Line Ups, Etc.;
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Metallica Chronology
This is my guide to the various line-ups from the Metallica histroy, Included is as much information about who, when & why the various line-ups happened
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
lead guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
28/10/81 - ??/01/82 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Lloyd Grant/Dave |
Lars Ulrich |
| 2 |
??/01/82 - ??/04/82 |
James Hetfield |
- |
Ron McGovney |
Dave Mustaine |
Lars Ulrich |
| 3 |
23/04/82 only |
James Hetfield |
Brad Parker |
Ron McGovney |
Dave Mustaine |
Lars Ulrich |
| 4 |
25/04/82 - 30/11/82 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Ron McGovney |
Dave Mustaine |
Lars Ulrich |
| 5 |
28/12/82 - 11/04/83 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Cliff Burton |
Dave Mustaine |
Lars Ulrich |
| 6a |
16/04/83 - 25/07/86 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Cliff Burton |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 7 |
27/07/86 - 25/09/86 |
James Hetfield |
John Marshall |
Cliff Burton |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 6b |
26/09/86 only |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Cliff Burton |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 8 |
??/10/86 - ??/10/86 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
**auditions** |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 9a |
28/10/86 - 08/08/92 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Jason Newsted |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 10 |
25/08/92 - ??/09/92 |
James Hetfield |
John Marshall |
Jason Newsted |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 9b |
??/09/92 - 06/07/00 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Jason Newsted |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 11 |
07/07/00 - 09/07/00 |
Kid Rock/Jason |
**guests** |
Jason Newsted |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 9c |
12/07/00 - 16/01/01 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Jason Newsted |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 12 |
17/01/01 - ??/04/01 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
- |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 13 |
??/04/01 - ??/06/02 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Bob Rock/James |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 14 |
04/06/02 - ??/03/02 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Bob Rock |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 15 |
??/03/02 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
**auditions** |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 16a |
24/02/03 - 07/06/04 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Rob Trujillo |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
| 17 |
06/06/04 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Rob Trujillo |
Kirk Hammett |
Joey/Fleming/Dave |
| 16b |
08/06/04 - date |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Rob Trujillo |
Kirk Hammett |
Lars Ulrich |
NOTES;
-
line up #1 was before the band had started gigging
-
line up #2 was for a few shows before james decided to play guitar and sing
-
line up #3 was for one show only with guitarist Brad Parker (who played under the assumed name of Damien Phillips)
-
line up #6a & 6b are the same, generally referred to as the Classic line up
-
line up #7 & #10 both had John Marshall (kirk`s guitar tech) filling in for james
-
line up #8 was for a few weeks during october `86 whilst auditioning for a new bassist
-
line up #9a, 9b & 9c are the same, this was the second Classic line up with jason
-
line up #11 was for three shows in july 2000 when james threw his back out, kid rock sang on 6 tracks, jason sang on 5 tracks, fieldy sang on one track & jonathan davies sang on one track. several guitarists filled in also
-
line up #12 was the period directly after jason left, the band did not play any shows, neither did they start demoing any new material
-
line up #13 appeared only in the studio for rehearsals/demos only, bob rock & james have both been filling in on bass
-
line up #14 was only for two secret / surprise shows
-
line up #15 was presumably when the band were auditioning a replacement for
jason, confirmed auditions from; Scott Reeder, Pepper Keenan, the guy from the
cult & the guy from marilyn manson`s band.
-
line up #16a & 16b is the new line up and this will be the recording / touring line up for the forseeable future
-
line up 17 was for download festival from 2003 when lars had a panic attack, he
was replaced at short notice by his drum tech, dave lombardo from slayer &
joey from slipknot who played most of the set, they also apparently rehearsed
with sal from life of agony but decided half way through the set to carry on
with joey
Pre-Metallica line ups, dates, etc.;
EZ Street / Easy Street; (featuring Cliff Burton)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
lead guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`76 -ish |
?? |
Jim Martin |
Cliff Burton |
?? |
?? |
NOTES;
Easy Street played a mixture of originals and covers from the Rolling Stones & Black Sabbath (!).
Vicious Hatred; (featuring Cliff Burton)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
lead guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`78 -ish |
?? |
Jim Martin |
Cliff Burton |
?? |
?? |
Agents Of Misfortune; (featuring Cliff Burton)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
lead guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`79 -ish |
?? |
Jim Martin |
Cliff Burton |
?? |
?? |
NOTES;
Jim Martin & Cliff played in these three groups over the period from `76 to about `80, they remained firm
friends all through Cliff`s time in Metallica and Jim attended Cliff`s funeral in `86
Trauma; (featuring Cliff Burton)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`80? - early `82 |
Donny Hiller |
Michael Overton |
Cliff Burton |
Tiger Lady |
Dennis Schaeffer |
| 2 |
mid `82 - `84? |
Donny Hiller |
Michael Overton |
Lucas Advinca |
Ross Alexander |
Kris Gustofson |
NOTES;
Trauma supported Motley Crue at the old waldorf on 30/03/82
Trauma played the keystone in san francisco on 03/05/82, it was at this gig that brian slagel saw Cliff and his performance prompted him to recommend Cliff to Lars & James
the track `such a shame` from the first Trauma line up appears on the 1982 compilation album metal massacre II, thanks to G. Crites for this line up info
the second line up recorded the scratch and scream lp in 1984 and presumably split up not long after
Obsession; (featuring James Hetfield)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass/vocals; |
guitar/vocals; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`79 - `80 |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield? |
Ron Valoz |
Jim Arnold |
Rich Valoz |
NOTES;
Obsession were together for about 18 months and played a few paties only, Ron McGovney was their `roadie`
vocals alternated from song to song, the group mainly covered Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, UFO & Deep Purple
Syrinx; (featuring James Hetfield)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`80-ish |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
- |
Jim Arnold |
Chris Arnold |
NOTES;
Syrinx were fairly short lived, played mostly Rush covers and never played and gigs
Phantom Lord; (featuring James Hetfield & Ron McGovney)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`81-ish |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
- |
Hugh Tanner |
- |
| 2 |
`81-ish |
James Hetfield |
James Hetfield |
Ron McGovney |
Hugh Tanner |
- |
NOTES;
it`s arguable whether Phantom Lord counts as a band as they never played nor did they have a permanent drummer, the main reason for inclusion here is because it`s the first time James & Ron played together, it`s also notable for the name Phantom Lord which was used on the first metallica album
James got Ron to play the bass as he needed a bassist at the time
Leather Charm; (featuring James Hetfield & Ron McGovney)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
june `81 |
James Hetfield |
- |
Ron McGovney |
Hugh Tanner |
Jim Mulligan |
| 2 |
mid `81 |
James Hetfield |
- |
Ron McGovney |
Troy James |
Jim Mulligan |
NOTES;
`Leather Charm` were basically the same band as `Phantom Lord` but with a new name & a drummer
again they didn`t gig but they played covers of the following; The Scorpions, Iron Maiden & Quiet Riot
Leather Charm had three original songs;
handsome ransom & lets go rock `n roll, riffs from these two songs eventually were re-used in Metallica to form the basis of No Remorse
the other original song was a rudimentary version of Hit The Lights
Exodus; (featuring Kirk Hammett)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
lead guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`80 - 04/83 |
Paul Baloff |
Kirk Hammett |
Jeff Andrews |
Gary Holt |
Tom Hunting |
NOTES;
Kirk formed exodus with Paul Baloff in 1980
kirk played on a demo in 1982 which included three tracks; death & domination, whipping queen & warlords
Kirk also co-wrote; impaler, die by his hand & hellsbreath, none of these tracks appeared on any of the exodus albums except impaler which mysteriously appeared on a live album in 1997
the song creeping death contains part of the song die by his hand
exodus opened for Metallica on several occasions;
29/11/82; mabuhay gardens
30/11/82; mabuhay gardens
05/03/83; the stone (cliffs first w/ metallica)
Diamond; (featuring Jason Newsted)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`77 ish |
Jason Newsted |
Todd Smiedendorf |
Jason Newsted |
Tom Depsy |
Kevin Kendrick |
NOTES;
Jasons first band, from when he was living in Niles, MI
Gangster; (featuring Jason Newsted)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar/vocals; |
bass; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`80 ish |
Jason Newsted |
Tim Hamlin |
Jason Newsted |
?? |
NOTES;
Jasons second band, this time in Kalamzoo, MI
it`s not known if either of the first 2 bands Jason was in ever played gigs
Paradox; (featuring Jason Newsted)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`82 ish |
Jason Newsted |
Pete Mellow |
Jason Newsted |
Dave Golder |
Kelly Smith |
NOTES;
Jason moves to Scottsdale, Arizona. first meeting of Jason & longtime friend & drummer Kelly Smith
Dogz; (featuring Jason Newsted)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`83 ish |
Eric A.K. |
Mark Vasquez |
Jason Newsted |
Kevin Horton |
Kelly Smith |
Flotsam & Jetsam; (featuring Jason Newsted)
| line up # |
date; |
vocals; |
guitar; |
bass; |
guitar; |
drums; |
| 1 |
`84 - 10/86 |
Eric A.K. |
Ed carlson |
Jason Newsted |
Michael Gilbert |
Kelly Smith |
NOTES;
Dogz became Flotsam & Jetsam aftyer a while, the band released the album doomsday for the deciever which features Jason on bass, he also wrote a good deal of the music
END.