons musically. So when I think of Cliff, that's what I think…that's just kind of variety and unpredictability, you know."

That is from a recent interview with Lars published by Revolver Magazine.

So with that in mind, I don't think Metallica would have continued with a thrash metal sound. However, I believe that had Cliff been alive today they would have likely done something more progressive and technical sounding, something that would make Justice For All or the Black Album pale in comparison to their true potential with Cliff.

Equally so, Cliff (much like Randy Rhoads) would have eventually left Metallica and explored a solo career. It is likely that Cliff would have grown tired of touring especially as by all accounts he was the least one interested in touring the world and being away from home.

In any case, we also need to factor in that the 90s would have eventually hit and without a major commercial hit, which the Black Album proved to be, it is likely that Metallica would have likely met the fate of most other 80s metal bands. So there is also that dimension to factor in, would Metallica have had another (post-Master of Puppets) major album with the type of commercial success the Black Album enjoyed.

The answer for those questions may exist in a parallel dimension but in this dimension, history turned out differently for Metallica.

I thought I remember reading a Metallica member say something like "it would be a stretch for Cliff to do Hero Of The Day"

...but that is one of the better numbers they did in years, and would think with all of the different bands and styles Cliff liked, he would dig it.

Quote :

For anyone wondering what Metallica would have sounded like had Cliff been alive today, probably not much different from the way it sounds now though we would have likely been spared some embarrassing moments such as St. Anger or Load's very own Mama Said.

I don't believe they would have gotten that far. Cliff and Lars woulda butted heads over direction/leadership of the band long before that. They would have imploded, fired Lars or Cliff would quit long before they got to where they are now.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Quote :

For anyone wondering what Metallica would have sounded like had Cliff been alive today, probably not much different from the way it sounds now though we would have likely been spared some embarrassing moments such as St. Anger or Load's very own Mama Said.

I don't believe they would have gotten that far. Cliff and Lars woulda butted heads over direction/leadership of the band long before that. They would have imploded, fired Lars or Cliff would quit long before they got to where they are now.

Its hard to speculate what direction a band would have taken when an important member passes away, Cliff Burton was not just a bassplayer, but also one of the songwriters and seemed to have alot of say in the artistic direction the band under took, I am not sure what Metallica would have sounded like if he had lived and stayed in the band, but I am sure we would have been spared albums like 'Reload'

What makes this difficult to speculate (among other things) is that we don't know how big Metallica would have continued to be had Cliff been alive today and also assuming he had not left the band by the end of the 80s.

Would they have released another monumental album like Master of Puppets to keep their awareness alive, or would they have chosen a different path, towards more mainstream acceptance and wide popularity.

By all accounts, Lars was very much enamored with Guns n Roses and by the time the band had written Justice For All...
Lars wanted the album to be produced by Mike Clink who had earlier produced Appetite for Destruction - that however did not work out. In any case, given Lars' interest in GnR and the type of exposure the band got with Master of Puppets, I think it was inevitable that the band (with or without Cliff) would have gone in a mainstream direction.

I think the real question is, how much different would a mainstream Metallica have sounded like had Cliff been alive today.

To put a spin on this whole speculation - I think if Cliff had been alive after Master of Puppets, the follow-up album would not have been anywhere near as heavy as Justice turned out.

It's likely that Metallica w/ Cliff post-MOP would have released a more accessible mainstream album sooner than they did with the Black Album. My feeling is they would have likely released something along the lines of Stone Temple Pilots, meets Faith No More meets Dream Theater. I think that is the direction Metallica would have ultimately pursued. I also think Cliff would have very much favoured the whole grunge movement.

Sounds crazy I know - heck this whole speculation game is crazy - but given everything we now know about Cliff and Metallica, I don't think this band was going to continue in a thrash metal direction or somehow turn around and play death metal.

I know I'm a little late, but R.I.P. Cliff...