Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has identified the exact moment that he believes Metallica made thrash metal ‘mainstream’.
During an interview with Revolver, Ian said that Metallica entered the mainstream realm right around the time they released their 1986 LP Master of Puppets, but pointed out a specific show that broke the band in.
“I’ll always point to this moment as the thing that really kicked the doors down – in 1986, when Metallica opened for Ozzy in the States. Ozzy was cool enough to take that risk of not just taking another, typical, run-of-the-mill, big-haired LA band out as an opener,” Ian said.
“He took Metallica, and he decided he would share his stage with Metallica, all across America, in arenas. So, the first time any of this underground metal is going to be out in front of massive crowds, every night. And I would say 70 to 80% of the people going to those Ozzy shows had no idea who Metallica was.”
Ian attributed Metallica’s commercial success to Ozzy’s influence, saying that all of the Prince of Darkness fans went straight out and bought Metallica’s albums.
“When they [Metallica] left the building that night, all of those people went out and bought all three records – Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. And that was the moment where it went from underground into the mainstream, because all of those Ozzy fans became Metallica fans, and then they started looking for, ‘Well what else is like this?'”
However, the Anthrax guitarist said that he’s grateful that Metallica received the reception they did and said that it helped Anthrax gain a bigger audience.
Love Metal?
Get the latest Metal news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“By 1987, when we started the ‘Among the Living’ tour in 1987, a club tour in May of 1987, playing anywhere from 400 to say 1000-people sized venues, and by the end of 1987, in December, we were back out in the States, playing from 5000 to 10,000. Over that time between 1986 and 1987, it just blew up. It’s crazy how it happened. But, I actually, I truly believe that it was Metallica opening for Ozzy is what enabled it all to get as big as it did.”
For more on this topic, follow the Metal Observer.
