of covers, Jason Newsted announced that he was leaving Metallica in a trade for then Ozzy
bassist Robert Trujillo. With this, Metallica hoped to come out of their almost 10-year slump
with the release of 2003’s St. Anger. The outcome? St. Anger was canned by both fans and
critics and in some cases, even prison inmates!

So out of this whole storm of Metallica, comes the newest release from the so-called
“Kings of Heavy Metal.” Is Death Magnetic really all that it’s cracked up to be? Could this
finally be the album that metal heads everywhere have been waiting for? Well...yes and no.

Compared to the creative process of St. Anger, Death Magnetic shines as it sees the band
using older recording techniques to capture their sound rather than putting everything on
Pro-Tools. But this older technique comes as a burden to Metallica when comparing their
current tracks to previous albums. Simply put, the album sounds too much like everything
else they’ve done, and the current single “The Day That Never Comes” is almost a direct
rip-off of their infamous track “One.” While certain tracks sound great, the album is pretty
much the same old shred-fest that we’ve all expected, that as a whole has some of the most
devout Metallica fans bored to tears with it. All this is accompanied by somewhat pointless
time changes along with a straight four-four count through the full 80 minutes. Oh yeah, did
] mention that the average song is at least seven minutes and 35 seconds?

Metallica has done it all, and call them what you will, they are not going away
any time soon. This December, Metallica plays General Motors Place on their latest tour
that kicks off mid-October. Recently, Metallica was also considered as a nomination for the
rock and roll hall of fame, and when asked who they'd like to induct them, they simply said
“Dave Mustaine.”

 

www.metallica.com ,

 

 

Whatever Happened to...

 

 

    

Micky Dolenz

Davy Jones

Dolenz is now 63 and lives in Los
Angeles, married for the third time
around to Donna Quinter. After the show
ended and the band broke up, he ended
up putting that beautiful voice to good
use doing voice-over gigs for several
different Saturday morning cartoon series
and when those ended, he threw his talent
into becoming a director and producer.
He even directed a stage version of Bugsy
Malone which starred a then unknown
Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then, beginning

The larger than life Jones, at 5°3 is now
twice divorced and has his hands full with
four daughters ranging in age from 20
to 40 (AKA never-ending fatherhood).
Since Jones’ days as a Monkees band
member, he has also gotten together
with his former group members for
several reunion concerts. In 1975, Davy
collaborated with the afore mentioned
Dolenz for an album featuring just the
two of them, although they incorporated
the songwriters’ names into the album

 

title for a final product called Dolenz,
Jones, Boyce & Hart. In recent years, he
has appeared in several productions of
Oliver! as Fagin and in 2006 he recorded
a song called “Your Personal Penguin,”
which was featured in a children’s book
and CD set. These days Jones is involved
with horses, owning and even racing
them himself. He has even gone so far as
becoming the official spokesperson for
Colonial Downs racetrack in Virginia.

 

 

in 1986, Dolenz did a reunion tour with
the rest of his former band mates and
has done a few more, the most recent in
2001. He has also recently been a radio
personality and toured with the musical
crew of Pippin which also starred his
sister Coco Dolenz. Dolenz’s career is
currently peaking as he is reportedly the
voice of Snuggle the Fabric Softener
Bear.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Michael Nesmith

After Nesmith’s time with the
Monkees, he continued with other
musical endeavours like The First
National Band with whom he
recorded three albums. Nesmith
remained a part of the music industry
by getting into the producing end

of things; he even launched his own
record label called Elektra Records.
Since 1990, Nesmith has hosted the
Council on Ideas where a wide range
of intellectuals meets to brainstorm
solutions to world problems. He also
spent a decade with the American
Film Institute, serving on the board of
trustees and as a nominating member.
He is now the president and chairman
of the board of trustees of the Gihon
Foundation. Much like his other band
mates, Nesmith has seemed to have

a difficult time tying a lady down in
his life for very long, having been
married three times now.

 

 

Peter Tork

Tork now has three children with an
unknown girlfriend and has tried to keep
his family out of the spotlight. He was
the first to quit the group, and, wanting
to strike out on his own, joined a new
group called Release. He also ended up
recording some music on his banjo for
George Harrison’s soundtrack for his film
Wonderwall. Tork also appeared regularly
on The Uncle Floyd Show and was the
first real “star” to do skits on this show,
and others, like the Ramones, would
follow in his footsteps. Since then, Tork
has released a solo album and has done
the odd TV and club performances, even
doing a “Win a Date With Peter Tork”
contest on the Letterman show. Tork is
now an advice columnist for a webzine
called The Daily Panic and likely gives
advice to his former bandmates on how to
make relationships last.

 

 

 

17