Sometimes, metal is mandatory. You need crushing volume, thunderous rhythm and lyrics about how brutally painful it is to be a puny human in a meaningless universe. And maybe a song or two about stickin' it to the man. When you need it, nothing else will

Beneath his gruff, "I'm-gonna-rip-your-head-off" exterior and a voice that makes grown men tremble with joy and rage, Metallica's James Hetfield is just a shy 19-year-old kid from Los Angeles.

Apparently rehab, therapy and new bassist Rob Trujillo have inspired the metal band, because the group was on fire at Thursday night’s show before 9,000 fans at Lawlor Events Center.

In terms of sound, the band is capable of making a fearsome noise, a thing of raw power and grim majesty. In terms of influence, the four young scruffs from the Bay Area virtually remade the heavy metal landscape in the mid-1980s

Three years ago, he wouldn't have believed it. A new Metallica album? A documentary? Another tour?

Metallica's pummeling 130-minute set, which focused on greatest hits and a handful of tunes from "St. Anger," proved that the group's metal is as sturdy as ever.

Metallica, still the kings
by Greg Burk

James Hetfield admits that the person he was when he started Metallica in 1983 wouldn’t have a high opinion of the older rockers that Metallica are today.

2 reviews from the second show...

Review from the first North American Madly In Anger With The World Tour are here!