The Metallica Paradox.

edwardc77 · 03-08-2013, 10:48 AM

Regarding Metallica I always heard lot of people (everywhere) saying things like :“Oh, I was so disappointed when the black album came out” or “I quit buying their records when they sold out with Bob rock” or even ”I stopped listening to them after Master of Puppets”.
So I decided to do some quick research, and I found out a few interesting things.
The first thing is that very few people bought the band’s first three albums when they came out.
When Cliff Burton died in 1986, Metallica hadn’t managed to achieve a single Gold Record …and that’s just 500 thousand copies.
Mostly they didn’t even headline tours back then but they were just a supporting act.
So how is it possible that so many people have this strong nostalgia for the good old early days of Metallica?
It just doesn’t add up.
Second thing, since we are talking about records that came out almost 30 years ago, I really doubt that most people under 40 knew about Metallica when Cliff Burton was still alive regardless of album sales.
Unless they were listening to Ride the lightning in kindergarten.
Cool but improbable.

03-08-2013, 10:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
edwardc77 Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Italy Posts: 128	The Metallica Paradox. Regarding Metallica I always heard lot of people (everywhere) saying things like :“Oh, I was so disappointed when the black album came out” or “I quit buying their records when they sold out with Bob rock” or even ”I stopped listening to them after Master of Puppets”. So I decided to do some quick research, and I found out a few interesting things. The first thing is that very few people bought the band’s first three albums when they came out. When Cliff Burton died in 1986, Metallica hadn’t managed to achieve a single Gold Record …and that’s just 500 thousand copies. Mostly they didn’t even headline tours back then but they were just a supporting act. So how is it possible that so many people have this strong nostalgia for the good old early days of Metallica? It just doesn’t add up. Second thing, since we are talking about records that came out almost 30 years ago, I really doubt that most people under 40 knew about Metallica when Cliff Burton was still alive regardless of album sales. Unless they were listening to Ride the lightning in kindergarten. Cool but improbable. Last edited by edwardc77; 03-08-2013 at 10:56 AM.