Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in L… Read Full Bio ↴Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from the band, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.

Metallica first found commercial success with the release of its third album, Master of Puppets (1986), which is cited as one of the heaviest metal albums and the band's best work. The band's next album, ...And Justice for All (1988), gave Metallica its first Grammy Award nomination. Its self-titled fifth album, Metallica (1991), was the band's first not to root predominantly in thrash metal; it appealed to a more mainstream audience, achieving substantial commercial success and selling over 16 million copies in the United States to date, making it the best-selling album of the SoundScan era. After experimenting with different genres and directions in subsequent releases, Metallica returned to its thrash metal roots with the release of its ninth album, Death Magnetic (2008), which drew similar praise to that of the band's earlier albums. This was followed by the band's 10th studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016), with its 11th album, 72 Seasons, releasing in 2023.

In 2000, Metallica led the case against the peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster, in which the band and several other artists filed lawsuits against the service for sharing their copyright-protected material without consent, eventually reaching a settlement. Metallica was the subject of the acclaimed 2004 documentary film Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which documented the troubled production of the band's eighth album, St. Anger (2003), and the internal struggles within the band at the time. In 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band co-wrote the screenplay for and starred alongside Dane DeHaan in the 2013 concert film Metallica: Through the Never, in which the band performed live against a fictional thriller storyline.

Metallica has released 10 studio albums, four live albums (including two performances with the San Francisco Symphony), 12 video albums, a cover album, two extended plays, 37 singles and 39 music videos. The band has won nine Grammy Awards from 23 nominations, and its last six studio albums (beginning with Metallica) have consecutively debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 125 million albums worldwide as of 2018. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by magazines such as Rolling Stone, which ranked the band No. 61 on its 100 Greatest Artists of All Time list. As of 2017, Metallica is the third-best-selling music artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, selling a total of 58 million albums in the United States.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica

Studio albums
Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica (1991)
Load (1996)
Reload (1997)
St. Anger (2003)
Death Magnetic (2008)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016)
72 Seasons (2023)

For Whom the Bell Tolls
Metallica Lyrics

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Make his fight on the hill in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
On they fight, for the right, yes, but who's to say?
For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain that they surely know

For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls

Take a look to the sky just before you die
It's the last time you will
Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
Stranger now are his eyes to this mystery
Hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see

For whom the bell tolls

Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls

Overall Meaning

The song For Whom the Bell Tolls is focused on the senselessness of war and the tragedy of the loss of human life. The song is set in the early days of a battle on a hill with soldiers fighting relentlessly despite their wounds and the constant danger. The soldiers fight for a cause that even they may not fully understand, risking their lives for the sake of a hill. The chorus of the song reinforces the idea that time is always marching forward, and that the bell symbolizes the inevitability of death.

The second verse of the song is particularly haunting, as the perspective shifts to a soldier who is dying on the battlefield. The imagery used in the lyrics is vivid and bleak, describing a blackened and crumbling sky and shattered goals. The soldier's eyes, once filled with determination and hope, are now distant and unknowing as he hears the deafening silence around him. The verse ends with the soldier realizing the brutal reality of war and the inevitably tragic consequences that come with it.

Line by Line Meaning

Make his fight on the hill in the early day
A battle begins atop a hill at the break of dawn

Constant chill deep inside
An unshakable fear grips those involved in the battle

Shouting gun, on they run through the endless grey
The sounds of gunfire echo through the battlefield as soldiers charge forward through the smoke and haze

On they fight, for the right, yes, but who's to say?
Soldiers fight for what they believe is right, but the objective morality of their cause is uncertain

For a hill men would kill, why? They do not know
People are willing to kill for territory, even though they may not understand why they are fighting

Stiffened wounds test their pride
Injuries dampen the morale and confidence of the soldiers

Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Despite the chaos and danger of the battlefield, some soldiers survive and press on

Gone insane from the pain that they surely know
Some individuals become mentally unstable due to the physical and emotional trauma of war

For whom the bell tolls
The ringing of the bell signifies the inevitability of death, which looms over everyone involved in conflict

Time marches on
Despite the violence and bloodshed, life continues to move forward

Take a look to the sky just before you die
In one's final moments, they reflect on the beauty of the world around them

It's the last time you will
Death is permanent, and once we die, we can never experience life again

Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky
The explosions and sounds of war darken the sky and create a sense of destruction and chaos

Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
A soldier's mission may be lost or unattainable, causing intense emotional distress and anguish

Stranger now are his eyes to this mystery
The brutality of war can transform a person's perspective on life, making the world seem more mysterious and uncertain

Hears the silence so loud
Amidst the chaos, moments of silence can be deafening and overwhelming

Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
At the start of a new day, everything that has happened in the past is forgotten, and all that remains is the desire to survive

Now they see what will be, blinded eyes to see
Those who survive will have to live with the memories of the tragedy - they may not have foreseen this before the conflict began

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Clifford Lee Burton, James Alan Hetfield, Lars Ulrich

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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