Metallica (USA) @ Olympiisky Stadium April 24-25
After releasing their masterpiece “Master of Puppets” in 1986, tragedy struck the band when their tour bus crashed while traveling in Sweden. Burton died in the accident. When the band decided to continue, Jason Newsted was chosen to replace Burton; two years later, the band released the conceptually ambitious “…And Justice for All”, which hit the Top Ten without any radio play and very little support from MTV. But Metallica completely crossed over into the mainstream with 1991’s Metallica, a self-titled effort that found the band trading in their long compositions for more concise song structures. Peppered with hits like “Wherever I May Roam” and “Enter Sandman”, it resulted in a number one album that sold over seven million copies in the U.S. alone. To support the record, Metallica launched a long tour that kept the musicians on the road for nearly two years. By the ’90s, Metallica had changed the rules for all heavy metal bands; they were the leaders of the genre, respected not only by headbangers, but by mainstream record buyers and critics. No other heavy metal band has ever been able to pull off such a feat. However, the group lost a portion of their core audience with their long-awaited follow-up to Metallica, 1996’s Load. The album moved the band toward alternative rock in terms of image – they cut their hair and had their picture taken by Anton Corbijn. Although the album was a hit upon its summer release, entering the charts at number one and selling three million copies within two months, certain members of their fanbase complained about the shift in image, as well as the group’s decision to headline the sixth Lollapalooza.
