Correction: It was Bob Rock that wanted Holier Than Thou as the first Black album single not Lars. In the clip from A Year and a Half In the Life of Metallica they are sitting together and Lars is nodding along with Bob but turns out he wasn't agreeing after all. ;) Thanks to @ajzamojski for letting me know.

I wondered if the therapist's greatest contribution was to piss *everyone* off to the extent that he gave the band a common enemy to unite against.

Fav part of that documentary is when Lars’s dad says ‘delete that!’ 😂😂😂. Absolutely hilarious and honest advise on that weird song.

Eventhough this is my least favorite period for Metallica, I always come back to this documentary. It's such a fascinating documentary. A must watch in my opinion.

"Delete that!" The greatest quote in the history of Metallica

I always felt that Lars yelling FUCK! at James face was part of a therapy thing. Like if Phil told Lars to really let everything go out of him, then the camera just captured that. But James keeping his cool always gave me the feeling it was a "game" moment. Not that it was a fake moment, but part of a process understood by everyone in the room.

I see the documentary differently since I’m not really a Metallica guy. On one level, it’s just a good music doc. On another level, it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Like a metal version of The Office.

James - "this is part of me trying to be unfamous" ..... cuts to James driving down the highway in a cartoon hot rod with flames and skulls pained on it

The Napster thing generated one of the best flash animations in HISTORY. "BLOOD, SWEAT, AND MOTHER F'ING BEER!!"

You should watch some of the bonus footage they shot. There's like hours of it but there's some good stuff there. There's a part where Kirk is struggling to play a riff and can't quite get it, James is trying his hardest to be patient with him and Lars is in the background like "Dude, your sweating." Another is the whole Swizz Beatz/Ja Rule collaboration. It's probably the worst rap/rock crossover ever, it's downright terrible, but it's fascinating to watch these guys put it together and see how into it they are. "Ja's hot right now." - Russel Simmons.

That show Metalocalypse on Adult Swim from way back in the day had an episode in which they hired a therapist. It was clearly inspired by this documentary. It was hilarious too. LOVED that show. And Dethklok is amongst the greatest fictional bands of all time.

I have to say their therapist was high on himself.

@22:24 I don't know if you did, but listen to the band commentary. Kirk said he was genuinely enraged by Phil handing lyrics over to James. In the film, Lars seems to be the last one to be done with Phil in what is actually a bonding moment for Lars and James.

You touched on something that I thought was great. Not just the realization you have a problem (whatever it might be) but what can YOU do to fix it. Figuring that out and implementing it can for sure be a challenge.

He f*cking left the band! Period, Exclamation point! 😂

Reason Paul wrote GET BACK so easily was because he was directing it at Yoko…that’s where “Jojo” came from…”GET BACK JOJO(Yoko)”…and every time he’d say it he’d look directly at her

It’s constructed and edited but it still blows my mind how incredible Robert’s technique is and his presence when performing.

You’re probably the best guitar/ music KZfaqr/ and can we get a ride the lightning album review please🙏🏻🙏🏻

St Anger was just a record that was totally overthought and when that happens everything's a struggle. Even on the St Anger tour when I saw them in London I think they played 1 from the album. Most bands have that 1 album that sticks out from the rest because it just doesn't work. The therapist creaming $40k a month is an utter piss take. He probably retired after how much he made from them.

Anything Metallica related that you upload, I'm here! Can't get enough

The Thing that Should not Be was one of their earlier songs that was in the same tuning. However, when they played it during the S&M concert, it was tuned half step down from standard.

You should do more long format stuff like this. Good stuff

The documentary came out 20 years ago.....and think of where they are right now.

Dude, read the book! This Monster Lives. So much more info and perspective

It's documentaries like this and the Beatles "Get Back" that allow you to get a glimpse of what was happening at that time. Aerosmith's "The Making of Pump" was also a great watch for some of the same reasons. I wish there would have been something like this for classic Van Halen, but then again, I prefer the larger than life mystique that band possesses; not to mention that everyone probably had non-disclosure agreements most likely. The closest we got to anything like that was The Tape Archive's great KZfaq documentaries on the before and after of 1984.

This is the documentary that got me into playing guitar, dead serious. I've seen it so many times.

As a coincidence this documentary was released just 20 years ago. 😮

Dude I just clicked . Haven’t watched yet. My man Mike watching this and breaking it down is the EXACT type of content that’s made for me after work 😂 love it man. Got my water and meal. Bout to watch

As someone who has been to rehab and is still struggling with my alcoholism, I relate so much with James. I watched this documentary countless times in my teen years and now I have a totally new perspective on it.

You should also read the book This Monster Lives. It goes more indepth on stuff they didn't film that were just as fascinating.

Always ahead of the game with your episode ideas! Koodos!

Documentary showed us what it’s actually like to be in a band in a form that we have not really seen for up to that time. It’s pretty common knowledge, but this one really showed the average exactly everything you have to go through to be a successful😊

I've come to the conclusion that you are the most likeable person that I subscribe to. Keep pumping out the great content!

Dude this was an awesome video! You should totally do more of these

So that’s actually not Robs apartment; that’s a room at HA. Each guy has their own room at HQ to crash. That was actually brought up on a recent Metallica podcast.

"Ugh...the therapist" Truer words have never been said.😆

Wow I'm glad we got a *Musician* to break down this trainwreck

Loved the album when it came out and still do. Some songs are a bit longer but there’s some great songs on it

i can tell you really like metallica because i always see your comments on metallica related videos

I find that the just get together and see what happens rarely works as well. What ive found works best for me is coming to the band with an idea or a basic structure and then letting the other members have input and try ideas and make it a collaboration at that point.

No matter what, it’s pretty ballsy to record all that and show it to the world. How many of us would be willing to be recorded at our most vulnerable and fucked up, and have it shown to millions upon millions of people? Many of which have idolized you and your band for decades?

St. Anger, showing the world you never go full nu-metal.

It's hard to believe the events in some king of monster are more than 20 years old. We are old man!😜

I wouldn't characterize Robert as going from rags to riches, really. He had already accomplished quite a bit before auditioning. Suicidal even opened for Metallica on one tour, along with Candlebox. It was a really cool show, but no one had any clue that he would eventually land his spot in the band.

If you watch the extra footage, it always felt to me like SKOM had two main story arcs. One were the psychological issues between Lars and James (and the demons they had to face themselves). The other one was Jason leaving the band and then being „in limbo“ for a significant period, basically the whole power struggle between Jason and James (and the band still having psychological scars after Cliff‘s death). Get Back (or the Let It Be movie from the 1960s) were probably similar to SKOM since they were both showing a band in a crisis. But the Beatles seemed more mature, and most of the arguments they had were actually normal band disputes. It was four guys reaching the age of 30 while having spent a decade of touring, album recordings and crazy media frenzy together, with all of them already having their own solo careers in mind (and John, Paul and George becoming songwriters too big to be in the same band). With Metallica it seemed like they were all in some form of midlife crisis (including Bob Rock), figuring out something new without finding a proper direction, and then eventually deciding on trying to get their shit together to keep the band working.

for anyone looking for another great music documentary, check out the one about Hallas making conundrum, the core of their band relies on everyone having creative control

The Playboy article from around this era is a good supplemental read for this.

Great video my man. Really well done.

Wish they would of released temptation... that was a really good song

Lars passive aggressive manipuilation of the situations, the therapist trying to weasle his way into the creative process. This film has so many great third eye opening moments about how the world works.

It is funny seeing all these artists who pandered to the teenaged fans during Napster by saying "all bands care about is the money so what if you get a song for free" and all of them now are charging ridiculous x10 market prices just to see them play live. The film and video game industries combated piracy with an iron fist. The music industry should have been united on this and now they all complain that no one makes money anymore.

I can't wait for the sequel, I AM THE TABLE!

Bob rock did more than that therapist. He was the only level headed guy in that whole documentary

It was actually the other way around with Enter Sandman. James & Bob thought Holier Than Thou was the first single. Lars was adamant about it being Enter Sandman.

This was a cool video to watch. I've seen this movie twice since it came out. After watching your take on it, I think it would be cool to watch this kinda stuff with you around, you've got some pretty neat observations about things.

Jason was right when he said it was lame.

Your comment on James wearing overalls had me dead 😂😂😂

and james is still struggling with alcohol addiction praying for the brother

The thing with therapists is that they serve as mediators within groups who aren’t getting along. It’s really critical to have. Otherwise as soon as something triggers one person a war will go off based on cycles everyone is going through. The therapist can stop that stuff and play like a ref to facilitate legit discussion; rather than fighting

You have a gift for commentary. Would love to see this kind of video about the making of the Black album.

Great video man!

Didnt knew I needed this.. Thanks

The hard to take him serious in overalls part had me laughing hysterically haha

Kirk, the "scared child

Phil clearly overstepped his mark, but I think he ultimately did his job. Metallica has always been a gang that operates best when they have something to push against, and Phil was brought in because that gang dynamic had fractured. The fact that the band came together to decide to move on from Phil was a sign that the dynamic had healed

idk man kirk and james do look like the grandparents that make reallllly good brownies- but mommy lars sounds good too

This is so interesting. Love to get your take on it

Interesting point about the Low Tunings affecting interest and ability to come up with vocals, songs to suit them. The whole album tuned so low with no solos makes it all very samey. Id love to know how the music would work in standard tunings, Drop D, complete with Kirk working in solos.

Awesome video dude! It’s funny actually that the way you felt originally about this movie was totally the opposite experience for me. The movie came out when I was 16 and started taking guitar and drum playing seriously round that time. My mum got me to watch the movie and it turned me into a Metallica fan! My favourite period of Metallica’s career will always be the 80’s for me since becoming a fan, but I will always appreciate this movie and St. Anger for allowing me to explore their back catalogue. At the time I was studying media and went on to producing an animated music video for the song Battery which got me my best grades in college. Was such a blast at that time in the 00’s despite the bands struggles.

Holding a band together is like holding a bad marriage together! Been there done that!! 🤘

Watched this movie alot when I was single😊

I respect them as artists immensely. As people... well there's a couple of them I could do without.

Great analysis but it must be remembered that this movie was created to make a narrative that suited the Metallica brand.

sorry you got demonitized bro but I watched this whole thing this morning during my day off and really enjoyed it! I hope at the least its good for your engagement, dropped a like . Thanks for breaking it down I avoided watching it for the same reason didnt want to cringe 😅

Never realized how much better the snare sounds in some of the clips compared to the album.

I love James' scripted angry door slamming!

I’ll always be thankful for Albums 2-4 That was a great run.

LOVE the shirt!

James kinda looks in a different world throughout this whole thing. He has a completely different energy than usual.

Will you ever do a reaction to A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica? Would love to see that.

loved this content. It would be cool if you do "A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica" documentary too!

How is that possible you never saw it all before! So weird to me. Cool vid as always. 🤟🤟🤟🤟

Part of the reason they look so uncomfortable is because they’re constantly overthinking everything. Then when they. finally finish the album it’s a steaming pile of crap in a dumpster fire. That said, I am glad they got sober. One trashy album is a small price to pay for having your lives back.

I just want to end it: Death Magnetic was GREAT.

I've been pointing out the unintentional comedy of Some Kind of Monster for years. Kirk is so sweet and quiet until they talk about not having solos on the album. I like to think Lars was just trying to make room in the mix for his snare but...

I'm really curious to hear you expand on the Napster thing coming "full circle". I have my opinions on it and it's effect on the industry, it'll be cool to compare notes.

I haven't watched this doc in like 20 years, but I've always felt it would have been much cooler if it had scenes showing each band member pull out $300-$400 at the end of every day and personally hand it over to Phil.

Dude is good at picking the gems! I got a lot of life lessons from this

Still One of My Favorite Music Channels!

Dave is a perfectionist. Nothing is good enough for him, he always wanted to be number 1,and with metallica around, he can never be that - but that's a good trait to have! It keeps him grinding - Dave doesn't rest on his laurels. It's this go hard attitude, that gave us musical perfection like "Rust in Peace"

My buddy and rhythm guitarist saw it 3x in theaters back in the day

I saw Some Kind of Monster in theaters and for me one of the coolest parts was seeing James Hetfield going to his daughter's ballet recital. It really hit home because during this time period I became a father. That's why I really connected with St Anger. Seeing Lars son Miles climb up on the stool and ask his dad if he wants to play "dums". Jason Newstead pissed me off. James Hetfield really pissed me off. His new to recovery bullshit and being scared and being selfish in not wanting Lars and Bob Rock to listen to something recorded at 4:15pm when James had to leave at 4pm after only working for four hours. I had never felt disdain like I did for James at that moment. The Mstaine stuff was very intimate and kinda hard to see him confess that his second place is failure. The bass audition stuff was great. Would love to see more of that. The Lars yelling fuck in James face was powerful and I was expecting Lars to throw a punch not James. I'm going to shove $10000 up your ass $1 at a time. The zone turning into The Bone was funny. This was a great documentary.

You should review the Elton John tribute, they really killed it!!

Hard to be honest in a room full of people. You should only ever open up to people who are truly safe. Learnt that the hard way.

That therapist really annoyed me :rolleyes:

SKOM is a great documentary. and the fact that they put it out there is unreal. One thing they left out, for Jason's sake. The part where he wanted back in the band and they decided no. it was nice of them to not put it in.

Their therapist really thought he was apart of the band. And Bob Rock had the same dream lol

Good video idea, mike!

that was good i enjoyed your break down

I first saw this documentary when I was 18 and thought the guys were cool and tough. I watch it now in my late 30s and I think they look like immature little kids. Still my favorite band.