July Music – tarantula-nebula.com

Happy 4th of July !!

My album project for July of 2025 is Metallica’s Black album. I’d like to talk to you about it. As of now, I have ten of the twelve songs done. Ordinarily, after ten songs, the project would be finished. The last three months, I re-made Escape, Breakfast in America, and Pyromania. Each of those albums had ten songs each, but the Black album had twelve. I had an earlier start than usual, and I let things stall. I live in Southern California, and there’s been a lot of turbulence. National Guard units were federalized, Marines were deployed to Los Angeles, B2 bombers dropped bunker busters in Iran, and a budget bill went before Congress which would add about $4 trillion to the deficit. I didn’t rush this project. I was a little distracted here and there. Did I mention the richest guy in the world ended his bromance with the guy living in the White House?

I try my best to keep my politics separate from my art or entertainment. Sometimes, certain relevant footnotes need to be mentioned. When the Black album was released in 1991, the first Gulf War had just ended. One of my roommates was Jeb Chadwick (an assumed name). In 1990, during the war, patriotism was high. I lived in Fontana, California and American flags instantly flew in front of many homes. Saddam Hussein said Iraq would be tougher than Vietnam. He said it would be the “Mother of All Wars”, so the Army had a program. You could volunteer and be guaranteed to be in the same company as a friend who volunteered at the same time. I talked to my girlfriend, Lola (another assumed name), and Jeb spoke to his girlfriend. We were in agreement. We would volunteer to fight in Iraq. Me and Jeb had gone on a fun ski vacation before this. We joked to people, “It’ll be like another vacation, except we’ll be killing people.” Take it for what it is. Immaturity? Ignorance? I was taking an ethics class at a community college at the time. My teacher was against the Gulf War, and I was surprised. “I’m against the act of war, period,” was her explanation. It was difficult for me to mentally digest. On CNN, and everywhere else, it was such a popular war! They were even calling it a “just” war.

Fast forward back to August of 1991. The Gulf War had only lasted a couple of weeks. It went so poorly for Iraq that, at the end, their soldiers were surrendering to American media camera crews. There was no need for me and Jeb to volunteer into the Army. Jeb was now living at my house as a roommate, and we were fans of Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and other rock groups. We went to many concerts together, and we’d go see live music at the Whisky a Go Go on occasion. Tight in our group were Jake Flapjack and Will Black (also assumed names). I had a great party house in the rural part of town. This meant we could be loud, and we rarely had to worry about deputies being called to break things up.

We liked Metallica. Up until 1991, they were more of an underground band. They didn’t get radio play, and they weren’t featured on MTV. The first time I heard of Metallica was in the 1980s. When I was fourteen, I sold flowers on street corners. I worked with a lot of friends from school, including Jake Flapjack. We’d get picked up in a brown Ford Econoline van at a gas station near our houses, then we’d be taken to various street corners. One of the guys in the van had a boom box, and he’d play his Metallica tapes. This guy was a skater, and me and Jake skateboarded as well. Metallica became part of “the scene” and it wasn’t long before word of mouth spread. One neighbor bragged about their concerts based off of rumors. “A lot of Vietnam veterans go. There’s a row of amputees in wheelchairs.” Why? The song One from And Justice For All was about a soldier who lost everything after stepping on a landmine. “Landmine… has taken my sight, taken my speech, taken my hearing, taken my arms, taken my legs, taken my soul… Left me with life in hell…” It was a great song. Up until then, amateur guitar players would show off that they could play Stairway to Heaven, but One was becoming the new hot thing. The beginning of it begins in slow four-note increments. The song gets more complicated and faster, but it left beginners feeling they could play the song.

Let’s get back to August of 1991. Jeb is my roommate, we have a lot of parties, Jake lives not far down the street, and Will hangs out a lot. That’s our basic group, but there are many, many other people who are around on a regular basis. There was a lot of hype about Metallica’s new album. The place to buy concert tickets and new CDs was The Wherehouse. They had an event at midnight where many fans came to buy the Black album.

Let’s back up yet again. Our girlfriends, in general, listened to softer rock or glam rock. We would double date to see Poison, for example. They stayed away from the hard stuff. When it was the “guys’ night out”, we’d see Ozzy Osborne, and also the Clash of the Titans which featured Alice in Chains, Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. I remember drinking liquor in the parking lot of the Clash show and someone asked why Metallica wasn’t there. “They’re too big for this!” That was the consensus.

So we’re at the The Wherehouse at midnight waiting to buy the new Black album. There’s probably a dozen people in my group. We get our copies, then we drive to one of our hangouts. There’s a secluded creek at the foothills of Mt Baldy. We bring our liquor, and we play the new Black album loud on the stereo. It got a good reception, but the purists in the group were put off. There were a couple of slow songs, dare I say ballads. They weren’t expecting this. Overall, it was good, though.

I brought up the Gulf War for a reason. Like I mentioned, me and Jeb were prepared to volunteer to the Army. I mentioned that my ethics teacher was against that war. Well, there’s a song called Don’t Tread on Me. I heard it was anti-war, and it was a stand against the Gulf War. There’s a term I deal with on a regular basis called “cognitive dissonance” and I was experiencing it after the release of the Black album. I looked at all the flying American flags in my town, and I watched the positive coverage on CNN. How could anyone be against the Gulf War? George HW Bush was president at the time, and he seemed to be a war hero. However, as 1992 rolled around, it didn’t matter. He was getting attacked from all angles. It’s not common for an incumbent president to have a challenger within his party, but Pat Buchanan primaried for the GOP nomination. Ross Perot was a Texas billionaire, and he ran as a third-party candidate. Bill Clinton was an unknown at the time, and he had the most success, as he went on to become president. The Gulf War was in the past. “It’s the economy, stupid” became a popular mantra.

When I do these AI album projects, I like to watch old concerts, interviews, and documentaries. Somebody called Metallica “the gateway band”. If you weren’t into heavy metal before the Black album, you got sucked in. Like I said, I had watched a Poison concert with my girlfriend, Lola. It was a glam rock show, and we double dated. We used to listen to Pirate Radio which played a lot of Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and other softer, hair metal bands. The Black album grew in popularity and you started hearing Sad But True, Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, and Wherever I May Roam on the radio. There were videos played on MTV. Lola would NOT listen to Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning, or And Justice For All before this. I made her a mix tape, though, and I included songs from all of their CDs including the Black album. She loved it! The first two times I watched Metallica in concert was 1992. They had a mega tour with Guns N’ Roses. One week, I went alone with Lola to the LA Coliseum, and the following week, it was a “guys’ night out”. We rented a limo and watched them at the Rose Bowl.

Those were good times. There’s a term called “victim of success”. This happened with Metallica. When I started listening to them, And Justice For All had just come out. There were thrash metal skaters who had been listening to them since Kill ‘Em All. I’m sure it bugged some of them when a “new crowd” started claiming them as their own. After the Black album, the same phenomenon happened again. I watched Metallica headline Lollapalooza (nicknamed Metalpalooza) in 1995. They were very popular, and James Hetfield asked the crowd how many people were watching them for the first time. First, there were cheers from the newcomers. This was immediately followed by boos from the old crowd. Hetfield said, “Don’t boo them! The point is they eventually made it!” It was something along those lines.

Metallica had incredible commercial success. The Black album is by far the best selling heavy metal album ever. It sold more than twenty million copies, and ranks fourteenth best all time when compared to all genres. I have many notes, but I won’t get to everything here. I have to talk about the elephant in the room, though. After their commercial success, many people called them sellouts. In 1995, I was admitted to a good, small private college which focused on the humanities. There were a lot of great artists, and “sellout” was a term people avoided. You can look up “sellout” in the dictionary, or you can go online to see what Urban Dictionary says it is. I have my own personal definition, though. When you sell out, you’re compromising your artistic vision and expression for money. I respect Bryan Adams, and I like a couple of his songs. However, he was asked in an interview why he played the type of music he did. “It’s what the radio wants.” He said something along those lines. There’s nothing wrong with that! Somewhere out there at this very moment, there’s a guy driving a tow truck on his way to a stranded motorist on the side of a highway. He will change his tire, jump start his battery, tow his car, or do whatever else he was called to do. This is honorable, and I’m sure the tow truck driver isn’t pretending it’s his passion, and he’d do it even if he wasn’t getting paid. There’s nothing wrong with making a living! People do it all the time in music! I’ve watched my share of cover bands. They do it to pay the bills. The issue with Metallica was, “Did they compromise their artistic vision?” It’s possible to maintain your artistic vision AND still have commercial success. I believe Beck did this well. As for Metallica, I won’t lie and say we didn’t discuss it in my social group. I’ll tell you something, though. I went to the Coliseum show with Lola, and Metallica rocked her! Later, the fourth time I watched Metallica in concert, it was at Devore near my hometown. There was a large group of us, we watched from the lawn, and it was the first heavy metal show for my friend, Tom (an assumed name). For me, these shows were tame compared to Clash of the Titans. There were mosh pits, of course, but they weren’t as violent. Tom loved the show! He sang Enter Sandman at the top of his lungs, and I was proud!

Someone needs to let these guys know they made people happy! As I watched interviews and concerts for this project, I came across a couple of peculiar pieces. In one, they were on a late night talk show promoting a new album, and the skit required them to read “one star reviews” of the Black album. The members took turns, and they seemed to have fun with it until… one of the reviews called them sellouts. I swear I could see James Hetfield cringe, and it seemed to dampen the mood. In another piece, they were performing live in Brazil. James Hetfield broke down and stopped the show. He had an emotional talk with the crowd. He was feeling insecure about his guitar playing, and he came across as if he felt like he was a fraud. It was an awkward moment, but there was a group hug there in the middle of the stage, then they moved on.

This is not a hit piece, nor a slam piece, in any way. I like to talk about the good, bad, and ugly. I want to mention something weird, now. “Homer Cocktail” is the name I developed in 2008 when I joined YouTube. I play guitar, and it was used exclusively for my music at the beginning. At that time in life, my politics had shifted socially from the right to left. My dad’s side of the family remained conservative and I felt like I was becoming a black sheep. It felt like I was kicked to the curb, and left for dead. “Homer Cocktail” was the vehicle I used to help me cope. My music wasn’t polished, and I was popping out songs like pancakes. Today, I avoid watching a lot of my stuff because it makes me cringe. Nonetheless, I’ve never given serious thought to deleting my songs or my channel. I’ve always believed there was a purpose for it.

I didn’t only involve myself with music. I wrote books. I had a few different pseudonyms, and none were “Homer Cocktail”. I kept that name separate. Over the years, I started following indie authors. All these years later, I still have deep admiration for them. There’s a term in writing. It’s called “imposter syndrome”. It happens when you start thinking, “Am I really an author?” I believe James Hetfield was experiencing some sort of imposter syndrome when he had his incident in Brazil. How could that be? Metallica had utmost respect by the underground before the Black album was released. When they hired Bob Rock as a producer, they consciously aimed to have a more commercial sound. They nailed it, and radio loved to play their music.

Now, I have to wrap this up. Before this project, I’ve done three AI album renditions. I’ve enjoyed each one of them. For July, I contemplated Nirvana’s Nevermind, and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. I can’t tell you exactly why I chose the Black album. I wanted to want to do Rumours on the morning I made my decision. It’s a great album, the music varies from beginning to end, and there are male and female lead singers on different songs. I wanted to want it, like I said. The image of the Black album kept creeping into my head. I went with it.

I wanted to say that my experiences were genuine. One of the themes I’ve had with these renditions is, “This was the soundtrack of my life.” The Black album is no different. How does history look on a band? At the time The Knack released My Sharona in 1979, I’m sure they had fans who were positive they’d be bigger than Led Zeppelin. History has a way of looking more kindly on some bands more than others. Billy Squier was a popular artist before MTV, then he made a music video which made him look effeminate. He blamed that video for messing up his career. Metallica was hot, and I’m glad they were part of my youth. I caught the Metallica train at And Justice For All, and I departed after Load. I genuinely liked Load, by the way. These things happen in life. People come and go. TV shows come and go. Musical artists come and go. I’m glad the Black album was part of my life …

— Homer Cocktail
(Eddie)