“I spent six months listening only to AC/DC – and it changed my entire approach to songwriting”: How Metallica embraced simplicity – and Mötley Crüe's producer – to create their 30 million selling monster hit

James Hetfield.

When Metallica started out in Los Angeles in 1981, their uncompromising music – super-fast and super-heavy – made them outcasts in a rock scene dominated by glam metal stars such as Ratt and Mötley Crüe.

Metallica relocated to San Francisco in 1982, and rose to prominence as the kings of thrash metal, leading a revolution in heavy music.