Mike+I

Metallica Metallica first formed on October 28th, 1981 in California. From that point on, they would be one of the greatest influences on music the country had ever seen. They would take the metal genre further than anyone had ever imagined, and practically created [|thrash] and progressive metal. The public first began to notice them after the debut of their demo album No Life 'Til Leather, after which they took the name Metallica. The original four members included drummer and founder Lars Ulrich, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney. Mustaine was kicked out of the band in early April of 1983, and in 1985 went on to form the band [|Megadeth]. He was almost immediately replaced by Kirk Hammett, and the band was able to produce __Kill 'Em All__, their first album; __Ride the Lighting__ came out the following year. Their second album was the first of it's kind because it had an entirely instrumental metal piece, which would be repeated in my following albums. The band's first true success came with the release of their next album, __Master of Puppets__. By this point Metallica was quite well known, and this album was considered to be one of the greatest of all time. Of course, they had to top it with their next album __...And Justice For All__.
 * = __Album__ ||= __Year__ ||= __[|Billboard 200]__ ||= __Certification__ ||~  ||
 * = Kill 'Em All ||= 1983 ||= #120 ||= 3x platinum ||~  ||
 * = Ride the Lightning ||= 1984 ||= #100 ||= 5x Platinum ||~  ||
 * = Master of Puppets ||= 1986 ||= #29 ||= 6x platinum ||~  ||
 * = ...And Justice For All ||= 1988 ||= #6 ||= 8x platinum ||~  ||

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Other songs: Seek and Destroy For Whom the Bell Tolls Battery Fade to Black

Other Links: @http://www.metallica.com/ (all pictures and album artwork taken from this site) @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica (additional information gathered here)