iSound

In 1981 a teenage Lars Ulrich put an ad in a paper searching for like-minded musicians to create a band. James Hetfield responded to that ad, and for a short while it was just the two of them. Lars played drums and made musical suggestions while James covered all guitar parts (rhythm, lead, and bass,) as well as singing. Soon after Dave Mustaine took over lead guitar while Ron McGovney became Metallica's 1st bassist. Mustaine and McGovney were ultimately replaced by Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton. Soon after this replacement, things just happened. San Fransisco and New York both gave Metallica their biggest success early on as they were accepted by Elektra. 1983 saw the release of Kill 'Em All, Metallica's 1st album. The guys toured like mad, gaining a strong fan base in their early days. Early in 1984 Metallica released their 2nd album, Ride the Lightning, which had greater musical depth than their debut album. They gained Flemming Rasmussen as their producer, who stayed on for 3 al...