Every aspiring band needs their big break, and for Metallica, one of their most important early milestones occurred in the early 1980s when they were invited to go on their first national tour supporting British heavy metal band, Raven.
In a new interview with Guitar World, Raven recalls how Metallica went down while on the road – and it turns out the reception they received from some of the crowds was less than ideal.
Founded in 1974 in Newcastle, England, by brothers Mark and John Gallagher, the ‘new wave of British heavy metal’ group were promoting their third album, All For One, in 1983.
For the supporting tour, they brought along Metallica – a band they perceived to be “a more refined Motörhead”. But not everyone was as enthusiastic about their music as they were.
“We came out to do our first tour of the States, and our management was the same as Metallica’s,” guitarist Mark Gallagher explains. “They were just starting out, and [Megaforce Records founder] Jonny Z [Jon Zazula], who was our manager at the time, said, ‘I’ve got the biggest band on the West Coast from San Francisco. They’re gonna open for you.’ We were like, ‘Really? Who’s that?’”
For bass player John Gallagher, the weight of Zazula’s statement wasn’t lost on him.
“When you thought of the big bands in San Francisco, it’s a long list,” he says. “I mean… there was Y&T and even Journey, but no, it was Metallica. We were like, ‘Who?’ So, they said, ‘We’ll send you a cassette.’”
When the cassette arrived, the band’s warp-speed playing left them scratching their heads.
“I put it in, played it, and I’m going, ‘Does this sound like it’s at the right speed?’” John goes on. “It kind of sounded like if you put a Motörhead album on at 78 RPM, you know?”
“We kind of dug it,” his brother takes over. “We thought it was like a more refined Motörhead, like, real kickass. But when we went out and played the shows, a lot of places didn’t like Metallica. They were like, ‘What the hell is this?’
“Other than the major markets, we played some nutty places on that tour, like Bald Knob, Arkansas, and some really weird gigs,” he concludes. “The whole thing was quite an experience.”
Even though Motörhead were already well established by the early ’80s, the velocity of Metallica’s riffs caught many by surprise. History dictates, however, that the music world would quickly grow accustomed to their sound, and following the release of 1986’s Master of Puppets, they soon became one of the biggest metal bands in the world.
The full interview with Raven will be published on the Guitar World website in the near future.
In related news, James Hetfield’s luthier has detailed his journey from crafting basses to becoming the Metallica guitarist's go-to axe maker.
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