For Those Who are Younger, How Relevant is Metallica?

[Screamingdaisy]

I'm 44. I grew up with the band. They'll always be relevant to me, and you'll always hear it in my playing, but I'm legitimately curious how relevant Metallica is to those in their 20s, or even their teens?

 

[jaxadam]

I’m also 44 and I approve of this message.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

Last remnants of a dying generation who are on their way out the door and milking it for all it's worth on the way out.

Comes down more to simply being a fan of the band rather than assigning relevance to a particular age range.

I'm sort of approaching the middle-ground between your age, @Screamingdaisy, and the age range that you explicitly listed in your inquiry. And I, myself, am not a Metallica fan. So, anything they do isn't relevant to me nor my personal tastes in music.

 

[Wiltonauer]

I wonder, too. Metallica ushered in my teens. Those albums will always be important to me. But how relevant was the music of the ‘50s to me at that age? Older fans of music that was made then, they would die in a hill to convince you it was the only music that mattered or ever would matter.

Don’t forget we are mostly Gen X, not Boomers, so we’re not quite dead yet.

I guess relevance in the more general sense comes down to numbers, but that means nothing in terms of your personal attachment (or lack thereof) to the music. You can get into music — or not — from any era.

 

[CanserDYI]

I'm in my early 30s and Metallica is and will always be the reason I got into guitar. My first song I learned front to back was Seek and Destroy, my first metal guitar was an LTD EX, I used to have guitar battles with my friends who could learn the entire MOP album, etc.

All this being said, not very relevant anymore. I do still think MoP is a mandatory listen for every human.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

Last remnants of a dying generation who are on their way out the door and milking it for all its worth on the way out.

lol (no offence taken, I just think it's funny because that's how I see those slightly older than myself and Zeppelin).

Comes down more to simply being a fan of the band rather than assigning relevance to a particular age range.

I'm sort of approaching the middle-ground between your age, @Screamingdaisy, and the age range that you explicitly listed in your inquiry. And I, myself, am not a Metallica fan. So, anything they do isn't relevant to me nor my personal tastes in music.

I remember having this argument 15-20 years ago around the time of NWOAHM. At the time I felt they were still relevant because while the music was progressing people were still using their sound. It sounded like people who grew up listening to Metallca were writing their own music.

But, that was 15-20 years ago.

 

[Emperor Guillotine]

lol (no offence taken, I just think it's funny because that's how I see those slightly older than myself and Zeppelin).

At least Jimmy Page knew when to call it quits and hasn't had to pimp himself out constantly at every waking second on his way out the door too. I'll just leave it at that.

I remember having this argument 15-20 years ago around the time of NWOAHM. At the time I felt they were still relevant because while the music was progressing people were still using their sound. It sounded like people who grew up listening to Metallca were writing their own music.

NWOAHM? New wave of American heavy metal? The early-to-mid 2000s stuff?

 

[Screamingdaisy]

NWOAHM? New wave of American heavy metal? The early-to-mid 2000s stuff?

Yeah. To me it was the new wave of thrash bands that were trying to separate themselves from nu-metal, but others might have their own definition.

 

[ShredmasterD]

that's kind of like saying is Isaac Newton relevant. or the beatles . they did what they did and things grew from there.

 

[Dr. Caligari]

It's hard to generalize like that. Some young people are into Metallica, some are not. I grew up listening almost exclusively to music older than me. Someone else might be into just newly released stuff. Metallica are big, they have lots of fans, old and young. They also influenced an enormous amount of later bands.

 

[Warmart]

A lot more teens/20's are into them now solely due to Stranger Things.

 

[ThomasUV777]

35 here, they were definitely a big part of my guitar-journey. I can't exactly recall how I got into them, but I remember it was in the year 2000, buying all their DVD's and just playing those constantly. Early on, I was actually considering playing bass and thought Jason Newsted was the shit. I think the Black Album is their best album ever (Hey, at least it ain't Load or Reload!), favorite bass & guitar-tone of all time for me. I was gutted when Newsted left. I often lose interest in a band when the line-up of the era I discovered'em in changes. I still find it weird to see Robert Trujillo with the band. He's definitely a skilled musician, I just find his stage presence doesn't fit the band. I have the same thing with Slipknot. Kinda lost interest after Jordison etc. left / died.

Relevant now? Just as relevant as The Doors and the Rolling Stones to some generations I guess. They'll sell out every show, but most people are there for the old songs and they've written their best music. But as long as Metallica has fun writing new albums, I'd say let'em.

 

[Blytheryn]

As a 27 year old, my experience with Metallica was learning a few riffs and leads moving on. They were a small building block in my playing when I was 16 or so, and then I progressed further, given that many other bands playing was more what I was into.

I can imagine this would be radically different if I was 16 in ‘86.

 

[Sumsar]

33y here. I grew up on other bands like symphony X, opeth, nevermore and children of bodom. Think I got into Emperor before i got into Metallica. That said I do enjoy their classic songs and have seen then live 3 times over the last 10 years, mostly at festivals. I dont go to their shows when they drop by.

Didnt matter much to my guitar playing, Alexi Laiho, Michael Romeo and Jeff Loomis and later Ola and Keith are way bigger heros and knfluences than Metallica.

In the bigger scheme of things I know Jimmy Hendrix is really important, but I think I can name 2 of his songs, and I have never heard an album, so I guess even the big guitar heros loose relevancy over time.

 

[protest]

35 years old... It hurts to type that..I still like to think I'm 28...

Return of the Jedi came out before I was born, but I still love Star Wars.

I'll never understand people that don't have an appreciation for history in any of it's forms, and I'll also never get tired of listening to 80s Metallica.

 

[CTID]

29 here, they were mildly important to me when i was young, but my music "career" started with me on drums so Lars wasn't exactly my drum god. i was more into Neil Peart, Derek Roddy, George Kollias, Gene Hoglan etc.

that said they're obviously a band i appreciate for their effect on metal and if i have to choose one of the big 4 to listen to, it's easily Metallica. they also heavily influenced most of the kids i was playing in bands with when i was a teenager, so they've always been a presence in my life. then again before listening to the newest single i couldn't tell you if i've voluntarily listened to them once in the past decade

 

[nickgray]

Never was a big fan of Metallica. I did manage to discover them (and lots of other classics) back in early 00s when I got into metal, so their classic 4 albums were relevant to me back then. But post AJFA it's a different band altogether. I liked some songs off Death Magnetic. That's about the extent of it.

As for wider relevance - I think we're lucky it's Metallica and not some shitty crabcore. To me though, the biggest "relevant" metal band that I take seriously is Iron Maiden.

 

[Chanson]

Im 31, but ever since I got into Metallica around age 15/16, they've remained in my rotation. Master of Puppets was one of the first cd's I ever bought. Most of my friends and coworkers are my age or are in their 20s, and only a couple of them even listen to metal or heavier music.

I think they're the type of band for younger people that if you didn't grow up listening to them, people have a hard time legitimately getting into them and think they're really corny or dated. Same as other older popular artists.

 

[spudmunkey]

By "relevant", do you mean that their back catalog is still appreciated, or that their new releases "matter" much as younger bands?

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

I'm 25, been listening to metal since I was 8. I've always felt a bit bad about not knowing many older bands that seem to be important. Like Metallica, ACDC, Led Zeppelin, RHCP, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Judas Priest, Nirvana, etc, etc. They are really big names, and lots of people wear their shirts. It's strange how metal music has been such a big part of my life and yet I don't know even 1 song from those classic bands...