Metallica

     Metallica is an American heavy metal band that formed in 1981 in Los Angeles, California. Founded when drummer Lars Ulrich posted an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper, Metallica’s original line-up consisted of Ulrich, rhythm guitarist and vocalist James Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, and bassist Ron McGovney. McGovney and Mustaine were later ejected from the band, in favor of Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett, respectively. The ejection of Mustaine resulted in a feud between him and Metallica. In September 1986, Metallica’s tour bus skidded out of control and flipped, which resulted in Burton being crushed under the bus and killed. Jason Newsted replaced him less than two months later. Newsted left the band in 2001 and was replaced by Robert Trujillo in 2003.
     This mother of all Metal bands introduced the world to the intracacies of Speed Metal and Thrash. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was the original lead guitarist for Metallica. Original bassist Cliff Burton died in a tour bus accident. He fell out of a window, and the bus tipped on top of him. After Cliff Burton’s death, Les Claypool of Primus tried out as bassist before Jason Newsted got the gig. Metallica is one of the few world class bands to have never released a greatest hits album.
     Metallica’s early releases included fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship that placed them as one of the “Big Four” of the thrash metal subgenre alongside Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax. The band earned a growing fan base in the underground music community, and some critics say the 1986 release Master of Puppets is one of the most influential and “heavy” thrash metal albums. The band achieved substantial commercial success with its self-titled 1991 album Metallica, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Some critics and fans believed the band changed its musical direction to appeal to the mainstream audience. With the release of Load in 1996, Metallica distanced itself from earlier releases in what has been described as “an almost alternative [rock] approach”, and the band faced accusations of “selling out.”

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Matchbox 20

     Matchbox Twenty is a rock band formed in Orlando, Florida. Matchbox Twenty’s distorted guitars and emotional vocals are beefed up with major label glossiness and arena rock bombast. Along with Third Eye Blind, Creed and Live, Matchbox Twenty heralded the transformation of grunge. The name Matchbox 20 was taken from a t-shirt worn by a restaurant patron where drummer Paul Douchette was waiting tables. In 2000, the band changed the spelling of their name from Matchbox 20 to Matchbox Twenty, for reasons nobody understands. Lead singer Rob Thomas was an army brat born on a German military base.
     Matchbox Twenty has sold in excess of 44 million albums worldwide from the releases of Yourself or Someone Like You, Mad Season, and More Than You Think You Are. They released their latest album, Exile on Mainstream, on October 2, 2007. The current members of the band are Rob Thomas, Paul Doucette, Brian Yale, and Kyle Cook. Rhythm guitarist Adam Gaynor left the band in 2005, after performing on their first three studio albums. Rob Thomas is the principal songwriter and lead singer. Rob Thomas has created a well-established solo career for himself after releasing the album, …Something to Be.

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