Metallica is my favourite band. You should know that. I love all of them, band members, material, shows; from the heavy road made by a van filled with instruments while on tour shoving Metal Up people's Asses, through the bumpy road of (Re)Load and St. Anger and up until now with gigantic tours travelled by jetplanes with their names on them, instead of said old van. I love Kill 'Em All for its bestiallity, Ride, Master, Justice and Magnetic for their power, Black for the straight-forwardness and Load, ReLoad and St. Anger for their words.
That being said, of course I loved a movie which was basically a concert of my favourite band, watching it on IMAX 3D, screen perfectly aligned with my sight and sound bursting through my ears making me think I was deaf whenever the movie went silent.
But let's face it. We all wanna know what the fuck was going on in between the concert. I'm saying it wasn't entertaining, hell, it was anything but that. But still, seriously, what the fuck went down? This is my take on what happened.
So Trip is their roadie, he picks up things for Metallica (cool job, I think). We see him first arriving at the arena, he sees James of his car leaving a trail of badassery in the shape of fire, Kirk talking to a guy holding a guitar dripping blood, Rob fucking up a room (which made me laugh more than it should, I couldn't stop talking about it. I MEAN, THE CEILING WAS CRUMBLING, HOW COOL IS THAT?!) and Lars giving him a look, reenforcing (probably ironically, since I recently read he was an awesome guy) the image that people have of him being an asswipe.
He then starts enjoying the concert, then gets called to pick up something very important for Metallica, "something they need", gets to the car, swallows a pill and, supposely, starts tripping balls, the world goes to shit, rioters fight police officers, an horseman hangs people and fights him, he grabs the "thing they need", the bag, he burns himself, makes friends with a walking doll and then fucks up an entire city with three slams of a sledgehammer, before delivering the package. Jesus Christ.
So what to make of it? In my theory, the story is still as fucked up as it seemed in the last paragraph, I was only able to relate it to the moive/concert.
The song order makes the story.
Probably I'm going to be wrong in a lot of ways and make some big big stretches. But hey, at least I tried?
Creeping Death: Intro for the concert, not related to the story/The very maximum, introduction the Doll, hanging on the van's mirror by the song's ending. (stretch)
For Whom The Bell Tolls: If I remember right, we almost don't see Trip in this one, only see him leave the garage. I think he takes the pill here? If he does, it helps my theory. It may mean that "the bell started tolling" for him, meaning his time was coming. And though he didn't die, well, I'm sure he didn't expect what happened.
Fuel: We see Trip on a time limit, looking at the clock, going full throttle on a road he doesn't even notice it's empty. So the song is about adrenaline, speed, I think it makes sense.
Ride the Lightning: The song is about both a death sentence (electric chair, duh) and a nightmare (Waken by horrid scream/Freed from this frightning dream) and it is around this time he gets hit by another car, falling in slow motion for the rest of the song. So the death sentence part because it was a serious accident and the nightmare part because that's where his real adventure begins.
One: I don't know if I'm making a stretch or not here, but I won't always go for the deep meaning of the songs, like in One, which is based on the novel Johny Got His Gun. In this one, I only took the litteral meaning of the word and a piece of the lyrics. Because in this part Trip finally realises he's alone and something is wrong (Now the world is gone I'm just One). He also sees a horse dragging a cop and looking into his soul.
The Memory Remains: This one keeps me up at night, this is the part he sees the great mob running but continues to follow his path. Probably just the "Gone insane" part? Dunno, big stretch.
Wherever I May Roam Intro: There are two ways this one can go: Either it meant that he roamed and ended up being in between a giant group of rioters and a giant group of cops while a horseman in a gas mask appears or it was just a great intro for ending up being in between a giant group of rioters and a giant group of cops while a horseman in a gas mask appears. My money is on the second one.
Cyanide: This is where we get to know the horseman. He hangs one of his own on a lamp post and then starts chasing Trip. So my guess is (Death angel's kiss/Brings final bliss/.../Your death black wings/.../A concrete angel lit right down) that he was an angel of death. Trip loses The Doll at this point.
...And Justice For All (please do read this with James' voice saying it before the solo, in the movie. I can't stop thinking about it because it was so awesome): We see the Angel of Death's justice: hanging around people in bridges and lamp posts. Although I may not be used the right words to make you see it, I don't think it is a stretch. Trip finds The Bag at this point.
Master of Puppets: Well, we see a group of rioters follow Trip by the horseman's command, how much more of a Master for them Puppets can you be?
Battery: The whole damn song is about brute power and ripping apart people and being crazy. And we hear this while TRIP SETS HIMSELF ON FIRE AND STARTS KICKING AND PUNCHING PEOPLE. So yeah, fucking Battery.
Nothing Else Matters: While this is a song that we think of when you're with your Significant Other or thinking about your love interest, I think I can make the stretch of a soft song meaning that Trip survived the burns and the beating, saved by The Doll. So yeah, a bit of a stretch, but I can live with this one.
Enter Sandman: I think I'll have a hard time explaining this one. This is during the final bout, the confrontation between Trip and the Angel of Death. Was it easy? No, it was a nightmare. And what does Enter Sandman sepaks of? Nightmares, bad dreams. It also helps that this is always Metallica's final song in the shows, not counting the encores. So I think it adds up. The Doll plays a big part here, but I don't remember it 100%.
Trip's energy slams in the dream world were so powerful that they fucked up Metallica's stage and burnt a crew member (even though they continued playing). So Angel of Death defeated he can go back to the concert and deliver The Bag.
It's convenient that Trip is on his way with The Bag while James says the stage reminds him of Kill 'Em All and they play Metallica's fucking debut song:
Hit the Lights: The song is played on dim lights, poor environment, like their first shows, while The Bag is on his way to the stage.
The song ends and Trip delivers The Bag, takes a sit. Spotlight on The Bag. BAM, roll credits, Orion, everybody goes "what the fuck man?".
Orion: This one has a theory that people seem to love and that includes me. The Bag, spotlight on it, Orion's (the song with the most awesome Bass on the Universe) bass starting to play... Yes, I think The Bag is Cliff Burton, the late Metallica's Bass Player, the Bass Guru and revolutionary. "Something the band needs", eh... Well, puts a smile on my face!
I think Rob is awesome and he is definetly part of Metallica. That's why I like to think of "Something they need" in the way of missing and needing him as a friend, as a person, as their mate and not only as their bass player. So yeah Cliff, I hope you also got the message. I'm sure they made sure you get it anyway.
BONUS: U.S.A. release date was on the anniversary of Cliff's passing. Coincidence? (R.I.P. Cliff Burton)
So as I said this theory served only to link the "movie" part to the "concert" part. Finding out what The Bag was came out as a bonus. I still don't know what The Doll is supposed to mean, unfortunetly. Maybe it was only the van's ornment and when Trip took the pill it "came to life". I don't know, I'd like something better, more thought through like the rest of the movie.
I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did and I hope you enjoyed the read also!
Me out.
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