Metallica

Metallica are one of the greatest heavy metal acts around, and have been together for almost 20 years. They've gone from young thrash metal kids who just wanted to play as fast as they could, to innovative guys collaborating with orchestras around the world.

The Guys

Lars Ulrich - Drummer and Co-Founder.
James Hetfield - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals and also Co-Founder
Ron McGovney - First bass player. Got kicked out for not taking the band seriously enough.
Dave Mustaine - First lead guitarist. Was replaced in the band due to his drink and drugs problem. Current frontman of Megadeth.
Cliff Burton - Late Metallica bassist. Joined the band on the terms that they relocated to SF. Died in a coach crash during ther European leg of the Master of Puppets tour.
Kirk Hammett - Lead Guitarist. Joined the band just before their first album was recorded.
Jason Newsted - Current bass player. Joined the band from Floatsam & Jetsam, and didn't need asking twice about joining.

Discography

Kill 'Em All - Their 1983 debut release. Origionally going to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, it was changed at the last minute.
Ride the Lightning - The 1984 follow-up. Origionally released on Megaforce records, but re-released on Elektra when they signed with them later that year.
Master of Puppets - 1986's album, which was sadly the last album that Cliff Burton played on.
Garage Days Re-Revisited - The band's first album with Jason Newsted, which was just a handful of covers to get into the feel of things with the new bassist.
...And Justice for All - The last Metallica album of the 80's. Featured many darker songs, and a tribute to Cliff, To Live is To Die. Also had their first music video released, for One.
Metallica (aka The Black Album) - The first release of the 90's was their self-titled album, which was also known as The Black Album due to its all black cover. The album featured some much lighter songs, and many fans felt they had sold out while the band gained many new fans.
Live S**t : Binge & Purge - This, although not really a Metallica album, was a box set from their seemingly endless Wherever I May Roam tour. It contained 3CDs and 3 videos from their live shows, plus a handful of other goodies.
Load - The first Metallica studio work in five years finally emerged as this - Load. The album had a major change, and the band had gone from thrash metal to hard rock. Their style had changed dramatically, and again won and lost many fans.
Re-Load - The follow up to Load was simply titled Re-Load. It featured a handful of songs origioanlly meant to be on Load. The album was also made heavier, due to many fans not liking the albums predocessor.
Garage, Inc. - 1998's follow up was a double CD set, consisting of covers. The first disc contained 11 tracks recorded specifically for the album, while CD2 contained Garage Days and various B-sides from over the years.
S&M - S&M was Metallica playing along with the SF Synphony Orchestra, and was a double live album covering the two nights that the two groups collaborated.

Videography

Along with releasing many albums, Metallica have also released a handful of videos over the years.

Cliff 'Em All - A video tribute to Cliff Burton, containing fans bootlegged live footage of the early band.
Two of One - Simply, this video contained the two videos that were made for One. The first was the full version, along with clips from the film Johnny Got His Gun, while the second was the 'jamming' version, which was seriously cut down and contained no clips from the film. Also on the video is an interview with drumer Lars Ulrich!
A Year and A Half In The Life of Metallica...Pt1 - Pt1 of this 2pt set focuses on the recording of 'The Black Album'. From getting into the studio and writing and recording the songs to when its finished and goes out on sale.
A Year and A Half In The Life of Metalica...Pt2 - Pt2 featured the beggining of the Wherever I May Roam tour, following Metallica all over the world as they play many gigs.
Cunning Stunts - For those Metallica fans who couldn't get the Live S**t box set, this gave the fans a chance to see a full Metallica gig live. Also released on DVD, which gave fans the chance to choose from multiple camera angles. Taken from the Poor Touring Me tour in 1996.
S&M - The video from the CD. So, as well as being able to listen to the orchestra and Metallica, you could see them play live too. Also avaliable in DVD format along with the same multiple camera angle option.

Other stuff

The Name "Metallica"
The name "Metallica" was stolen by Lars Ulrich off a friend. His friend, Ron Q, was setting up a metal fanzine in the LA area, and was talking to Lars about it. When Ron mentioned the name Metallica, Lars decided he would steal the name for himself and get Ron to call the fanzine something else.

The Metal Militia Compilation
The Metal Militia compilation was a compilation of metal bands, and the promoter of the record asked Lars if he'd like to contribute some material. With this bait, James Hetfield was finally persuded to join the band. The first ever version of Hit the Lights appears on this album.