Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider recently said on his podcast that he understands fans thinking Metallica gave in and went with the Grunge hairstyle in the 90’s on his podcast I Wanna Talk. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains were at the forefront of the Grunge movement.
“I’m not a day-one die-hard Metallica fan, so I wasn’t invested in ‘Kill ‘Em All’ or ‘Ride The Lightning’ or ‘Master Of Puppets’ the way you hardcore fans are. And I understand, when you’re that invested, how changes can bother you. ‘Cause I’m an early Queen fan, and Queen started much heavier. They were always melodic, but they changed when you got to ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and ‘Bicycle [Race]’ and bullshit like that. And as an original Queen fan, I was disheartened — they had changed.
So I could see where you hardcore Metallica fans felt they were giving in to what was going on. And I’ve gotta say they and Megadeth were the two bands that stood up against the grunge era. Megadeth didn’t give an inch, to their credit. Pantera, by the way, didn’t give an inch. But if you’re talking about ones that were coming out of the ’80s, Metallica — they seemed to give an inch with their logo, they seemed to give an inch with their hairstyles, they seemed to… I don’t wanna say they gave an inch musically. They musically changed a bit.”
“Bands need to be allowed to grow, and the fans don’t want you to. So, as an artist, your years are going by, and if you’re still connected with music, you’re growing and changing, things are happening. Fans have a real reluctance to allow that to happen. They don’t wanna see those changes happen. Yet at the same time, bands have been accused of being stale and not growing and changing. So it’s a real Catch-22 for the band. And personally, [I think] the ‘Load’ record was amazing. But then again, one of my favorite Motorhead records is ‘Another Perfect Day’, which is hated by Motorhead fans. And I’m a Motorhead fan. But that record was amazing with [guitarist] Brian Robertson. But was it a Motorhead record in the traditional sense. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Some amazing stuff on there.”
