Yeah, I agree. Metallica certainly had quite a large impact on the metal world and they deserve respect for that.
....and so did Slayer
....and so did Megadeth
....and so did Venom
Iron Maiden and the rest of the bands that came out of the NWOBM movement (everybody always forgets about Samson and Angelwitch) started all of that, though. It wasn't until this music hit San Fran that bands like Metallica started to pop up to try their hand at this new music coming out of Europe. Granted, Old Metallica probably did this better than the other bands that were out at the time and I'm still a huge fan of those albums (Kill Em All through And Justice) However, once the movement died in the US (with the rise of grunge and american alternative) many of the American bands either died off or changed their style to try and fit in with the new pop-culture trends. Metallica did the later. When metal and thrash was big, Metallica was dark and heavy. When grunge and alt became big, Metallica was light and Bob Seger-y....and THEN when hardcore and metalcore bands started popping up a few years back, Metallica released St. Anger...another rather feeble attempt to ride the coattails of a newer musical movement.
All the while, Iron Maiden made their music...the way they wanted to make it.
Even Megadeth (a holdover from the 80's thrash scene) stayed true to their fans and their music.
The guys in Metallica saw therapists, forgot how to play their instruments and whined about people downloading their music.
Both Iron Maiden and Megadeth are touring this year btw...still playing THEIR brand of music.
