“No, not a chance!” Legendary metal band recalls the time Metallica supported them on tour, and how they didn’t seem destined for big things
They may be the biggest metal band in the world right now, but the version of Metallica that opened for Raven on their first tour hardly seemed destined for stardom, according to Raven frontman John Gallagher.
The musician says on the Talkin’ Rock With Meltdown Podcast that while Metallica were “good” and “energetic” at the time, the group had yet to develop into the powerhouse fans know of today.
“They were like a gang, which is always appealing ‘cause we were, obviously, like a gang,” Gallagher recalls [via Blabbermouth]. “It wasn’t the mentality of a one guy starting a band and putting adverts out and having a bunch of mercenaries come in. There was none of that. They were a gang.”
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“But as far as, ‘Do you see them in – whatever – 10 years being the greatest thing since sliced bread?’ It’s, like, no, not a chance.”
Gallagher explains that it wasn’t until Metallica’s second album that their true potential began to show: “To be fair, the band that you could have said that with was at least a good year away because they really changed on the second record,” he says.
“It showed some maturity and breadth and the ability to do different things other than just [playing fast] all the way through. So, they sat, they learned and they soaked it all in and they did a whole bunch of stuff.”
He continues: “They said to us on the tour, ‘We love your All For One album because you’ve broadened your sound without compromising who you are.’ I was, like, ‘Oh, well, I guess we did. Okay.’ So they did kind of the same thing. They stretched out and did Fade To Black, which was, like, ‘This is really cool. This is different.’ Some slower-paced songs – still fast stuff, but mixed it up a bit.”
The bassist also recounts a conversation he had with James Hetfield a few years ago at Metallica’s headquarters in Northern California, noting how the latter’s modesty had impressed him.
“We visited there. And [he was] very humble and very, ‘I don’t know how this all happened, but we’re very grateful and humbled that it did. And we’re gonna continue to do the best we can.’ You can’t ask for more than that,” says Gallagher.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
