Metallica: The Four Horsemen Ride    [ A–     JMS]

The Metallica concert can be described as wonderful, purely and simply. It does no justice, however, to simply describe this performance with a generic one-word adjective. Before I begin to analyze the performance in depth and bring justice, it would behoove me to provide a background for the important foreground elements.

For those of you not familiar with Metallica’s music, they are a thrash metal band that was founded in the 1980’s. Thrash metal is a type of heavy metal music characterized by fast, loud percussion, distorted guitars, shouted vocals, and dark and nihilistic lyrics. They performed at Nassau Coliseum, a large, closed stadium that can seat thousands. The whole venue was full of concertgoers, and their mood was enthusiastic (including me), the energy felt with every scream and shout that wouldn’t die after each and every song. During particular songs, people would chant as loudly as possible along with the band. The audience was clearly responsive, and in a positive manner too.

Well, now it is time to move on to the musical aspect of the concert. First off, they use guitars, drums, bass, and vocals like I have said before. Mostly the guitars are distorted, which is supposed to reflect the anger and energy of the band’s ethos. Sometimes, however, the guitars are clean to express a more pensive and melancholic mood. There is a tension between the crunchy, abrasive distortion textures, and the echoing, soft textures of the clean guitar. The bass guitar simply provides rhythmic accompaniment, and the drums have no unique texture to speak of.

Metallica’s music is strictly written in the song form: verse and chorus. Unlike most other rock music, Metallica does not always compose music with just a verse and a chorus. After listening to the first song of their performance, you realize that there is more complexity to their songs. The first song, “That Was Just Your Life”, started out with a heart beating in crescendo until the clean guitar starts playing ten seconds in.  Over the clean guitar is another guitar part playing an eerie melody. It is all played at a stately tempo. The guitars become distorted after a while and the music greatly picks up in tempo, with the drums coming in to provide a fast beat (I would say at approximately 190 BPM). In the first minute of this song (which lasts about seven minutes long), three guitar riffs have been played, and each riff builds up into the next one, so it is more than just a bunch of ostinato figures hastily put together. It could be accurate to say that Metallica’s brand of metal is bordering on progressive rock (played by the likes of Pink Floyd and Rush) with its complexity. The concert features several songs from their most recent album, “Death Magnetic”, and the shortest song from that album is five minutes long, while the longest is ten. Obviously, its not like most other rock music, or for that matter most popular music. It’s not boring to listen to though, because the aggression of the guitars, drums, and vocals will keep you entertained and engrossed in the music. The complexity of the music never gets too cerebral, which is good when you’re entertaining thousands of people in a stadium.

The complexity means that each song has more than one main melody. Throughout the evening, if one wanted to chant along with the band, it’d be when the vocalist, James Hetfield, sings, and his vocals are present half the time in a song because the band likes to focus on instrumental writing as well. When you listen to them perform, expect guitar riffs that are more fun to listen to than the vocal melody sometime. Not only that, as a metal band, Metallica do perform guitar solos, almost always done by Kirk Hammett, the lead guitarist. Some of the most memorable guitar solos in rock were composed and performed by this band, and the two that I think are on that list are the solos from the song “Master of Puppets” and “The Unforgiven”. While sadly, I don’t remember them playing Master of Puppets, I do recall the “Unforgiven” solo, and it was spectacular. On the record, the solo has a passionate melody, in the key of A minor, and it literally wails with emotion. It is very expressive of the angst the lyrics in the song convey. But live in performance, it is extremely moving, and few words can describe it. As I was sitting with my friend and brothers in the highest section of the stadium, the solo came, and I, along with everyone else, I’m sure, was in awe. It’s as if some higher being left his mark in me when the melody of that solo was played, and I was moved almost to tears. Perhaps no one else will have the same reaction that I had, but this is what I got out of that solo. That one melody that lasts no more than a minute has such a strong effect on me, emotionally. That is the point of art, to get a reaction from the observer, whether it be hate or love or interest or apathy. Melodically, Metallica’s performance got a reaction out of me, and it is awe. The elements that produced the awe have their basis in the A minor scale. The melody was played fluidly, with plenty of legato between notes. The shape of the melody resembled a bell: the solo started on lower notes, and over the next measures of music, the melody slowly built up to a climax on the higher notes of the guitar, with a dramatic held note on a high note. Rhythmically, there was slight syncopation, but only to emphasize certain notes to carry the point forward (which shall be stated in a few sentences), and most. The solo represents struggle, the struggle to strive for something better, to break free of the monotony of life perhaps, or from a controlling system. And this is why I found the melody awe-inspiring: because of what it represents to me. Maybe my interpretation is wrong, but it doesn’t change my reaction to this one melody. While I apologize for focusing too much on this one melody, I do believe it’s representative of the entire concert that night, and their whole music for that matter.

Metallica’s rhythms are squarely in the rock ethos, with a drum kit providing the beats for the other instruments. Like most other bands, the drum kits included what is called double bass: two bass drums put together so that the musician can play bass notes faster. Many songs featured the use of this, creating fast song beats that agitate the audience into moving. In fact, I regret not being able to be in the mosh pit along with the others. It would have been great fun to push and shove along to the machine gun rhythms of the double bass. There is much use of syncopation as well, to agitate the crowd and listener. Not only that, Metallica isn’t afraid of using odd time signatures sometimes in their songs, and it reflects their knowledge of music theory. Don’t be surprised if a measure of 5/8 or ¾ upsets your bopping head: Metallica likes to surprise their fans.

Tempo wise, their songs vary greatly, with fast sections followed by slower, more pensive sections. The changes in tempo correlate with the changes in dynamics: the faster the section, the louder the music; and the more stately the tempo, the softer the instruments.

The texture is homophonic, in that a melody is played over chords. It varies, however, because some song sections might have only instruments played a rhythm, while other sections might have a guitar solo playing over chords and other riffs. It is very difficult to describe accurately, and I consider it a cross between polyphony and homophony.

To summarily conclude this essay, I re-iterate the purpose of art, including music: to force a reaction from the audience, whether it be love or hate. Indifference is not an option for an artist, for it means his art has failed to induce a reaction in the observer. It may explain why some artists feel the need to shock or disgust their audiences, but that is a topic that deserves another essay. I can safely state that Metallica has definitely succeeded in this goal. They are one of my favorite musical groups, and I enjoy listening to their music. They are one of my influences in playing the guitar, and in my playing style for that matter. Metallica inspired me to learn the guitar, and I thank them for that. This performance only cements my love of their music, and makes me proud to be a fan.