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    Ian Jane
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  • If You Like Metallica...

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    If You Like Metallica…
    By: Mike McPadden
    Released by: Backbeat Books
    Released on: June 1, 2012.
    Purchase From Amazon

    Mike McPadden, the man who wrote Heavy Metal Movies, offers up this latest entry in the Backbeat Books 'If You Like' series (previous entries have included movie related stuff like The Terminator and musical entries like The Beatles) as he takes on the Bay Area's most infamous thrash band, Metallica. While they may, in the views of some, lost their course over the years there was a time when Metallica reigned supreme, united punks and metalheads with their own take on thrash, working in references to H.P. Lovecraft and not suing their fans. The good ol' days, if you will.

    Those days are gone, let's face it, but Death Magnetic was a nice return to form of sorts and as their star continues to shine and their albums continue to sell, it's obvious that they still have a HUGE fan base - it's to that fan base that this book will likely appeal the most. But don't let that put you off, this is a fun read even if you don't have an original pressing of Kill'Em All. McPadden proves that the world is a small place as he starts off discussing old school metal and hard rock bands that influenced Hetfield, Ulrich and company. There are the obvious entries like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, but dig a little deeper and learn about Metallica's relationship with more obscure acts like Coven and even their connection to Bob Seger. Some more unusual rock acts are covered next, and yes, we get references to Alice Cooper as we should but we also explore connections to bands like Frank Zappa and Roky Erickson, even the MC5. It might seem obvious to include a chapter on the band's relationship to the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement but it needs to be there, while references to punk, hardcore and even industrial music are well covered too. From here we explore the band's influence and influences directly from the world of thrash metal and then discuss their place in the 'alternative' movement of the nineties and the era in which Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich decided to wear eyeliner and act all creepy in some sort of screwball attempt to fit in with bands like Jane's Addiction or, eek, Korn. McPadden winds things down by writing about the band's influence on doom rock and stoner metal before discussing films that influenced the band or which the band influenced, some interesting side projects that various members have been involved in, and then closing it out with what is more or less a laundry list of other books about the band or that the band is connected to somehow.

    Despite the fact that the book has an unusual amount of typos (we won't judge, just look around this site and you'll probably find plenty), If You Like Metallica… is a fun read. You don't need to be a hardcore fan to enjoy the trivia and anecdotes that McPadden relates to us as his style is very laid back, down to earth and readable without ever giving the impression that it's written down. He's obviously a fan of the band and of a lot of the related bands, movies and what not that he ties in here and that definitely comes across in the book and makes it a lot more fun than it would have been had it been approached in a more scholarly fashion. McPadden is also not out to kiss anyone's ass here. He makes a few completely deserved digs at some of Metallica's more questionable choices made over the years and he isn't afraid to say what he likes and more importantly what he doesn't like about some of their output - and yeah, that Lou Reed collaboration gets discussed.

    It might be sort of a heavy metal book version of 'Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon' at times but that doesn't take away from the fun factor here. Yeah, it's a glorified trivia book but it's good one that's likely to enlighten even the most hardcore Metallica fan. McPadden knows his stuff and it shows - this one is a lot of fun.

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