Metallica Vinyl Record Albums

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The duo first met through an ad in a Los Angeles-based music newspaper. At the time, Ulrich had little musical experience and no band but managed to secure a slot on an upcoming compilation record called “Metal Massacre”. Metallica’s contribution, “Hit The Lights”, featured Hetfield, Ulrich and lead guitarist Lloyd Grant. Afterwards, Ron McGovney became the band's bassist and Dave Mustaine joined the band as lead guitarist. This line-up would re-record "Hit The Lights" for subsequent re-pressings of "Metal Massacre" and would also issue several demos. In 1983, McGovney quit the group and was replaced by Cliff Burton, which also saw the band relocate to San Francisco. Metallica then traveled to New York after signing a deal with Megaforce Records. However, once in New York, the band fired Mustaine. It would mark the beginning of a long feud between Mustaine and Metallica, mostly fueled by remarks Mustaine would make to the press. Mustaine was replaced by Kirk Hammett of Exodus.