Part of the appeal of Metallica has come from the grizzly growl of James Hetfield. Although he may not have been the most operatic singer in the world, Hetfield’s distinctive bark across every Metallica project has become a security blanket for fans, becoming one of the foundations of their sound on tracks like ‘Sad But True’ and ‘Enter Sandman’. During what was to be their commercial pinnacle, there was a good chance that Hetfield was about to lose what he already had.
Throughout the band’s initial run, Hetfield wasn’t initially keen on being the frontman. Instead of the usual poses he has whenever he stepped out onstage, the frontman was far more interested in being a rhythm guitarist, never saying all that much in their early shows and letting guitarist Dave Mustaine do most of the talking for him.
Once the band kicked Mustaine to the curb before their debut album Kill Em All, Hetfield quickly assumed the frontman role by necessity, toying with the crowd whenever he could in between songs. Although Hetfield would continue throughout the group’s run as the lead singer, he was still in pursuit of anyone else who could take his place.
Despite initially asking John Bush of the band Armoured Saint to play with them, Hetfield’s unique approach to vocals was unparalleled, almost using his voice like a rhythm instrument by spitting out every word that came out of his mouth. Though the band liked to make their modern epics, the most damage Hetfield ever sustained was recording the cover song ‘So What’.
Initially a hit for the punk band Anti-Nowhere League, Hetfield blew his voice out in the studio, recalling to Classic Albums, “I actually lost my voice when recording The Black Album. I was doing ‘So What’, the cover song. I pushed it too hard. That’s what got me into vocal training and going into a maintenance program”.
Then again, it’s not hard to see why Hetfield would lose his voice. Throughout the recording of And Justice For All, he was already pushing himself well out of his range, which resulted in the band having to stitch different takes together to make everything sound cohesive. Even though Hetfield needed to get his voice back into shape, he admitted to being intimidated when he first found a vocal coach.
As he explains: “I went to a vocal coach who was a cantor in some church or synagogue, and I was so scared. He had the piano out and going, ‘Okay, [sings scale]’, and I’m like, ‘OH NO’, but I looked up and saw a few gold records from other bands. He got me to where I could produce a note again, and I didn’t sound like an opera singer. Even if I wanted to, I can’t do it. I still sing like a sailor”.
While Hetfield may still have a few vocal blemishes now and again, the difference between the band’s thrash prime and The Black Album in terms of vocal performance is like night and day. Compared to the relentless fury of the band’s first albums, hearing Hetfield sing tenderly on songs like ‘The Unforgiven’ and ‘Nothing Else Matters’ was a breath of fresh air for Metallica fans, hearing the man behind all the metallic anger. Hetfield may have started with the crude sounds of metal and punk, but that maintenance opened a new door of vocal performance for him.
