An avid fan of New Wave of British Heavy Metal metal, Lars Ulrich (born December 26, 1963, in Gentofte, Denmark) decides he wants to start a band. So he places an ad in a Southern California magazine called Recycler, which reads: "Drummer looking for other metal musicians to jam with, Tygers of Pan Tang, Diamond Head and Iron Maiden."

James Hetfield and his buddy Hugh Tanner answer.

"I had been taking piano lessons, but guitar was definitely something I desired because you could move around a little easier. All of the bands that I liked had them. I just thought playing guitar was something I wanted to do. [When I finally got my first guitar] I had no idea how to play it at first. It's like there are six strings, and they just make one noise. Then I figured out you had to put your hands down, hold the strings down, and make different noises."

— James, Guitar One, 1997

"When we used to hang out over at Lars's house, he used to have an un-put together drum set lying in the corner and he'd always go, 'I'm gonna start a band.' We're like: 'Yeah, sure you are, Lars. Yeah, right.'"

— Brian Slagel (Metal Blade Records), Frayed Ends of Metal

"Lars had a pretty crappy drum kit, with one cymbal. It kept falling over, and we'd have to stop, and he'd pick the fucking thing up. He really was not a good drummer."

— James, on his first jam with Lars, Playboy Magazine, 2001

Lars Ulrich

James Hetfield

Although Lars doesn't even have a band, he still asks friend Brian Slagel (founder of Metal Blade Records), if he can record a track for the upcoming compilation album, Metal Massacre. Slagel agrees, and Lars recruits James Hetfield to sing and play guitar.

"Certainly the first time Lars and I got together for a jam [forming a band] didn't happen, there was no vibe. And when he came to me with an opportunity to be on a record, that was pretty interesting. At that time in my life I wanted to play music, I didn't want to work."

— James, Kerrang! Legends: Metallica

"One of the biggest things about hooking up with Lars was that he had lots of music I never heard. He was Danish. He had European stuff. The hardest stuff I had heard was Kiss, Aerosmith, just some of the punk stuff. Ramones, Sex Pistols. AC/DC, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden. But then when he brought in some of the more underground stuff, I was blown away."

— James, mtv.com, 2003

Still without a name for his band, Lars chats with friend Ron Quintana, who is brainstorming names for a fanzine. Among Quintana's proposed names are "Metal Mania" and "Metallica." Lars convinces Ron to name the fanzine Metal Mania and "steals" the name "Metallica" for his band.

Among Lars's own ideas for the band name were: Blitzer, Grinder, Helldriver, Thunderfuck, as well as "Lars Ulrich" spelled backwards.

"Lars would visit S.F. and crash on my floor. He broke my cassette deck by constantly playing and rewinding my best live Diamond Head tapes, but always brought enough cool tapes and 'zines to make me forget about any problems."

— Ron Quintana, "San Francisco Heavy Metal. The Birth of a Scene"

Metallica promoting Metal Mania fanzine, 1983-1984

Resident psychotic longhair and deviant behaviorist Dave Mustaine answers another of Lars's Recycler ads looking for a guitar player. Upon hearing Dave's playing and seeing all of his expensive gear, Lars and James sign him up.

"Before the rehearsal, I went to Lars's house and he played me the tape of 'Hit the Lights.' I said, 'This song sucks! You need more guitar solos.' And Lars went, 'Oh, fuck, reeeeaaallly?!' I convinced him that I should be in the band and went to rehearsal. I was tuning up when all the other guys went into another room. They weren't talking to me, so I went in and said, 'What the fuck? Am I in the band or not?' And they said, 'You've got the gig.' I couldn't believe how easy it had been and suggested we get some beer to celebrate."

— Dave on his memories of the first Metallica rehearsal, Metallica: Unbound

Metallica record their first song "Hit The Lights" for Metal Massacre I. The lineup includes: James Hetfield—vocals, rhythm guitar, bass; Lars Ulrich—drums; Dave Mustaine—lead guitar; Lloyd Grant—credited with a guitar solo.

"I think that James and I are very much the same man. I think we grabbed an angel, split him in half, and both of us are possessing that power."

— Dave on playing in Metallica, Music Connection

1. Dave Mustaine
2-3. James and Dave
4. Lars and Dave strike a typical pose
5. Dave, Lars, and James
6. Ron and Dave

Metallica: James, Ron, Lars, Dave

Metallica play their first live show at Radio City in Anaheim, CA, with the lineup: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Ron McGovney, Dave Mustaine.

James thinks that the band can't make it without a frontman, and that singing and playing guitar at the same time doesn't look right. After a few unsuccessful practice sessions with another singer, Sammy Dijon, they decide that James should stick to singing and being the frontman, while Dave will handle all the guitar parts.

Setlist:

1. Hit the Lights
2. Blitzkrieg
3. Helpless
4. Jump in the Fire
5. Let it Loose
6. Sucking My Love
7. Am I Evil?
8. The Prince
9. Killing Time

"The first gig was at Radio City and I was just singing. There were a lot of people there, maybe 200, because we had all my school friends and all Lars's and Ron's and Dave's buddies. I was really nervous and a little uncomfortable without a guitar and then during the first song Dave broke a string. It seemed to take him eternity to change it and I was standing there really embarrassed. We were really disappointed afterwards. But there were never as many people at the following shows as there were at that first one."

— James, Kerrang! Legends: Metallica

"Crowd: ca. 75
Pay: $15
Remarks: 1st gig ever. Very nervous. Only band. Dave broke a string on the first song. Played so so!!! Went down pretty good."

— Lars, Gigs with "Metallica" diary

Flyer for the first live show

Metallica opens for Saxon at the Whisky. They owe the gig to Motley Crue, who give up the spot as the opening band because as Tommy Lee and Vince Neil put it, they "are getting too big to open." Tommy and Vince introduce Ron McGovney to the booking person and Metallica ends up playing two shows this night. It is a major break for them.

"Crowd: ca. 250
Pay: $16
Remarks: Supporting Saxon. Great sound this time. Dave and me played great. Ron and James so-so. Went down pretty good. Had a good time but never met Saxon."

— Lars, Gigs with "Metallica" diary

"I saw Metallica open up for Saxon at the Whisky, and James was just singing, no guitar, and wearing leopard-skin pants. They were not very good! It was a trip!"

— John Bush (Armored Saint, Anthrax), Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica

"Saxon could also use a fast, hot guitar player of the Eddie Van Halen ilk. Opening quartet Metallica had one, but little else. The local group needs considerable development to overcome a pervasive awkwardness."

— Metallica's first ever review by Terry Atkinson, LA Times, March 29, 1982

"Some of Metallica's first venues had a requirement for a band's set to be composed entirely of original songs. Since Metallica hadn't written enough songs to comply with this policy, they weren't exactly forthcoming about the origins of these catchy NWOBHM cover versions they played. While never telling anyone that they actually wrote these songs, they didn't actively discourage such beliefs."

— The Frayed Ends of Metal

1-3. Opening for Saxon at the Whisky, March 27, 1982 (note James without the guitar)
4. Flyer for that show

Metallica record their first demo, known as Power Metal, a name inspired by the band's early business cards, printed by Ron McGovney.

"I went to make Metallica business cards to send to the club promoters along with our demo. The card was supposed to just have the 'Metallica' logo and a contact number. But I thought it looked too plain and decided it should say something under the logo. I didn't want to put 'hard rock' or 'heavy metal,' so I coined the term Power Metal, I thought it had a nice ring to it. No band had used that term before as far as I knew. I remember bringing the business cards to the band and Lars got so pissed off at me. He said, 'What the hell is Power Metal?! I can't believe you did such a stupid thing! We can't use these cards with the words Power Metal on it!'. So, that's how that tape became known as the Power Metal demo."

— Ron McGovney, 1997

"Power Metal" business card (The phone number is disconnected.)

Metallica play at Backbay High School (Lars's school), Costa Mesa. It's James's first gig on rhythm guitar. They play a full 10-song set, but the show is not very successful, since the audience aren't metal fans and the hall is almost empty before the end of the set.

"Crowd: 200 -> 40
Pay: 0
Remarks: Absolutely a day to forget!! Played like shit, went down like shit, and sounded like shit. Really awfull."

— Lars, Gigs with Metallica diary

Metallica play gigs around L.A.

"5 June 1982, Radio City, Anaheim, CA
I played like shit!! Fucked up alot!! The others were pretty good. Went down so-so!!

3 July 1982, Concert Factory, Costa Mesa, CA
Shitty gig. Played 2nd, were suppose to headline. Everything was very rushed, both before and during the gig and played like fucks. Shortened set, coz of the times. Great pay!!

5 July 1982, Troubadour, Hollywood, CA
Played okay, but went on late, so everybody had gone home. Nothing really went down, just a normal gig.

15 July 1982, Party, Hunnington Beach, CA
First party ever played. Set up in a backyard. Played in the dusk hours around 8pm. Played pretty good and was very relaxed. Pigs broke it up early. Got very drunk and very sick.

2 August 1982, Troubadour, Hollywood, CA
Startin' to get our shit together. Played pretty well. Went down great. Had Eric Carr of Kiss there. Juhuuuuuuu.

4 August 1982, Whisky, Hollywood, CA
Played just great. Went down great. Overall a great gig. No fuckups. With Steeler and Sound Barrier.

18 August 1982, Troubadour, Hollywood, CA
Great gig. Played with Ratt. First ever encore.

27 August 1982, Whisky, Hollywood, CA
SHIT!! Ron broke a bass string on 'PL' and the rest of the it was just awfull. Started at 9:15 with no one around.

29 August 1982, HJ's, N. Hollywood, CA
Had a great time. Was all fucked up. Played like shit, but who cares. 2nd ever encore. Yeah."

— Lars, Gigs with Metallica diary

Flyers from the 1982 L.A. gigs

Metal Massacre I hits the streets; the first pressing incorrectly lists the band as "Mettallica." The boys are not happy.

This version of "Hit The Lights" is recorded on a borrowed four-track cassette player.

"'Where's your 16-track tape?' Brian Slagel asked. I can still see his face when we put our cassette into his hand. 'Oh, no!' he said, which might make it clear why 'Hit The Lights'didn't sound so good."

— James, Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica

Metal Massacre I with the band billed as "Mettallica" (and also Ron's last name misspelled)

Metallica record their second demo, No Life 'Till Leather, featuring seven new songs: "Hit The Lights," "Mechanix," "Motorbreath," "Seek and Destroy," "Metal Militia," "Jump In The Fire" and "Phantom Lord."

"The first time the band kinda realized how my singing should be was on the first demos—'Jump In The Fire,' 'Hit The Lights,' 'The Four Horsemen,' and 'Motorbreath.' When that song came up I just kinda fucking yelled it, screamed it. Then everyone said, 'Hey, man, that's how you should sing the other ones,' and I was like, 'Well, actually I feel a lot more comfortable singing that way. I never thought you guys would think like that.' And from then on I'd just yell."

— James, Metallica: In Their Own Words

No Life 'Till Leather demo tapes (the first one with the song list handwritten by Lars)

First San Francisco show, at The Stone.

"The heaviest band in the U.S. of A., Metallica, rampaged into the City By The Bay and spread more havoc than the 1906 earthquake!"

— Brian Lew (Whiplash fanzine) begins his review of that night

"As they peered into the frenzied blur of sweaty bodies and bobbing heads, the band realized this was their night. Armed with Metallica's demo tapes, crazed fans had mastered the band's entire catalogue of songs and were singing along. L.A. had never been like this."

— Metallica Unbound

"It was our first encounter with real fans. It was like, these people are here for us, and they like us, and they hate the other bands—and we like that 'cause we hate them too. These people appreciated us for our music, and not because of how we looked which was how L.A. was."

— James, Metallica Unbound

"Crowd: 200
Pay $10
Remarks: First real great gig. Real 'bangers, real fans, real encores. Had a great fuckin weekend. Fucked up alot on stage!!"

— Lars, Gigs with "Metallica" diary

Setlist from the first show in S.F.

Lars and James attend a show at the Whisky A Go-Go and see a band called Trauma that features bass player Cliff Burton. Burton uses a wah-wah pedal to create a sound unlike any the guys have heard from a bass before. Unhappy with Metallica's current bass player Ron McGovney, Lars and James are blown away by Cliff's stage presence and playing. They pursue Cliff after the show and ask him to join Metallica. Cliff declines. By the end of the year, though, Cliff agrees to join Metallica only if the band moves to San Francisco.

"Ron didn't contribute anything, he just followed."

— James, Metallica Unbound

"We heard this wild solo going on and thought, 'I don't see any guitar player up there.' It turned out it was the bass player, with a wah-wah pedal and this mop of hair. He didn't care whether there were people there. He was looking down at his bass, playing."

— James, Rolling Stone, 1993

Cliff Burton

Metallica headline at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. Exodus opens for them and they meet guitarist Kirk Hammett for the first time. The show is recorded on a boom box set up in front of the speakers, a recording that comes to be known as the Live Metal Up Your Ass demo.

"Within the first few minutes of seeing them, I thought to myself, 'These guys are so goddamn original, but that guitar player isn't so hot, they should get me.' That was really strange because two or three months later I got that phone call to join."

— Kirk, Kerrang! Legends: Metallica

"I was speaking to Lars in the dressing room, and he just got undressed in front of me and it just seemed so bizarre. I remember James as a man of few words until you added alcohol."

— Kirk, on his first impression of James and Lars that night, Kerrang! Legends: Metallica

"I remember the first time I heard Kirk. He had a feel that very few young players have—very rooted in European metal. It was really nice to hear an American guy who didn't play like Eddie Van Halen."

— Lars, Guitar World, October 1991

The following night they take part in a benefit for Ron Quintana's Metal Mania. This is Ron McGovney's last appearance with Metallica.

The Old Waldorf show, November 29, 1982:

1. Dave backstage
2. James and Ron onstage
3. Flyer for that show
4. Live Metal Up Your Ass demo tape

First jam session with Cliff Burton in El Cerrito, at the home of Mark Whittaker, Exodus's manager—the soon-to-be infamous Metallica mansion.

"Then we came up here and played with Cliff who just blew the doors off of anyone we've ever played with. He's the new Steve Harris of metal."

— Dave Mustaine, Metallica Unbound

1-4. First jam with Cliff in El Cerrito
5-6. First photo session with Cliff, after the jam

Metallica: James, Lars, Cliff, Dave

1. This photo was taken the night before Dave was sent home.