Is James Hetfield "underrated"?

Yes. He’s also underrated as a lyricist. Yeah, he wrote “my lifestyle determines my death style” but he also wrote “One”. Metallica always had some pretty cutting lyrics IMO

Kirk actually wrote the "My Lifestyle Determines My Deathstyle" line; St. Anger was the only time James allowed the other guys to contribute lyrics, and a lot of the cheesy lines in there came from Lars and Kirk.
 
Metallica without James, lol:
 
I liked Metallica a LOT when I was 12/13. I mean there are some great tracks but I can't stand them fore the most. the only album I can tolerate is Ride.
 
As a lyricist I think he’s one of the greats.

As a musician, I strongly suspect given how stale Metallica got after Burton died, that Hetfield was not a master riffmeister but instead Burton and Mustaine were the creators of the compositions we love the most.
 
I’ve seen a trend of people wanting to be the guy who sees value in the “underrated” but this one is just flat out retarded, bro.

James Hetfield?

srsly?
 
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Metallica is like Fedor.

No matter how much they are a shell of their former selves, their former glory will never be overshadowed by the twilight of their career.

I played them out so much that I almost can’t even stand to hear them anymore but that’s more of a compliment than an insult.

And (some lol) albums I resented at first ended up becoming appreciated over time.
 
Probably the best rhythm guitarist I can think of, definitely the biggest influence on my guitar playing. I've watched and listened to so many live shows from all of their eras, post 1984 you can't really find him making a mistake on the guitar. His downstroke riffing is chunky, solid and flawless basically
 
I actually hate his vocals and think if both Metallica and Megadeth had different vocalists I would enjoy those bands more
Hetfield is perfect for Metallica but I totally agree on Megadeth being much better with a true singer as Dsve is dog shit ....... was dog shit before he aged and is a lot worse now. Seen then a few times an while the music is great the vocals live are at a level most of the folks in the audience would sing them better than Mustaine. I will say his guitar is up there with the greats tho.
 
Metallica owes what they are to him. Lars sucks. He ruined whole albums like St Anger with his bullshit. But anyone that says they lost some edge, this album was only a few years ago and rocked hard:

 
Metallica owes what they are to him. Lars sucks. He ruined whole albums like St Anger with his bullshit. But anyone that says they lost some edge, this album was only a few years ago and rocked hard:


It goes down as one of history’s great mysteries why Lars was the leader of the band.
 
As a lyricist I think he’s one of the greats.

As a musician, I strongly suspect given how stale Metallica got after Burton died, that Hetfield was not a master riffmeister but instead Burton and Mustaine were the creators of the compositions we love the most.
Hetfield is credited on all songs for Master of Puppets, Burton on three and Mustaine zero as an example. Such an asinine statement you've made. Hetfield has always been the main writer for Metallica. Kirk contributes a lot as well but not really full songs just riffs and idea's..Lars is a big part of the writing too but mainly structuring songs he is extremely talented in that regard. The bulk of the actual material comes from Papa Het!
 
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Hetfield is credited on all songs for Master of Puppets, Burton on three and Mustaine zero. Such an asinine statement you've made. Hetfield has always been the main writer for Metallica. Kirk contributes a lot as well but not really full songs just riffs and idea's..Lars is a big part of the writing too but mainly structuring songs he is extremely talented in that regard. The bulk of the actual material comes from Papa Het!
Lars gets a songwriting credit on every track every album. Does that mean he’s the main songwriter?
 
If you haven't seen this check it out sounds so much better than the original release. This is how the record should have sounded

 
Metallica is like Fedor.

No matter how much they are a shell of their former selves, their former glory will never be overshadowed by the twilight of their career.

I played them out so much that I almost can’t even stand to hear them anymore but that’s more of a compliment than an insult.

And (some lol) albums I resented at first ended up becoming appreciated over time.
Say what you want about current Metallica they still put on a great show. Yeah Kirk messes up , an Lars is most overrated drummer ever but they are still great live. Their only shit album was St Anger an even that had 1 good song in Frsntic. Loads, magnetic, hardwired were actually pretty good just not as good as their old stuff.
 
Lars gets a songwriting credit on every track every album. Does that mean he’s the main songwriter?
Well in one sense yeah but he doesn't actually write the riffs (he doesn't play guitar) just helps with arranging them. He works with what is given to him..
 
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Well in one sense yeah but he doesn't actually write the riffs (he doesn't play guitar) just helps with arranging them. He works with what is given to him..

Yeah he certainly seems to be good at the arrangement part, he famously helped arrange Kirk's Sandman riff to the final product, he also helped Kirk with the guitar solos as well. He certainly for the most part has a good ear for music and what needs to be done, Het is the riff master, great combo.
 
Hetfield is perfect for Metallica but I totally agree on Megadeth being much better with a true singer as Dsve is dog shit ....... was dog shit before he aged and is a lot worse now. Seen then a few times an while the music is great the vocals live are at a level most of the folks in the audience would sing them better than Mustaine. I will say his guitar is up there with the greats tho.

James doesn't have a great voice but it's awesome for Metallica. I honestly prefer James's voice in this cover over someone with a "great" voice

 
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