The one Metallica album Kurt Cobain said he “loved”
As Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain died at such a young age, there are still many parts of his life that are shrouded in mystery.
Although Cobain was only in the public eye for a handful of years, he has left behind a legacy that continues to be the subject of documentaries, art exhibitions, and everything in between.
While, in many aspects, these are great ways to commemorate a career that defined a generation and brought grunge to the masses, many blanks will never be filled in.
Cobain was not only a voice of reason, fighting the good fight when nobody else in his position was, but he also had exquisite taste.
The full breadth of what Cobain listened to, unfortunately, will never be known. However, his 50 favourite albums of all time do make for splendid listening, and provide an insight into the sounds that made him tick.
Metallica are not a name that features on the list, and Cobain never spoke publically about his love of Metallica. However, the Nirvana singer was close friends with their guitarist, Kirk Hammett, who later revealed Cobain’s infatuation with his band.
Their first meeting came before Nirvana exploded into the big time and had only released Bleach on Sub-Pop. Although the album didn’t break the mainstream, it was a hit on the underground and found its way to Hammett, who became obsessed with the record. When Metallica next visited Seattle, the pair hung out, and their friendship began to blossom.
Hammett didn’t expect Cobain to like Metallica as much as he did, which was a pleasant surprise. Admittedly, Cobain did refuse to open for them on tour, but this was reportedly down to his dislike for fellow support act Guns N’ Roses rather than any issues with Metallica.
The Metallica guitarist once divulged, “When we recorded The Black Album, I was listening to this band that was on this independent record label. I was really into their first album. So I sat down with the singer. His name was Kurt. He said that one of his favourite albums was Ride The Lightning,” he added.
Although Ride The Lightning was his favourite record by Metallica, Hammett confirmed that ‘Whiplash’ from Kill’ Em All was Cobain’s favourite track by the group. Hammett told Rolling Stone, “He told me that himself. He came to one of our shows in Seattle, on the Black Album tour.”
He continued: “I remember at one point, we were playing ‘Whiplash,’ and he looked at me and kept punching the air with his fist, and gave me a big thumbs-up sign. I was like, ‘Cool. Kurt, I know you love this song. This one’s for you!’ I knew Kurt kind of well, and I hung out with him quite a bit. He was a pretty big Metallica fan – I was surprised at how much of a Metallica fan he was. He loved Ride the Lightning. He loved that album.”
Metallica were not an influence on Nirvana’s sound, but their success did help make it possible for bands like them to achieve mainstream popularity. Both groups refused to conform to the norms and instead squeezed in unexpectedly through the back door without ever compromising en route.
Hammett thinks that way too, and once said: “Rock radio embracing our sound – our heaviness – helped the whole grunge thing take hold. Not long after The Black Album came out, Nirvana put out Nevermind. I like to think we had something to do with the acceptance of Nirvana.”
Cobain was a great appreciator of a broad range of music, as his love of Metallica shows. In addition to being a fan of the menacing sounds of Ride the Lightning, it’s likely to foresee that he found their unflinching attitude equally appealing.
