Metallica and Me
Part One: Battery

I have never been a big Metallica fan. I have never owned or been in possession of a Metallica album, tape or CD. Many of my friends listened to Metallica, but they never were a band I was into.

My earliest Metallica memory was the vision of the full back patch of Master of Puppets that Dieter Hutnick had on his denim jacket. Dieter was a couple years older than me, but we had homeroom together. He sat in front of me and I would stare at the patch and try to count the crosses. I could smell the sweet odor of cigarettes and pot smoke as Dieter hung his head, sleeping thru homeroom.

Besides casual encounters with Metallica, my next strong memory came many years later. I had friends much older than me, they could get alcohol, we drank and listened to loud music. I remember listening to Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightening. One of my friends had a clever joke, a drinking game he called Battery. The rules were simple, listen to Battery and drink every time they sang the word “Battery”. It was an effective game and good for a laugh.

Around the same time, I remember watching the video for “One” on Headbangers Ball. I think it was the hair flipping (forward to 4:40 in the video) and horrible drum sound that turned me off.

Next Metallica and Me. Part Two: Enter Sandman