Yes, it was true. An event sent shock waves all through the music world:
Metallica was the band that had actually CUT THEIR HAIR on the eve of the release of their latest album!
And unbelieveably, it was also announced that the band was going to headline Lollapalooza!! The biggest alternative music festival was going to be headlined by the world's biggest metal band?? Was this a sign of the Apocalypse??
It was in fact a sign that Metallica were changing with the times. Long hair was not the norm so much any more, and the band felt that had to remain one step of the rest of the metal world (what little was left of it, in the minds of many) to remain credible. The band was no longer the same four dudes clad in frayed jeans and skull shirts, they were now grown up, and very rich. But they didn't want to appear that they had "sold out", as hard as it was for some to accept. The new album,
Load, featured the band continuing on in the same vein as the "Black Album", with a few differences. For one, the Metallica logo was revamped to trim down on the trademark "wings" of the beginning letter M and ending letter A. But what was in fact that messy album cover all about? To the dismay of bassist Jason Newsted, the cover was a photo by controversial artist Andres Serrano, who had caused an uproar over a photo of a plastic Jesus figure immersed in a jar of urine. The cover was a microscope test slide of blood and other human bodily fluids that made the cover theme seem scatalogical. Newsted expressed his disgust for the cover, but as the "new kid" after almost ten years, he was outvoted in the decisions regarding the cover art. Apparently, Newsted was not being taken seriously by the rest of the band, he was still considered a "hired gun".
The songs were still very much a step away from traditional metal, in fact, it sounded more like a heavier version of classic rock--which was surprising that such output could still find an audience in the 90's.
The first hit from the album featured one of the band's favorite sounds, the "Spaghetti Western" clean guitar tone twang that was heard on "The Unforgiven". The lyrics dealt with the pain of James Hetfield losing his father to death through illness, much in the same way he lost his mother years before:
Until It Sleeps
Where do I take this pain of mine
I run but it stays right by my side
So tear me open and pour me out
There's things inside that scream and shout
And the pain still hates me
So hold me until it sleeps
Just like the curse, just like the stray
You feed it once and now it stays
Now it stays
So tear me open but beware
There's things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me until I'm clean
It grips you so hold me
It stains you so hold me
It hates you so hold me
It holds you so hold me
Until it sleeps
So tell me why you've chosen me
Don't want your grip
Don't want your greed
Don't want it
I'll tear me open make you gone
No more can you hurt anyone
And the fear still shakes me
So hold me, until it sleeps
It grips you so hold me
It stains you so hold me
It hates you so hold me
It holds you, holds you, holds you until it sleeps (x4)
I Don't want it want it want it want it want it
No
So tear me open but beware
There's things inside without a care
And the dirt still stains me
So wash me 'til I'm clean
I'll tear thee open make you gone
No longer will you hurt anyone
And the hate still shapes me
So hold me until it sleeps (x5)
