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Why Metallica Sucks Ass |
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Okay, I admit it, I never was a Metallica fan. And being a guitarist, this has always caused me problems... I don't know how many other guitarists have exclaimed in disbelief, "you don't like Metallica?!" (As if such a thing just wasn't possible.) |
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Okay, I admit it, I never was a Metallica fan. And being a guitarist, this has always caused me problems... I don't know how many other guitarists have exclaimed in disbelief, "you don't like Metallica?!" (As if such a thing just wasn't possible.)
I always found their music faux-heavy and the whole yo-ho! style of singing annoying. Not to mention the sad lyrics all about death and destruction and darkness. Like their 80's "masterpiece" about the guy who lost all his limbs and was deaf and blind or something and the whole song was about him wanting God to kill him. Who the hell wants to hear that? And why the hell write a song about it? (I've always been suspicious of people who want to hear such negative crap, too.)
But now I have another reason to hate Metallica: they have decided to take the side of the labels in the coming industry war.
Since the dawn of mp3, labels have hated the internet. After all, the only way a label makes any money is by selling copies of another artist's performance. That's it. That's all they do. And when people began trading mp3s online without paying anybody (at least, them) they immediately assumed the worst. Even though they have yet to prove any loss in sales due to mp3 trading, they have already added a 10-15% "technology deduction" onto most contracts--basically billing the artist for people "stealing" their music. The artists weren't even consulted about this addition, either. (If you don't believe me, check out this.)
Now, Napster is an mp3 trading site, and a very popular one. And because mp3s are traded on Napster, and the labels assume they are losing money, they had the RIAA sue the site. (The RIAA kindly supports artists' rights by helping the labels screw the artists. And who elected them our representatives, anyway?) And when that suit wasn't even settled yet, they decided to turn up the heat a little more. So they had Metallica get involved. They hired an independent consulting firm, NetPD, to track all of the Metallica action on the Napster site last weekend. They were able to verify the location of 300,000+ computers that were used to download Metallica songs and they are forcing Napster to terminate their accounts or they will sue Napster out of existence.
Make no mistakes, this is the first shot in a war that will tear apart the entire music business. And it is already backfiring on Metallica. Several sites have joined together and urged a boycott of Metallica. This site is one of them.
The fact is, there are plenty of great bands that support you, the fan, and have no problem with you copying their music. They understand that it cannot be contained. Bands like Limp Bizkit, Public Enemy, and Offspring, for instance. So there is no need to ever buy anything again from a cheesy sell-out metal band from the eighties who should have died with the others when Nirvana hit the scene. Old music, old business, old thinking...old school.
This year, Metallica is touring... and tickets go on sale for $65! Just think, for $65, you could buy a CD from Limp Bizkit, Public Enemy, and Offspring and still have money left over for beer at the free Limp Bizkit tour. (Are you starting to wake up yet?)
It's time we all started waking up and supported the bands that support us. I have removed any links to Metallica from this site and from now on we will dedicate our personal and professional lives to turning people away from this band. Your reaction to this lawsuit will greatly affect the entire music industry... if you let them get away with it (and Elektra expects you to just roll over), most every big label band will be forced to follow Metallica's example by next year. But if the fallout is enormous and the loss of revenue painful -- it will certainly give Elektra something to think about.
I'll leave you with this bit of hypocrisy:
"I would stay over at his house for days making tapes of his records and sleeping on the carpet." -- James Hetfield, liner notes, "Garage Inc."
You can bitch to Metallica at: email@metallica.com
You can bitch to their label at: marketing@elektra.com
Please feel free to cut and past this document anywhere and everywhere you wish...spread the word!
*********
And, look at this, our first complaint email:
07.30.02
Who ever writes the articals are bias, unproffesional and this is the last time I will read them.I wrote a nice letter to you guys and with your tail between your legs you don't write back. Metallica sucks ass?, no you suck ass.I thought this was a good site till all the "I don't wanna pay for music no more,take it out of the musicians asses" keeps coming up and that makes you worst on my list.And then you try to come up with ways that the bands can make up for the cd sales that has or will affect them.I think it's a battle between record co's and napster sites and since you are no lawyer mind you buisness.And to say 'Who wants to hear about death and shit thats in metallicas songs" umm the millions of people that bought there cd you shit head.Who wants to hear you put down a very succesful
l band and sound stupid doing it.I think you should get another career, since your articals suck and you have no money to buy cd's.
RattleHead response: There is simply too much about your email to address it properly here. Let's just say that some people simply don't get it, and you are one of those people. Please don't try to get it anymore and please don't read any more of the text files on this site as you may find them disturbing, and they are clearly not intended for individuals like you.
And, here's complaint email #2:
05.04.03
Webmaster at http://rattlehead.com,
When writing satire you should always be careful to be as accurate as possible. For example, your comment about Metallica's "masterpiece"(I personally don't care for either but can respect the complex and intricate structure used -such as a true critic should have the ability to) which you ended with "or something" entirely negates the statement. It shows you didn't even take enough time to listen to the song. Being a 6 year guitarist and having been with three separate bands (two of which I formed myself) I was also a little surprised that you don't like Metallica. Unless you're a country musician, of course. And even still...
If you're a 'heavy metallist' who would rather follow Slayer, Venom, or the sort then maybe you should do some reading on their styles and where it came from. Before Metallica was picked as Lars and James' duet name, most of the "punk rock" (yep, read up on original punk rock) bands were...wait, there were no real punk rock bands before Metallica. Almost all of the "heavy metal" genre bands were riders off of AC/DC etc. so basically, Metallica created its own style which bred countless bands in their wake.
To not like Metallica and be a 'metal' guitarist is like being an American mechanic and only liking to work on Hondas. I.E. it's just hypocritical.
Think about THAT hypocrisy.
If I write a song and people refuse to buy it then I'd be a little angry also. You're a guitarist so I'm sure you know how hard it is to write a good song. If you know how to play any of Kirk's solos then you'd surely agree. Considering the cost of total production for an album, it's no wonder Metallica got angry with the thieves and Ulrich has every right to side with the Labels in the mp3 court battles.
The fact that you believe Metallica has suffered "zero" loss in gross revenue is utterly impossible. When I discovered Napster I stopped buying all CDs (including Metallica since I can just download and burn whole discographies at the cost of $1.00 per cd and yes that makes me just as bad as the rest but I'm not denying it) so since they didn't get my $19.00 it proves a loss. I'm sure you know that I'm not the only person who did this so a lot of bands have suffered massive losses. Law of averages, my friend.
I am disappointed in you, Metallica Hater. When I have to verbally defend something it usually takes more than 15 minutes at 5:00 AM. Go back to high school English and learn how to write an essay.
As well, Kirk Hammett deserves to be ranked among such guitarists as Santana and Hendrix.
I have a copy of this letter so if I notice that you reproduced it and changed it in any, way, shape, or form without my written consent (while being credited to me or not) I'll will explore my legal options. That includes omitting this paragraph.
By all means, post this letter with your comment about Metallica's suckage. Unless you're concerned with the recourse of your comments, of course.
Ryan S.
RattleHead Response: What startles me most about the email above is that its a reaction to the "Why Metallica Sucks Ass" piece. Of all the articles/essays that have been on this site in the past five years, this is the only piece that actually generates hate email. True, two emails in five years doesn't necessarily indicate a "flow of hate email" by any means, but the other emails we get usually involve compliments or further intellectual discussions about various issues brought up by the other articles on the site. The Metallica piece, though, simply draws out people that have had their favorite band criticized and feel the need to strike back... usually while ignoring the entire purpose of the essay. The point of the essay is not to slam Metallica (that was just an added bonus); but to point out the hypocrisy of a band saluting their fond memories of bootlegging music, yet targeting others who do the same.
They allowed themselves to be used as a label tool in the first battle of the file-sharing wars, and don't think they didn't get paid back for their service... you'll notice that after the episode, they received a lot of music awards of various types and a rather lengthy new contract. Which simply points out the obvious: in this business, it's not how much of a whore you are, it's who's whore you are.
And, believe it or not, the brain surgeon who wrote the last letter wrote back:
05.06.03
Okay, how in the hell can you not like metallica? if you say that it is because of the theme, then surely you cannot say that you like limp bizkit.......or admit something like that publicly. Second of all, why in the hell do you care if metallica got their hard earned money back? they work their asses off for that shit, and lazy poor fucks like you and I go and take the one thing that keeps their music rollin in from them? dude, they deserve that money, you should know how hard it is to write a song, being a 25 year "guitarist". I don't see how you cannot like metallica, even my 60 year old grandpa likes metallica to an extent. And you also need to understand that even if you do decide to put them down, then you are putting down one of the greatest guitarists of all time.....Kirk Hammet. He is ranked up there with Hendrix, and Santana, and Chuck Berry. If you don't think that they are a good band than you have a stick in your ass, because they are one of the most kick ass bands ever. Oh, and if you tamper with this letter in any way, shape or form, I will explore my legal options. I don't want to sue you, do to the fact that you are a huge deusch, but I will. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about you saying that metallica is somebody's whore, even though you have a "truth" link on your website, that has nothing to do with "music". So who is the little whore you piece of white trash shit.
-the unforgiven
RattleHead Response: There is no response to this. It simply stands on its own. We post it here because we couldn't resist showing it to all of you and to publicly say, "it ends here". No more email from this upstanding member of society will be posted... even though stupidity can sometimes be entertaining, it cannot be encouraged -- because after all, it is stupidity.
(...and wouldn't you like to be the lawyer he asks to sue us because we dissed his favorite band? Talk about funny.)
07.03.03
This time I'm not a Metallica fan. No, don't be tempted to respond with
more sarcasm, I don't want to fight a war about musical taste. "...this is the only piece that actually generates hate email."
I am suprised to hear that, considering that you have posted an article
such as this on your site; and had the audacity (or stupidity) not to
remove it.
"Just think, for $65, you could buy a CD from Limp Bizkit..."
... or for $13.49 you could also, if you wish, legally purchase a
Metallica album.
"The fact is, there are plenty of great bands that support you"
I'd like to point out that Metallica's lawsuit was against Napster, not
the individual users.
This was taken from a transcript of a live chat with Metallica about the
lawsuit.
"James: We are going after Napster, the main artery here. All the people
doing illegal things here, whether with good or bad intentions, we are
not going after individual fans. Metallica has always felt fans are
family."
A full transcript is available at:
http://www.chime.com/about/metallica/000503.html
--
Steven
RattleHead Response: Metallica's lawsuit was brought by the RIAA, and it focused on Napster by identifying individual users by IP address. And if you recall, each of those users' Napster accounts was terminated shortly thereafter. Napster eventually succumbed -- and has just been bought again recently -- those first round of lawsuits may have been "against" Napster... but they all involved individual user's accounts, which were terminated. So yes, this was about individual users. Now the same entity (RIAA) has won permission to begin suing individuals -- which will begin in about 2-3 weeks -- because they've successfully forced ISP's to hand over actual user names this time. This is why the author of the essay stated that this was simply the first shot in a much larger war. He was right.
The Metallica case was not only about individual users, but about individual Metallica fans, since it didn't ask to shut Napster down, but block all the accounts of the users that had traded their mp3s. The author of the essay used this to point out the hypocrisy of the band, since the text in their liner notes glorifies copying albums back in the band's garage days -- but the same practice today somehow deserves a lawsuit. Remember:
"I would stay over at his house for days making tapes of his records and sleeping on the carpet." -- James Hetfield, liner notes, "Garage Inc."
So, yes, this was always about users and always about fans. The first round of lawsuits forced napster to block individual accounts. The second round is going to sue individuals by name in court. Family or not; James can say what he wants, he can't dismiss the fact that individual users were targeted, since those were the only ones that were blocked. And he can't deny they weren't fans -- they had to download a Metallica song to get on the list. If the RIAA had just sued Napster to shut it down, you could have made the case. But instead they focused on one artist, and only one artist's fans. And notice the whole flurry of awards that Metallica won after their "brave stand"? It was the industry paying them back for their service.
Besides, Hilary Rosen promised last year that the RIAA never had any intention of suing individual users... now they'll be filing several thousand lawsuits in the next few weeks. They're all snakes and they all lie. This essay on our site, however, has been shown to be consistently true since it was written 3 years ago. I am amazed how well it has held up.
This is the 4th of july, and all about freedom. Think of that the next time you try to make a copy of a song; either by copying to tape or burning a compilation CD, or converting a cd to mp3s... because that's what they want to stop, and they will come after you personally to do it. |
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| | Why Metallica Sucks Ass
01.01.98 by ferret (rattlehead) | | | | | Okay, I admit it, I never was a Metallica fan. And being a guitarist, this has always caused me problems... I don't know how many other guitarists have exclaimed in disbelief, "you don't like Metallica?!" (As if such a thing just wasn't possible.) | |
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This is where RattleHead Records puts all of its official press releases. |
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