Abstract
Metallica has offered a diverse catalogue of music and breadth of performance over their careers. As a band occupying an integral cultural placement as measured by both level of fame and influential import, many academic inroads have been opened to their work, career and music. These lines of inquiry, along with more general lines of inquiry into the genre of heavy metal itself, frequently position Metallica as the unofficial ambassadors of the music. However, despite the depth and breadth of research devoted to these areas, an underdeveloped opening exists when it comes to the potential parallels and connections between the music and actions of Metallica and the philosophical works of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, specifically their notions of the state and the nomadic war machine. These theories serve as the basis of exploration in this research and provide new considerations and perspectives of both the career of Metallica and the larger implications to the study of popular music. The relations between Deleuze and Guattari and popular music offer many connections and examples, but the work of Metallica was selected as a representation of all of these connections as they are the ideal band from which to launch and develop these notions. Metallica is a group with clear distinctive phases to their career that fall within the concepts of the war machine (1981–91) and the state (1991–2008). While Metallica is not the only example of a band that falls into these dichotomous categorizations, they offer the best opportunity to define and clarify the connections to the ideas of Deleuze and Guattari. This can then be applied to other bands, genres of music and aspects of popular culture. Metallica is symbolic of this undertheorized connection to the works of Deleuze and Guattari. While these theoretical connections to the ideas of Deleuze and Guattari may not serve as the final piece to a full comprehension of the complexities of Metallica’s controversial career, they offer insights and open nascent pathways towards further analysis of the band. This is important because they have existed both on the fringes of marginalization and as a significant part of the discourse of popular culture.
© 2022 Intellect Ltd
Article metrics loading...
/content/journals/10.1386/mms_00086_1
2022-09-01
2024-03-29
Full text loading...
References
-
Apatoff, Ben. ( 2021), Metallica: The $24.95 Book, New York:: Backbeat Books;.
[Google Scholar]
-
Bogue, Ronald. ( 2004), Deleuze’s Wake: Tributes and Tributaries, New York:: State University of New York Press;.
[Google Scholar]
-
Christe, Ian. ( 2004), Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, London:: IT Books;.
[Google Scholar]
-
-
Deleuze, Gilles, and Guattari, Felix. ( 1986), Nomadology: The War Machine (trans. B. Massumi), South Pasadena, CA:: Semiotext(e);.
[Google Scholar]
-
Deleuze, Gilles, and Guattari, Felix. ( 1987), A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia (trans. B. Massumi), Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;.
[Google Scholar]
-
[Google Scholar]
-
Gibson, Dylan Lawrence. ( 2019;), ‘ Postmodernism in Lou Reed and Metallica’s collaborative album Lulu: Subjective perception of Highbrow and Lowbrow. ’, Metal Music Studies, 5:2, pp. 187–200.
[Google Scholar]
-
Hoffstadt, Christian, and Nagenborg, Michael. ( 2010;), ‘ You’re too fuckin’ metal for your own good! Controlled anger and the expression of intensity and authenticity in post-modern heavy metal. ’, in N. W. R. Scott, and I. Van Helden. (eds), The Metal Void: First Gatherings, Oxford:: Inter-Disciplinary Press;, pp. 37–46.
[Google Scholar]
-
Irwin, William. (ed.) ( 2007), Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, Oxford:: Blackwell;.
[Google Scholar]
-
Lindholm, Philip. ( 2007;), ‘ The struggle within: Hetfield, Kierkegaard, and the pursuit of authenticity. ’, in W. Irwin. (ed.), Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, Oxford:: Blackwell;, pp. 65–73.
[Google Scholar]
-
Marshall, Lee. ( 2002;), ‘ Metallica and morality: The rhetorical battleground of the Napster wars. ’, Entertainment Law, 1:1, pp. 1–19.
[Google Scholar]
-
Nys, Thomas. ( 2007;), ‘ Through the mist and the madness: Metallica’s message of nonconformity, individuality, and truth. ’, in W. Irwin. (ed.), Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, Oxford:: Blackwell;, pp. 41–51.
[Google Scholar]
-
Salmela, Erno. ( 2016;) ‘ Why Metallica changed music world: Effectuation perspective. ’, in Business and Non-Profit Organizations Facing Increased Competitions and Growing Customer Demands, Helsinki:: Cognition;, pp. 153–71.
[Google Scholar]
-
-
Smialek, Eric. ( 2016;), ‘ The unforgiven: A reception study of Metallica fans and “sell-out” accusations. ’, in A. R. Brown,, K. Spracklen,, K. Khan-Harris, and N. Scott. (eds), Global Metal Music and Culture, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 124–42.
[Google Scholar]
-
Sotos, Rachel. ( 2007;), ‘ Metallica’s existential freedom: From we to I and back again. ’, in W. Irwin. (ed.), Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, Oxford:: Blackwell;, pp. 85–97.
[Google Scholar]
-
-
Wall, Mick. ( 2010), Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica, London:: Orion;.
[Google Scholar]
-
Walser, Robert. ( 1993), Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, Middletown, CN:: Wesleyan University Press;.
[Google Scholar]
-
White, Mark D.. ( 2007;), ‘ Metallica drops a Load: What do bands and fans owe each other. ’, in W. Irwin. (ed.), Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery, Oxford:: Blackwell;, pp. 199–209.
[Google Scholar]
-
Wiederhorn, Jon, and Turman, Katherine. ( 2013), Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal, London:: IT Books;.
[Google Scholar]
-
-
-
-
-
Thomson,
Andrew, and
Thomson,
Amanda M. E.. (
2022;), ‘
Metallica the state/Metallica the war machine: A Deleuzoguattarian analysis of the world’s biggest metal band. ’,
Metal Music Studies,
8:
3, pp.
381–
400,
https://doi.org/10.1386/mms_00086_1
[Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/mms_00086_1