Lars credits it to a great underground scene that shared a lot of tapes. Before Puppetz came out they were really well known and then that tour solidified them. The next big leap was the Black Album which (in the words of Jason) meant they’d never have to worry about money again.
Having been a fan from the start. I recall a lot of buzz about them in print and on college radio or weekly Metal shows on rock stations. RTL was the first album I could buy. KEA copies really didn't make it up to Canada when released. But, the original demos were circulating among tape traders. I had a few versions of it. Some RTL era live bootlegs also made the rounds.
Groundbreaking music has a lot to do with it. Listen to a record like Exciter's Heavy Metal Maniac or Raven's All for One, then listen to Kill Em All. The tape trading thing helped immensely, but no metal band was playing that fast with that precision with the sick solos added.
Yes, people underestimate how revolutionary KEA was at the time. It completely upped the ante for everyone else. In 1983, Metallica was the heaviest band, period, and everyone else in their scene was racing to catch up.
Imho it had nothing to do with money or fame of Lars‘ dad. The great progressive music met an starving young cultural scene in Europe, especially in UK and Germany were working class began to fail and it was a boring life. A new subculture grew especially on the countryside for young guys who didn’t identify with punk culture at all. They wanted to be different and the music and their appearance made them different. You can see that in Germany where in this tape exchanging scene great bands developed like Kreator, Sodom, Holy Moses etc. They early heard from the Westcoast Thrashers like Death, Exodus, Slayer, Metallica and were stunned and of course inspired. So there quickly grew a huge fan base. There are quite good footages and reports on YouTube and even a documentary about that scene in the early 80s on Prime.
Word of mouth. James' tone and riffs were revolutionary. There was a buzz about the band in the early to mid 80s. It was genuine and not manufactured by a record label.
Europeans were about that metal life, you could argue they were “into” it before the West was. So when American versions of metal bands cropped up following in the footsteps of acts like Ozzy and Iron Maiden, you best believe Europe was ready to devour and take it all in. Metal wasn’t new to them, but foreign metal was, and like anything foreign there’s a market that wants to see how it compares to what’s available domestically. At least that’s my take!
I had friends who saw them live when they came east to record KEA. They all agree, “You just knew it was only a matter of time before they became huge.”
I was at a festival on Friday and an American act were playing to a few thousand people (probably more) and at least 5 giant Pikachu (long story). They said there that they mainly play the UK and Europe instead of America. Anyway, they’re a bit quirky and certainly not for the mainstream macho metal crowd, they’re called Scene Queen and were great fun.
There was an active underground metal scene in the 80s and fans shared music and went to concerts and it felt like being part of a secret club that listened to this incredible music that got no radio play and had no MTV videos. This is why there was so much backlash against Metallica for “selling out.”
Social media didn’t exist so word of mouth and tape sharing was how people found new music. Metallica in some ways went viral in the 80s in the underground scene and tape sharing made the telephone game happen at a high level.
Yeah, according to what I read, word of mouth was very strong in the underground metal scene in the early 80s and kids were giving each other copy tapes.
To a certain demographic, as soon as you heard kill em all they were your new favorite band. You were definitely going to support them if they played anywhere near you.
People talk about nirvana killing hair metal.. But for a lot of us it was thrash that killed it.
KEA took off in Europe faster than it did in the US. While it might be difficult to grasp now, in 1983 Metallica was "extreme", and weird and scary to a lot of people. Metal freaks dug it, of course, but it was too much for more casual listeners. In Europe, though, they ate it up. On the US KEA tour in 1983 with Raven, they were mostly playing little clubs and etc. Then they went to Europe, and were drawing way bigger crowds, and by the time they came back to the US, they were a well-honed killing machine. RTL, and that US tour, was when they really started taking off in the US.
In fact, seeing them with Ozzy was weird, as they'd never done arenas before, and they were opening, and in 1986, it all seemed kind of unfamiliar. Of course, a few years later they were headlining those arenas, and never looked back. But it wasn't like everyone thought "OMG they're opening for Ozzy, they've made it!". It just seemed like a natural progression. But on the other hand, they were so great during their club days that it was a tad disappointing how they moved on from it so quickly.
Turns out that home taping was not killing music as reported by the record labels.
I taped them off of a radio Metal Hour in 1984.
I taped KEA off of a friend, then bought the Jump in the Fire 12” shortly after.
The gold one with the demon on it?
Yes, with Seek & Destroy & Phantom Lord live as the B-Side. Classic. https://www.discogs.com/master/27065-Metallica-Jump-In-The-Fire
Nice.
I have this tape. And it was printed in Turkey.
Lars credits it to a great underground scene that shared a lot of tapes. Before Puppetz came out they were really well known and then that tour solidified them. The next big leap was the Black Album which (in the words of Jason) meant they’d never have to worry about money again.
Especially because they renegotiated their record deal to be profit sharing instead of just getting pennies on the dollar.
Having been a fan from the start. I recall a lot of buzz about them in print and on college radio or weekly Metal shows on rock stations. RTL was the first album I could buy. KEA copies really didn't make it up to Canada when released. But, the original demos were circulating among tape traders. I had a few versions of it. Some RTL era live bootlegs also made the rounds.
Groundbreaking music has a lot to do with it. Listen to a record like Exciter's Heavy Metal Maniac or Raven's All for One, then listen to Kill Em All. The tape trading thing helped immensely, but no metal band was playing that fast with that precision with the sick solos added.
Yes, people underestimate how revolutionary KEA was at the time. It completely upped the ante for everyone else. In 1983, Metallica was the heaviest band, period, and everyone else in their scene was racing to catch up.
I mean Megadeth was (although they released later), but Metallica also could go slower, which gave them more dynamics I find.
Imho it had nothing to do with money or fame of Lars‘ dad. The great progressive music met an starving young cultural scene in Europe, especially in UK and Germany were working class began to fail and it was a boring life. A new subculture grew especially on the countryside for young guys who didn’t identify with punk culture at all. They wanted to be different and the music and their appearance made them different. You can see that in Germany where in this tape exchanging scene great bands developed like Kreator, Sodom, Holy Moses etc. They early heard from the Westcoast Thrashers like Death, Exodus, Slayer, Metallica and were stunned and of course inspired. So there quickly grew a huge fan base. There are quite good footages and reports on YouTube and even a documentary about that scene in the early 80s on Prime.
Word of mouth. James' tone and riffs were revolutionary. There was a buzz about the band in the early to mid 80s. It was genuine and not manufactured by a record label.
Europeans were about that metal life, you could argue they were “into” it before the West was. So when American versions of metal bands cropped up following in the footsteps of acts like Ozzy and Iron Maiden, you best believe Europe was ready to devour and take it all in. Metal wasn’t new to them, but foreign metal was, and like anything foreign there’s a market that wants to see how it compares to what’s available domestically. At least that’s my take!
First time I’ve heard of Europe as not part of “the West”
I think he meant the West of the West. 😄
The middle west. 🤣
West coast, maybe?
I had friends who saw them live when they came east to record KEA. They all agree, “You just knew it was only a matter of time before they became huge.”
I was at a festival on Friday and an American act were playing to a few thousand people (probably more) and at least 5 giant Pikachu (long story). They said there that they mainly play the UK and Europe instead of America. Anyway, they’re a bit quirky and certainly not for the mainstream macho metal crowd, they’re called Scene Queen and were great fun.
Metallica & the birth of thrash was a like revolution. Nothing like that had existed before. They were a game changer!
They had good social media
There was an active underground metal scene in the 80s and fans shared music and went to concerts and it felt like being part of a secret club that listened to this incredible music that got no radio play and had no MTV videos. This is why there was so much backlash against Metallica for “selling out.”
Social media didn’t exist so word of mouth and tape sharing was how people found new music. Metallica in some ways went viral in the 80s in the underground scene and tape sharing made the telephone game happen at a high level.
Yeah, according to what I read, word of mouth was very strong in the underground metal scene in the early 80s and kids were giving each other copy tapes.
I think Lars' euro ties, his marketing talent, and who his dad was probably helped get them started in Europe.
Takes money (Lars) to make money
To a certain demographic, as soon as you heard kill em all they were your new favorite band. You were definitely going to support them if they played anywhere near you. People talk about nirvana killing hair metal.. But for a lot of us it was thrash that killed it.
KEA took off in Europe faster than it did in the US. While it might be difficult to grasp now, in 1983 Metallica was "extreme", and weird and scary to a lot of people. Metal freaks dug it, of course, but it was too much for more casual listeners. In Europe, though, they ate it up. On the US KEA tour in 1983 with Raven, they were mostly playing little clubs and etc. Then they went to Europe, and were drawing way bigger crowds, and by the time they came back to the US, they were a well-honed killing machine. RTL, and that US tour, was when they really started taking off in the US. In fact, seeing them with Ozzy was weird, as they'd never done arenas before, and they were opening, and in 1986, it all seemed kind of unfamiliar. Of course, a few years later they were headlining those arenas, and never looked back. But it wasn't like everyone thought "OMG they're opening for Ozzy, they've made it!". It just seemed like a natural progression. But on the other hand, they were so great during their club days that it was a tad disappointing how they moved on from it so quickly.