Shit Hits The Sheds 1994: Binging and Purging Across The USA tour, with Danzig and Suicidal Tendencies in support. On the last date of the tour, in Miami, Rob Halford joins the band for a rendition of a Judas Priest's classic, "Rapid Fire."

Shit Hits The Sheds tour

1,4. Tampa, FL
2,3. Las Vegas

Metallica head to the Arctic Circle to play the "Polar Beach Party"—the largest concert the North had ever seen—sponsored by Molson Breweries. The show takes place in Tuktoyaktuk, a tiny settlement in northern Canada where the only way in or out of the area is by charter flights. Massive fuel heating units have to be utilized so the instruments will work.

"The weirdest venue would have to be the Molson Ice Beach Party in the tundra in Canada. It was the show where 500 contest winners got flown to this little Eskimo village and it was us, Hole and Veruca Salt, and we played this tent in an area that was the last camp before the North Pole. We played for a bunch of contest winners and Eskimos who were huffing gasoline. It was all of 20 degrees in this tent."

— James, The Metal Hammer Magazine, 1999

"The logistics of doing a show in the Arctic Circle were immense. You then have to think that you're inside the Arctic Circle in the late Summer and that when the snow moves in they are snowed in for 8 months. So I was bringing in 700 people to an infrastructure that could only support 40% of that amount. So you bring in extra food and water... nobody knows you're doing it of course. I planned for being snowed in."

— Tony Smith, tour manager, So What!

Tuktoyaktuk

Metallica pay tribute to Motorhead at the Whiskey A Go-Go. They call themselves "The Lemmys" and play seven Motorhead covers at Lemmy's 50th birthday party.

"They all dressed up as me, and I thought that was great. They all had long black wigs on and penciled-in mustaches, and a tattoo drawn on one arm, with a black marker. Besides, they got their tattoos on the wrong arm, too, every one of them."

— Lemmy Kilmister, VH1.com

"After some initial hesitation, I also don the wig and shades (try playing Motorhead songs when you have a 3 foot black wig on and can't see shit!!), and as we walk towards the Whisky stage (for the first time since supporting Saxon in 1982!!) the fucken look on people's faces... classic. I start 'Overkill,' immediatley swallow half the wig, but... who gives a fuck and off we go!"

— Lars, So What!

Metallica and Motorhead go back a long way...

"In 1981 I ended up running some of the Motorhead appreciation stuff and also following them around on tour. A few years later when they were in LA, I went down to the hotel room to see Lemmy. I started drinking and ended up passed out in his room having thrown up over myself. He took a picture of that and put it on one of Motorhead's records."

— Lars, Kerrang! Legends: Metallica

1-3. The Lemmys rehearsing the day before the birthday gig
4. Jason and Lemmy (notice the ace of spades tattoo on Jason's right arm)
5-6. The Lemmys and the Lemmy

Metallica enter the studio to begin recording their sixth album—Load. They have enough material for two CDs and contemplate releasing a double album.

"Our attitude was we don't give a fuck what people think. So why should we start now?"

— James, MTV.com

"Nowadays it's a little easier to figure out where some of the feelings are coming from. But still, it's mass confusion. I look at it and go, 'Wow, I might be really messed up but I sound pretty good. I sound like I know what I'm talking about.'"

— James, "Load Perspective" interview, 1996

Premier of "Until It Sleeps" video on MTV.

"Until It Sleeps" video

Load is released. The cover features an Andres Serrano photograph called "Blood and Semen III". For this image, Serrano pressed a mixture of bovine blood and his own semen between two sheets of plexiglass.

"We've nearly killed each other and others around us when we've made records before. I think we all felt that we wanted to see if we could come out of this somewhat alive."

— Lars, MTV.com

"'Load' was the working title of one of the songs... we were looking for a word that had a lot of meanings, that could mean 20 different things, that fits in with the vagueness of the whole record. That's more thought-provoking..."

— Lars, April 1996, Metallica: In Their Own Words

Load

Metallica headline the Lollapalooza festival. Other bands on the bill include Soundgarden, the Ramones, and Rancid.

"We did Lollapalooza 'cause we wanted to and it was cool. It was as simple as that. We got to see a few great bands and make some new friends. We played in front of some people who came to see us and some people who wouldn't normally listen to us. That's what it's all about for us—writing songs, getting it together then playing in front of people and watching their faces."

— James, 1996

"I like the vibe of Lollapalooza. I've been to every single one; I've actually jammed at a few, too."

— Kirk, Guitar World, 1996

On August 3—James's birthday—Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead joins the band onstage and performs "Overkill" with them.

Lollapalooza 1996

Poor Touring Me tour through Europe and America.

During the tour Kirk tests onstage durability of his guitars; some of them survive, some don't....

"Kirk's guitar shot:

When Kirk throws his guitar on yellow tape marks. He then picks up a hand gun. Points it with a down arm motion. Then a loud flash hit explodes from under the guitar. I will show Kirk the spike marks on the stage. Thanx. Doug."

— So What!

"Q: What makes you laugh?

James: Kirk putting his make-up on before a show. That makes me laugh."

— So What!

Poor Touring Me tour

Metallica perform at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards, but lose the Best Rock Video award to the Smashing Pumpkins. Scheduled to play "King Nothing," the band change their minds at the last minute and brake into "Last Caress" and "So What?"

"We needed to wake people up at the show! We felt it was a little boring, and we had been daring each other to do that for years."

— James, MTV.com

"There's plenty of people interviewing me saying, "You're not as angry as you used to be, blah, blah, blah. What are you going to do? Now that you're happy, you can't write lyrics," or crap like that. You know, there's still ugliness down under."

— James

MTV Video Music Awards, 1996

3. Jason and Kirk during "So What"
4. James takes a swing at the microphone
5. Lars (in the center) throws one of his drums towards the audience
6. James with Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) and Courtney Love (Hole)

Lars marries Skylar Satinstein in Las Vegas, NV.

"When I proposed, we'd known each other for 254 days, so I had it set up that they would bring out 255 roses—one for each day we had knows each other, and one for the future."

— Lars, Metallica: In Their Own Words

Lars and Skylar

Metallica play "King Nothing" on the American Music Awards and win for best metal/hard rock album.

"I would like to thank this man, James Hetfield, for putting on his best suit and being my best man at my wedding last night."

— Lars, during the acceptance speech

American Music Awards 1997

James marries Francesca Tomasi.

"Metallica is the fucking world to me—it always has been, and that's not going to change. Whoever becomes my partner through life has got to deal with that. I'm married to Metallica."

— James, Guitar World, 1996

"I was trying to sneak the [engagement] ring out onto the table without her looking. But that never really worked. So I told her she had some spinach in her teeth and to go into the bathroom to sort it out. Hur, hur! Then when she came back I had the ring set up with a note and all that fancy bit... she thought it was a joke, of course."

— James, Metallica: In Their Own Words

In the middle of recording Reload, Metallica takes five days off and flies to Europe to fullfil earlier obligations to play at the summer festivals. They play three back-to-back shows at the Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, Blind Man's Ball in Germany, and Reading Festival in England. The tour is dubbed Blitzkrieg 97.

"We always do this sorta shit, we'll book stuff like this and then all of a sudden it's like, 'OK, we gotta make the record, rehearse, I'm getting married, I mean, what the fuck are we doing here?' And then it always happens that when we actually do them, they are the greatest."

— James, So What!

On their way to Europe, the band misses their connecting flight and loses their baggage.

"[On a short tour like this] we have to carry everything we want to wear onstage with us, so if we hadn't found those bags quickly, then we would've been wearing what we had on the plane onstage, too. That would've been smelly and not quite metal really."

— Jason, So What!

Blitzkrieg 97 tour

Metallica play their first ever acoustic set at Neil Young's annual benefit for the Bridge School for children with severe speech and physical impairments. They perform Low Man's Lyric (for the first time), Helpless, Tuesdays Gone (Jerry Cantrell on guitar), Poor Twisted Me, Fade To Black, The 4 Horsemen, Nothing Else Matters, and Last Caress (John Popper on harmonica).

"Everyone performs for free, all moneys go to the school and the spirit of the day encourages experimental strums in the dark from artists who rarely perform the acoustic sets that are the show's trademark."

— Steffan Chirazi, Yahoo! Launch

"James: Hey Neil, we can bring guns on stage, right?

Neil Young: Sure, as long as they're acoustic!"

— at the Bridge School Benefit, So What!

"Frontman James Hetfield kept a lyric sheet by his side throughout the set. When he couldn't remember how one song ended, he brought it to an abrupt close, much to the amusement of his bandmates. All four members seemed good-humored and relaxed throughout their performance, as though resigned to the fact that an acoustic set by the quintessential plugged-in heavy metal band was going to be odd no matter what."

— William Friar, Contra Costa Times, 1997

11th Annual Bridge School Benefit

To celebrate the release of their new album, Metallica play a free concert at CoreStates Arena parking lot in Philadelphia. The place has been chosen by fans who were asked to suggest the location through an 800 number and the band's website. The gig is dubbed the "Million Decibel March."

"We asked our fans to find us a place to play, and they came through. And now on Nov. 11 we're going to blow them away."

— James, Electra Records's statement

"It was part burlesque show, part rugby match, and hearing-loss loud. The band was profane on stage and charming before the show. Police pronounced the fans better behaved than a Philadelphia Eagles crowd. And neighbours who feared the worst from the self-styled Loudest Band in the World complained more about the sound from the news choppers circling overhead."

— Philadelphia Inquirer

Free concert in Philadelphia

ReLoad is released. The image on the cover of ReLoad is also Andres Serrano's, called "Piss and Blood."

"If people think we've lost our minds, I think we're doing the right thing. These songs have definitely landed in a place we've never been to before, and that's great. I think it's good for people to expect the unexpected from us. At least you're provoking them and challenging them to think."

— Kirk, Guitar World, 1998

"It's the first time a woman's sung on a Metallica album... except for Kirk."

— James, on Marianne Faithfull's guest vocal on "The Memory Remains"

"Kirk's Top Five Stoopit Questions:

1. People asking me if the album is heavier.
2. People asking me who the fuck Marianne Faithfull is.
3. People asking me if we were really upside down in the video.
4. People asking me to explain the album cover.
5. People asking why it's called 'Unforgiven II.'"

— So What!, 1997

1. ReLoad
2-4. With Marianne Faithfull

Metallica perform on NBC's Saturday Night Live. They play "Fuel" and "The Memory Remains" with Marianne Faithfull.

Saturday Night Live performance

Metallica win Billboard Music Award: Rock and Roll Artist of the Year. They perform "The Unforgiven II."

1997 Billboard Music Awards

Metallica takes part in "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" radio show, transmitted from the KSJO studios in San Jose, CA. They call to chat with selected fans and perform an all-acoustic set. Their guests musicians include Dave Miles, Jim Martin, Gary Rosington, Pepper Keenen, Chris Issac, Les Claypool, Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kenney, and John Popper.

"Sing it at home everybody! I can't hear you!"

— James, during "Creeping Death"

"Oh, I start it, right? How's my hair?"

— Kirk, starting intro to "Nothing Else Matters"

"Tuesday's Gone" recorded during this show is later included on the Garage Inc. album.

"It was live from the radio show we did last year, and so there's all these people singing out of key. We gave Randy [Staub] the tapes of it and said, 'Here, mix this,' and he was like 'Holy shit.' There's 20 guys on it, and it had a great vibe."

— James, about "Tuesday's Gone"

"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" radio show.