**4.2. Interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup conflicts within Metallica's inner circle**

Although the dissimilarities have complemented Ulrich and Hetfield as human beings, and have created Metallica's innovation power, differences have also caused also remarkable disagreements between them. There has been a brotherly love-hate relationship, where creativity has been based on constant conflicts. Although they have had a lot of conflicts, they have supported each other in hard places. Furthermore, guitarist Kirk Hammett has been the middle man for Hetfield and Ulrich many times. His role has been important for the survival of the band. Hetfield says that he has competed with Ulrich from the first day on. This has made Metallica what it is. It has pushed the band to progress—"We did not just want to be better than every other band. We wanted to be better than each other". Thus, selfish individual interests have helped Metallica to progress. This has been an exhausting path, but it has produced results. Hetfield usually develops most of the riffs and Ulrich puts them together as songs. Typically, in their creative process, after Hetfield tells his view, Ulrich provides an opposite opinion—or vice versa. They say that this is not intentional, but the view on the same thing is different. Thus, whatever Metallica produces, it has been a constant tug of war and struggle. For this reason, Metallica uses the 80% of the total time to the first 10% of album. The band has experienced this as painful practice because visible results have to wait a long time. Metallica calls this delay as "Metal-time". The dispute ultimately ends up with a compromise that everyone can adapt to. Although the band speaks of compromises, it seems that in the 1980s and the early 1990s it was more a question of handling conflicts in a manner that combined competition and collaboration that resulted in completely new perspectives [12, 38, 41, 51, 53]. Letus examine more specific what conflicts have occurred within Metallica's inner circle during the band's lifecycle, and how these conflicts have been handled.

#### *4.2.1. Years 1981–1986: through the struggles to the ideal line-up*

He wanted to show his own ability to his very successful father. Besides of his father, Ulrich's competitive edge also comes from his tennis player history. Ulrich works spontaneously and quickly when he is excited about something. He will not be stopped by anything before he gets what he wants. He is confident and grans each chance without the fear of rejection. With most bands it was "if we get a record deal". With Ulrich it was "when we get a record deal". The word "no" bears little meaning to Ulrich. He lives in the moment. The America's goal-

Ulrich had the clearest view of Metallica at the beginning of the band. He has been the engine for Metallica's ambition. Ulrich wanted Metallica to spread everywhere. He eats, sleeps and breathes Metallica. According to him, the only way to progress was to write and record an album that was bigger and more bombastic than the last. Satisfaction kills the progress. Ulrich's enthusiasm is likely to stem from his childhood—he was free to go to different gigs

Hetfield's and Ulrich's common ground is the struggle against the authorities, a strong desire for control, the need for constant progress, and love for heavy music. These four factors form the "Metallica spirit" that stems from Ulrich and Hetfield's intrapersonal conflicts. This spirit has not only enabled Metallica to succeed, but it has also kept the band alive in the midst of quarrels. Metallica has been regarded as a deranged self-centered band due to Ulrich and Hetfield's strong desire for control, which has caused considerable conflicts both within the band and with external stakeholders. Let us examine Metallica's conflicts within its inner cycle that consists of artists, and producer Bob Rock and performance coach Phil Towle, who

among other things, but he had to earn his money and lift there [12, 38, 42, 45, 52–54].

**4.2. Interpersonal, intragroup and intergroup conflicts within Metallica's inner** 

Although the dissimilarities have complemented Ulrich and Hetfield as human beings, and have created Metallica's innovation power, differences have also caused also remarkable disagreements between them. There has been a brotherly love-hate relationship, where creativity has been based on constant conflicts. Although they have had a lot of conflicts, they have supported each other in hard places. Furthermore, guitarist Kirk Hammett has been the middle man for Hetfield and Ulrich many times. His role has been important for the survival of the band. Hetfield says that he has competed with Ulrich from the first day on. This has made Metallica what it is. It has pushed the band to progress—"We did not just want to be better than every other band. We wanted to be better than each other". Thus, selfish individual interests have helped Metallica to progress. This has been an exhausting path, but it has produced results. Hetfield usually develops most of the riffs and Ulrich puts them together as songs. Typically, in their creative process, after Hetfield tells his view, Ulrich provides an opposite opinion—or vice versa. They say that this is not intentional, but the view on the same thing is different. Thus, whatever Metallica produces, it has been a constant tug of war and struggle. For this reason, Metallica uses the 80% of the total time to the first 10% of album. The band has experienced this as painful practice because visible results have to

oriented thinking was strange for him [12–14, 38, 41, 46, 48, 51].

have managed to get into inner circle.

**circle**

140 Organizational Conflict

The tensions within the band started already before the release of the first album in 1983, and even though the tensions contributed to creativity, the band also came close to splitting. No one was safe in the band; everyone was under the thread to be kicked out. Metallica's first lineup included drummer Ulrich and vocalist-guitarist Hetfield, lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist Ron McGovney. As McGovney felt that others were not honoring him, he resigned in 1982. He later admitted that he was not fully committed to Metallica. This was not okay for Ulrich and Hetfield—especially when McGovney was not a very skilled bass player. Ulrich and Hetfield were perfectionist who did not allow themselves to be comfortable. They demanded the same attitude from other band members and also from external stakeholders. They challenged Metallica to make everything as good as it could be. Ulrich and Hetfield found what they hoped for, Clive Burton as the new bassist. Metallica was like a speeding car without brakes. When Burton joined in the band it got a professional driver to better control energy [12, 38, 42, 53].

Hetfield and Ulrich thought that Metallica would not succeed with Dave Mustaine either. More versatile players were needed. There were other problems with Mustaine as well. He became unpredictable when drinking. The last drop was Mustaine driving their tour bus drunk into a ditch and endangering the whole band. Mustaine was kicked out from Metallica in 1983. According to Ulrich, Metallica was more important than relationships. Without kicking Mustaine out, Metallica would probably have died in internal conflicts. Metallica's charm was based originally on Mustaine. Ulrich did not like Mustaine's and Hetfield's macho-attitudes. When Mustaine was around, Hetfield paid less attention to Ulrich. After Mustaine left, Hetfield was able to take on his role in Metallica and was no longer shadowed by Mustaine. Mustaine was replaced by Kirk Hammett, who was a more easy-going than Mustaine. This dramatically changed the band's dynamics [12, 40, 42 46, 53].

At the time of the Ulrich-Burton-Hetfield-Hammett line-up, the band had four completely different powerful and individual personalities with totally different philosophies. When all the different ideas and characters were merged, the result was the most acclaimed line-up of Metallica. In addition, members of the band were influenced by very different types of music. The progress of Metallica's music was based on this equation. Metallica's second album, Ride the Lightning, was more sophisticated than its predecessor and began separating Metallica from other thrash bands. This immediate shift in musical maturity is widely credited to the talent Burton. Hammett also brought new musical dimensions to the band. Metallica's good pace was cut off by Burton's death in a bus accident in the fall of 1986, and that almost was the end of Metallica, too. The months preceding the tragedy were a golden age of Metallica. It was unstoppable both creatively and on stage. Many appreciate the Master of puppets released in 1986 as the Metallica's best album [12, 38, 42, 51, 52].

began to affect Metallica's members, as their lives were economically secure. On the other hand, egos grew even bigger than before. It was followed by pretending and talking bullshit

Conflicts as Springboard for Metallica's Success http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71579 143

After the Black album and its tour, Metallica has taken such daring and even senseless risks that have not been seen in the rock history. Whatever one thinks about Load and Reload albums in 1996 and 1997, and image changes, one thing is sure: Metallica has not chosen the safe path. However, it is generally acknowledged that Load and Reload contain several weak songs for the first time in Metallica's history. The musical fall is estimated to be because they did not have anything to oppose for the first time during their career. Until Black, they always had something to rage against. They were outsiders, but they won the war, and they did not have anything to conquer anymore. Furthermore, the band started experience friction about the changes in the looks of band members. Ulrich and Hammett were excited about abstract art and also dressed completely differently than before. Hetfield considered that the musical change was okay but did not accept the change in imago. For him and Newstedt, this period

In the late 1990s, Newstedt saw that the previously cohesive Metallica started to grow apart. According to him, earning money for 10 years had begun to drag the band into a vicious circle, and they were forgetting why Metallica exist. In addition, other members had other important things in life, such as families. They spent less time playing music together. Newstedt's Echobrain band was an essential reason for friction. Especially Hetfield disapproved Newstedt starting his own band alongside with Metallica. Newstedt stated that Hetfield's iron grip on Metallica was suppressing. Hetfield's response "other kinds of arrangements can be made" maddened Newstedt as the last straw. Newstedt left Metallica

In the millennium, Metallica's internal relationships had been in bad shape for a long time. The hidden mourning of Burton's death had been buried inside the band members and inflamed 15 years later to the point where Metallica was falling apart. The lone wolves did not work well together. Every band member wanted solitude. Unhandled issues that had been numbed for with various intoxicants started to surface. Rudeness, misunderstandings, jealousy and competition tore Ulrich and Hetfield apart when they argue whose band Metallica was. At this point, the conflicts had led Metallica's in a state that threatened the existence of the band. Metallica's manager Q Prime got external help for the arguing band. Phil Towle, a

Towle achieved a close and deep partnership with the members of Metallica. Hetfield was initially the most cautious about Towle's group therapy, and even suggested firing him. He felt uncomfortable when Towle was too involved with Metallica's work. Later he told that Towle was like an angel to him—a missing father who made him think of things. Towle managed to make the members of the band tell one another about their feelings daily. Ulrich

[12, 13, 42, 45, 46, 51].

in 2001 [13, 42, 45].

did not seem natural for Metallica [13, 42, 45, 53].

*4.2.3. Years 2000–2006: on the brink of a break-up*

performance coach, was hired for the job [12, 42, 45, 51].

### *4.2.2. Years 1987–1999: growing the biggest heavy metal band of the world*

Metallica's members dealt with Burton's death so that Burton himself would have wanted Metallica to go on. However, the band made their decision too fast and tried to drown their grief in work. Communication and soul-searching would have been needed. Before Burton's death Metallica was indestructible. Nothing bad could happen. The band escaped the reality, but Burton's death made things real. Death touched most Hetfield, to which Burton was like a big brother. Again, an important person for him died. Metallica's image and internal dynamics changed again greatly. Ulrich, Hetfield and Hammett used bullying their new bassist Jason Newstedt as a questionable form of therapy. Newstedt did not bring Metallica new the same way as Burton. This led to Newstedt being understated, which was most apparent in making and mixing …And Justice for All album in 1988, when the Newstedt's bass was muted almost inaudible [12, 38, 42, 46, 53].

On the stage, things went smoothly, but the behind the scenes the band members started to get annoyed with each other. During the Master of Puppets tour, egos grew especially with Ulrich and Hetfield, which concretized as a weak production and overly long songs in …And Justice for All album. The album made under the terms of Hetfield and Ulrich, and no one else inside or outside the band was listened to. However, the album sold well, and the audiences on the tour continued to grow. Metallica changed its style remarkably for the 1991 the Black album. Ulrich's comment after Black's release describes well the mentality of renewing the band: "As long as there is fun and challenge, we will continue. It is cool that we try not to get stuck on the same tracks. We get easily bored. We were experimenting on the new album a bit. As soon as it feels like working on an assembly line, the result is shitty" [12, 45, 46, 53, 55].

When Metallica was making Black, the band members fought with each other, but also with the producer Bob Rock. Rock started to question Metallica's music and the way of doing it. He whipped out Metallica's best potential. At this time, the sounds were important and invested on. In addition, the songs were simplified, shortened and slowed down compared to previous albums. Rock also got Hetfield to believe in his hidden vocal abilities. Rock was a perfectionist and their interests matched as Metallica wanted to become the biggest band in the world. Rock was the first outsider to enter the band's inner circle. All of them had their own ideas of ways to achieve a common goal, which naturally caused conflicts. The life for Rock was distressing with the stubborn and arguing Ulrich and Hetfield. According to Rock, the album was not easy or fun. Finally, he told the members of the Metallica that he would never work with them again. Later, however, it became clear that collaboration between Rock and Metallica would continue for more than 10 years. The Black album has sold around 30 million copies, which made Metallica a mega band. At this point, popularity began to affect Metallica's members, as their lives were economically secure. On the other hand, egos grew even bigger than before. It was followed by pretending and talking bullshit [12, 13, 42, 45, 46, 51].

After the Black album and its tour, Metallica has taken such daring and even senseless risks that have not been seen in the rock history. Whatever one thinks about Load and Reload albums in 1996 and 1997, and image changes, one thing is sure: Metallica has not chosen the safe path. However, it is generally acknowledged that Load and Reload contain several weak songs for the first time in Metallica's history. The musical fall is estimated to be because they did not have anything to oppose for the first time during their career. Until Black, they always had something to rage against. They were outsiders, but they won the war, and they did not have anything to conquer anymore. Furthermore, the band started experience friction about the changes in the looks of band members. Ulrich and Hammett were excited about abstract art and also dressed completely differently than before. Hetfield considered that the musical change was okay but did not accept the change in imago. For him and Newstedt, this period did not seem natural for Metallica [13, 42, 45, 53].

In the late 1990s, Newstedt saw that the previously cohesive Metallica started to grow apart. According to him, earning money for 10 years had begun to drag the band into a vicious circle, and they were forgetting why Metallica exist. In addition, other members had other important things in life, such as families. They spent less time playing music together. Newstedt's Echobrain band was an essential reason for friction. Especially Hetfield disapproved Newstedt starting his own band alongside with Metallica. Newstedt stated that Hetfield's iron grip on Metallica was suppressing. Hetfield's response "other kinds of arrangements can be made" maddened Newstedt as the last straw. Newstedt left Metallica in 2001 [13, 42, 45].
