Watch Metallica: Some Kind of Monster For Free

Thanks for the memories!

Don't Believe the Hype

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

RELEASED IN 2004 and directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, "Some Kind of Monster" documents the band Metallica a few months after bassist Jason Newsted's departure wherein the band started the writing/recording sessions for the album that turned out to be ST. ANGER (2003). The movie covers the next couple of years centering on their time in the studio with producer Bob Rock, who fills-in for Newsted on bass, and psychotherapist Phil Towle, a successful "performance-enhancing coach," whom they hired for $40,000 a month throughout the recording process. Fragments of concert footage, etc. are mixed into these events, including bass try-outs to replace Newsted in the final act.This is an interesting documentary from a psychological standpoint, but it's hard for fans of the band because it's such a brutally honest portrayal of the members as it removes any mystique that was there. The focus isn't on the members being masterful musicians and metal gods on stage (although there's some of that), but rather on them being regular dudes baring it all to the camera. The film was shot 18-20 years after the band began and shot to fame in the 80s, culminating with their ultra-successful self-titled "BLACK ALBUM" in 1991. Here they are a decade later in total crisis. I can't believe they allowed the footage to be released. What a risk! Although Phil Towle occasionally utters some stereotypical counselor verbiage (e.g. "How do you feel about that?"), the members later credited him with saving the band; and I believe it. The biggest problems were James Hetfield's control issues & alcoholism, stemming from a tough childhood/adolescence, as well as Lars Ulrich's ego. While these two started the band and are its nucleus, here they're openly at each other's throats, ready to scrap the band at any moment, even daring each other to quit. Meek & mild Kirk Hammett (lead guitarist) is pretty much stuck in the middle and tries to keep the peace and some sense of unity.There are some entertaining bits or cameos with guests, like Metallica's original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, which is thoroughly interesting but cringe-inducing (Mustaine later complained that the filmmakers edited his scenes down to a few whiny snippets, which portrayed him in the worst light possible). You get to meet the wives & kids of James and Lars. James' wife is precious. The last act chronicles the hiring of bassist Robert Trujillo, who's offered a $1 million to join the band right out of the gate (!). Don't watch this film unless you want to see the awful truth behind a famous band's image and music, as well as a little bit of the awesome truth. THE FILM RUNS 2 hours & 21 minutes. GRADE: B

A lot of people have mis-interpreted this film as a documentary about the rock band Metallica's latest studio album.What we actually have here is a psychological case study of grown men who have the emotional intelligence of pubescent teenagers... men who have not had to grow up simply because they existed in the right place at the right time with the right image and name.Their legend has grown far beyond their talents and abilities, and they are expected to turn out a quality product without a solid knowledge of songwriting or instrumental technique.We see constant sessions of "jamming" ostensibly to write songs but with riffs that are all essentially the same. Attempts at playing end in frustration over inabilities to execute simple instrumental technique.This is a cautionary tale about the kind of monster that has been created by our culture's overwrought adulation for popular musical acts and record companies' willingness to exploit people's emotions for personal gain.

In 1991, after a career spanning four albums and the death of one of history's most talented bassists, Metallica released an album that sold tens of millions of copies worldwide and made them household names. And over the next couple of years, the cult of Metallica became so feverish it was literally impossible to escape mention or playback of the band. And that was when the first cracks in the band's image as a band of the people, only out there to provide alternatives, appeared. After saturating the market with live albums, videos, and merchandise, Metallica reached the point I am sure the members liked to kid themselves they would not. In other words, they began to repel audiences through mere mention. And with their material becoming progressively more poppy, more formulaic, not to mention more predictable, one sees the point at which they should have given up the ghost was now at least thirteen years in the past. Former fans used to urge them to retire while they had a shred of dignity left. It is now too late for that.An aspect of the anti-MP3 tirades from Lars that fans or former fans do not often mention is that Lars is scared out of his mind of the Internet and MP3. Not because of the possibility of theft of his music (this, from a band that gained much of its initial notoriety through tape-trading). Rather, it is because MP3 to a large extent levels the playing field in terms of exposure. It is now just as easy for bands signed to labels that do not have million-dollar warchests to saturate the listener with to reach a new audience. And as anyone familiar with the black or doom metal undergrounds can tell you, those bands utterly destroy any claim to uniqueness the band has. Speedy, blinding drum patterns with integrated guitar progression? Morbid Angel or Kataklysm do it far better. And the more I emphasise that Therion have had choirs and orchestras as an integral component of their material since before Metallica's post-black-album crisis of how to revive suddenly ailing record sales, the better.So when one sits down to view Some Kind Of Monster with those facts in mind, it only further exposes what a bunch of ignorant, spoiled children Metallica really are. Some say that everything the band had in terms of potential or soul died with Cliff Burton, and while it took a while for this to become apparent, I can only agree. If Burton were alive today, he would be shaking his head in disbelief at what burgeois babies his former bandmates have turned into. Fortunately, Burton's successor, a man I had thought of as a poseur going by the name of Jason Newsted, wins back audience respect by showing enough disbelief for both himself and Burton. Whilst I would be the first to protest that there are many problems a hundred million dollars cannot cure, the willingness of the band to rub their possession of such money in the face of their audience says a lot about the true nature of their problems. Not only that, but the fact that their problems are entirely voluntary while people with problems of an involuntary nature who barely have enough to eat, leave alone make a film about the matter...Well, to put it bluntly, this is not just a slap in the face to fans, former or otherwise. This same bunch of children is sitting here and giving an entire world the finger. Their propensity to blame everyone but themselves for their misfortunes, regardless of their merit, only highlights the problem. Were I able, I would strap James and Lars into seats and force them to watch people comment on this documentary. Perhaps then they might understand that their declining sales have nothing to do with piracy, MP3 trading, or even bootlegging. The party with the most responsibility for the fact that the party is now over stares them in the face every day when they look in a mirror. What makes it even more sad is that even admitting this to themselves and changing the manner in which they conduct themselves accordingly will not fix things anymore. They have literally soiled their nest so badly that they could go to another planet and they would still be that talentless band who were given everything and chose to rub it in everyone's faces.Does this mean the documentary is entirely worthless? Well, no, there are moments in which outside observers quietly spin the affair into something real, which is where most of the comedy is derived from. As James, Lars, and to a lesser extent Kirk all make themselves look like bigger and bigger idiots, it is people like Dave Mustaine or Torben Ulrich who come off looking the best. The former because he shows us that just because you have a number one single and multi-platinum album does not mean you are more successful. The latter because he speaks the mind of every truly musical person on the planet when Lars plays him the track the band is thinking of opening the new album with, by telling Lars quite plainly that he would throw it in the trash, never to be heard again. The problem with the latter scene being that it has come about fourteen years too late. For reasons like this, one could view Some Kind Of Monster as a kind of black comedy. It is funny to laugh at a pack of yuppie idiots who have no idea what is going on. But it is also sad to think of what they could have been.Some Kind Of Monster is a one out of ten film. The band doubtless intended it to be brilliant, but I doubt they meant to accomplish that by being this stupid.

A documentary chronicling rock band Metallica's struggle to write and record their 2004 album St Anger in the face of creative burnout and personal animosity.I like Metallica's music a lot. I'm not sure I like them very much. This documentary however is a unique fly-on-the-wall video diary of their squabbles and triumphs over a two-year period. For fans it's a great insight into their process of recording. For others it's still a keenly-observed little drama of clashing rockstar egos in a nutty little family; Ulrich is the driven, obsessive backbone of the band, determined to produce the best work he can, Hetfield is the classic disillusioned alcoholic creative genius control-freak, Hammett is the nice guy in the middle, Rock is the voice of common sense, and Towle is a self-therapy guru who alternately brings them closer and alienates them. There are also candid comments from ex-bassist Newsted (who left because he felt creatively stifled and doesn't regret it for a moment) and ex-guitarist Mustaine (who got kicked out because of his addictions and has regretted it ever since). The movie isn't really about music, it's about the people and their relationships, so for me it's not on a par with great rock-documentary fusions like The Kids Are Alright and The Great Rock 'n 'Roll Swindle, but it's painfully honest and kinda touching. And some of the arguments are pretty close to This Is Spinal Tap lunacy; my favourite is when Hetfield, on a stress-reducing regime whereby he stops working at four in the afternoon, insists nobody else do any work after that, prompting Ulrich to launch into a rant of epic proportions. I can't really recommend this movie; it's a candid and well-made documentary about some great rockers, but it's no substitute for their music. What I find astonishing about Metallica is their popularity; their 1991 "Black" album, which had no cover, no name and received hardly any mainstream commercial promotion, was the biggest selling record of that year, bar none. How is that possible ? Because they're incredible musicians. Check out this flick if you're interested, but for a real treat see their 1999 S & M concert with the late great Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. That's rock and roll. 5/10