One (Metallica song)
| One | |
|---|---|
| Metallica | |
| publication | September 6, 1988 (album) January 10, 1989 (single) |
| length | 7:27 |
| Genre (s) |
Thrash metal , speed metal |
| Author (s) |
James Hetfield , Lars Ulrich |
| Award (s) | Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance ( 1990 ) |
| album | ... And Justice for All |
One ( . English for " One ") is a semi-ballad of the US Metal - band Metallica from 1988. The 7:24 minutes long piece was by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich posted and for the first time as the fourth track on the album ... And Justice for All and later also released as a single with music video and is a adaptation of the novel Johnny Goes to War .
Music style and structure
The song begins like a heavy metal - ballad with carrying guitars and slow rhythms in the first part. The melody creates a very dark and melancholy atmosphere. In the second part the character of the song changes to a mixture of Thrash and Speed Metal with extremely fast double bass and rhythm guitar components.
Lyrically, the song is an adaptation of the novel Johnny Goes to War by Dalton Trumbo . In this a soldier loses sight, hearing, speech, arms and legs due to a land mine on the battlefield. He wishes to die, but cannot express it because of his injuries. He asks for help but no one can hear him.
Music video
Metallica shot their first music video for the song , which was very successful on the music broadcaster MTV . Directed by Mike Salomon and cameraman Bill Pope , the video was released in January 1989. According to the source of inspiration, it shows scenes from the film Johnny Goes to War . The main character loses arms, legs, eyes, ears and his voice in the First World War . In the film, as in the book written by Dalton Trumbo in 1939, he manages to communicate with the outside world by tapping Morse code on the bed with his head.
There are two different versions of this video: one is the official video, which also runs on the music channels, in which excerpts from the film Johnny goes to war can be seen; on the other hand a video in which one only sees Metallica. You can find both videos on the home video Two of One .
publication
After the official release of the album ... And Justice for All , the song was released in January 1989 as a single . A 7 "and a 12" record, a CD single and special editions with band posters were released. Furthermore, the releases for the various music markets such as North America, Europe and Japan differed in the songs contained on the B-side. The single, which was first released in the US, featured a cover version of The Prince , a song by Diamond Head from 1980, while the other releases featured various live versions of previously released songs by the band. This multitude of releases, critically received by the fans, was later defended by the band:
“ Well, it wasn't as blatant as some bands do it… it's not as though there were 13 different colored vinyl versions… At least we tried to do it tastefully and give everyone a different track with each format. "
The single reached gold status in the United States in 1990 for 500,000 units sold.
In 1999 the title was rearranged by Michael Kamen with orchestral accompaniment and recorded together with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The sounds of war can be heard during the orchestra prelude. This version is included on the live album S&M .
reception
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One was listed at number 7 in the Guitar World "Best Guitar Solos" due to its concise solo parts. In 1990 Metallica received their first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for One .
One was covered by the bands Korn on MTV ICON: Metallica and by Apocalyptica on cello .
Web links
- Lyrics and translation
- One at Allmusic (English)
- Publications of One at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.metallica.com: One , accessed June 28, 2011
- ↑ Videography Metallica. musicfanclubs.org, accessed March 10, 2010 .
- ↑ Mark putter Ford: Metallica Talking . Omnibus Press, 2004, ISBN 978-1-84449-099-8 , pp. 47 .
- ^ Certifications for Metallica: One. RIAA website, accessed March 10, 2010 .
- ↑ Chart positions: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ 100 Greatest Guitar Solos . Guitar World, accessed August 24, 2006.