Why do you want to hear Metallica's view on politics? Sure, bands like Rage Against the Machine are inherently political and that's fine, but not everyone has to be. All this insistence on politics and us vs them is so toxic. Metallica is a band - that's all, and not a very political band.
Edit: Guys, there was a time when we weren't so divided and everyone didn't make politics so important to their identity. Social media is dividing us. Stop worrying about what Metallica thinks and get off your lazy butt and vote if you actually care (and I know a lot of you couldn't be bothered to vote last time).
Metallica definitely is a political band. They have plenty of songs and lyrics that were politically motivated. Metallica has always only cared about their bag.
Mostly conservative, my values are built from Democrats and Republicans using critical thinking, you know, similar to Bill Clinton back in the day( minus the whole Epstein thing) I'm actually pretty progressive in my views for where I live in the South.
Being independent is tough on Reddit because no nuance exists here.
Name-calling instead of trying to understand and having a conversation is why this country is where it is politically.
Makes sense, James has been fighting people's access to public trails in Marin County for decades now. Lives in the bluest county in one of the bluest states and proceeds to be an asshole conservative to all of his community.
Oh God no ! That’s impossible!
How would it be possible ?
I need to have validation from strangers by pointing out that some people don’t have the same opinion as I (and by extension we) have !!
Have you noticed that has changed over the past few years. Because rather than having different views on budget choices for the local government it's become I think we should do our best to help the working class you think we should let Elon musk fire half the government and let a pedophile dynamite monkey slap terrifs everywhere, jail people without cause, threaten the free press, pardon insurrectionists and give his children government contracts. It's not magic we.can no longer agree to disagree.
Whenever you hear "I'm not political", chances are you're talking to a conservative.
And also, policy dictates everything in everyone's daily life. This is why it's mildly irritating when I see things like "no politics" in this or that sub or whatever.
EVERYTHING IS POLITICS!
It's just that politics have gone ape shit ever since we elected a Black man as POTUS. That threw half the nation into a conniption. TWICE!
Now we have Trump who is just a washed up reality tv gameshow host, but he knows how to rile up people's emotions.
Uhhh Have you listened to any of the lyrics on “Master of Puppets” and “And Justice for All”? I mean even the album names themselves are very overtly political
Master of Puppets is about addiction.. other songs on the album are about abuses of power in different forms.. And Justice for All has political themes, but doesn’t espouse any specific set of beliefs, but instead calls out abuses of government power.. that is all
Their taking time to talk about how they're supposedly apolitical was itself a political statement. If they truly didn't care about taking a position they wouldn't have mentioned it.
I think most people aren't even so much annoyed about whatever position they imagine Hetfield was taking, it's more the smug disingenuousness of it
Well they also have not always been non political. Especially around the Master of Puppets / ...And Justice For All era they had songs that pretty clearly held a viewpoint on specific issues. I think the band feels like they're being clever by being vague. But it ends up coming across as "taking a position hurts our bottom line, so here is some bullshit about being united".
Anyway, I love Metallica, but yeah. I find the shtick annoying.
I dont understand the hysterical mobs who do this also about dating or social media profiles: "If they dont say x, y or z, they are secret Republicans. What pussies!" Do you not realize that your pitchforks and mob mentality are the reasons why people retreat? That they should be given some grace to back down from ideological warfare at every turn? What are you asking for? That everyone think like you? That they submit to bully mobs? And you think of yourselves as the good actors?
You're attacking a straw man you made, not what actually happened. He didn't say nothing, he went out of his way to say something and then tried to gaslight everyone that his statement wasn't a statement. I don't know or particularly care what way politics lean, that was just unhinged and annoying as hell.
I think you can take one look at Hetfield and know how he feels about Palestine. That looks like a man who begrudgingly supports the Jewish people in light of the alternative.
Do you not realize that your pitchforks and mob mentality are the reasons why people retreat?
No, not it's not. If it were, then more people would retreat from the right wing. Especially in the US, where they literally stormed the capitol.
It's weird how this "you're driving people away because you're not polite" argument is never applied to the right wing, and only used to silence the left.
of course lol but the amount of people who have been called a Nazi or worse than a Nazi for being in the middle politically or not blindly following a side is insane ^_^
Or maybe they're left leaning but find most leftist annoying douchebags and don't like to associate with them.
That's literally me. My politics mostly align with the left but at the same time i much prefer to be friends with right wing people. You leftist are so fucken annoying
He’s making a statement. And we know who it’s for. Hetfield can say nothing if he doesn’t want to “be political.” His statement was a statement.
I’ll always be grateful for the band doing as much as they did to help find Morgan Harrington, but this statement is just as much “bullshit” as all the rest.
The statement is that celebrities should shut the fuck up about politics because their platform and influence is absurdly disproportionate to their knowledge and understanding.
They aren’t saying they’re apolitical. It’s widely suspected that James leans right and Lars leans left, it makes no sense for the band to vocalize a take when the members aren’t aligned, not to mention that personal beliefs are more complex than red v blue.
I dont know the context, Hetfield seems like he's saying, "Why do you want to know my stance on Issue X? Its none of your bussiness. Do you like my music? Cool. Do you not like my music? Go fuck yourself. I sing for Metallica."
I think thats a perfectly reasonable stance to take, and before Bono, its kinda just what artists said.
It was a remark to fans who keep posting things in their social media platforms. Metallica is apolitical because of the polarizing nature. The point of their music is to escape from everyday bullshit and enjoy yourself.
You really thought you were cooking but you dropped the pot
He's making a statement about how much the entertainers offering their opinions are ruining the escapism for people at a concert and acting like self-important cunts.
Did you even watch the whole video?
Or do you not have time because you've got to remain a top 1% commenter?
I saw a band last week and the singer did a 2 minute speech about Gaza. I don't want to hear that shit. Play the song I've paid to hear.
If I want to hear politics from people who know nothing about politics, I'll come on Reddit...
Honestly, I remember hearing how they treated Jason Newstead for basically his whole time with the band and stopped wanting to hear anything about them again.
I mean, they may not think it for some reason, but some of that early music is wayyyy political. I'm wondering if they think not weighing in on a specific topic or person/people is what "political" means?
By saying one is not making a choice, they are in fact still making a choice.
Your fans reside where you play and are tired, hurt, unhappy, have to work over 10 hours to get money to watch a show for 3 hours NOT including traveling, eating food (Im sure Metallicas venue didnt allow people to bring in food for themselves), and a myriad of other things.
Heck Billy Joel ensured the front row seats actually go to fans by purposefully not selling them and having his staff handout tickets to people that could only afford the cheap seats. Very easy fix if they cared
Agreed. Just say nothing, but he did. Which makes it seem like he’s just okay with America’s political landscape. Not to mention, didn’t Lars Ulrich literally go to congress to help ban Napster back in 2000? That is inherently political. One of the most “successful” metal bands ever complaining that their fans were sharing their music and spreading their songs like wild fire because they said it hurt the band financially.Metallica have always been a bunch sell outs.
It’s not a political statement in itself though. It’s a commercial statement. Look at its effects - we’re all here discussing it. Remember, there is no bad publicity.
Politics doesn’t need to be in every facet of life and every statement. The keep it to themselves. Anyone who waits on celebrities to give their political views needs to reevaluate their existence sand maybe find a hobby
He probably said something about being apolitical because he was being pushed to be political. People think he's probably right wing being a big hunter and member of the NRA.
One would assume the statement was due to the Macklemore stuff being in the news 24/7. Kind of stupid for this Metallica topic to even be popping up in feeds days later
So if your boss tells you to go back to work and do your job. Is he being political?
What if you were talking about something political and he told you that political talk at work is not allowed. Is that political?
Or is that just being a fucking professional and telling your dumb ass to shut the fuck up and do shit in your own time, and go back to work.
Metallica decided to voice exactly that. When they are performing, they understand that this time is the fans time. Since they are the ones paying for the performance.
Not really? He specifically distanced them from politics, which is quite common for metal bands to do. Metallica have shown their political views in the late 90s though and well, it didn't work out.
Why? Being apolitical or not wanting to give publicise your political opinion can by itself be an opinion. It’s like saying publicly you are agnostic. That doesn’t make you secretly religious.
I do miss the times when politics was boring and for people who actually knew and cared about it. Now everybody has a political opinion, but its usually the dumbest takes they cant explain or defend, but loudly virtue signal for it. Same with artists… preaching about “stolen land” while living and owning home on “stolen land”. Artists today are just building a brand, social media presence by latching on to the latest popular opinion so they have a chance to go viral by being on the right side of history… They are just fake activists.
In this economy it now matters more than ever where my dollars go and if I choosing to support someone or band I want to know if they helped get us into this mess or are against it. Why would I give my money to a band of millionaires who supported the current situation we are in?
Oh man, I’m glad you asked. Leaf blowers are the best because you can shoot it at your mouth and it feels like a dog sticking its head out the truck window on a summer day going 80. Branches are real cool too because you can hit your buddies with them, it’s about as much fun as a pillow fight.
You don't have to be political but your lyrics matter to me. Just dont say anything if you don't want to talk politics between songs. That would be better than going out in 2026 with all that is going on in this country and make some grand gesture of how you're above it all. Especially from band with an album like Justice.
James has been out in the woods sniffing his own farts a little too long.
Just shows how pussy they are to share their opinions if they have any. That shit aint metal. Say what u wanna say no matter the side thats metal. Thinking more on it maybe thats punk im thinking of lol anyway like someone said up too if theyre cool just wanna make their bucks and go out woth a whimper then shut up and dont bring anything up.
Metallica used to write songs about how instant is for people to willingly give up their freedom, to “we’re not political.”
The only issues I have with this are (a) the hipocracy, and (b) there is nothing political about out the Palestinian genocide. It’s happening whether you’d like to admit it or not, and I have no idea why so much of our world leadership is doing nothing about it.
And Justice For All. But who cares. They're playing Mohegan Sun (a casino). They've lost whatever edge they had long ago. This is also tagged Newsmax, so it could be total BS.
It's simply not possible to be "non political", you can be ignorant, you can be privileged, but non political is not something that exists in the real world.
Nobody wants to hear their views on politics. Similarly, nobody wants to hear Metallica whine about other artists just so they can score some cheap points with maggots in the crowd.
Metallica is also inherently political.
Like have you never listened to their music?
Anti-war, anti-capitalism, themes in so many of their songs.
They are either posers or sell outs at this point, they either didn’t really mean anything said in their music, or they got so big they’re bending the knee to sell thousands of dollar + tickets to their sphere shows
Tell me you never listened to Metallica lyrics without telling me. "Not very political". One of their most successful song is master of puppets. One, too. For whom the bells toll...
Going out of your way to say so aggressively “musics shouldn’t say that!” In the wake of Ed sheerans flub with the blue star IS a political stance, don’t wanna say anything? Don’t fucking say anything, to say it like this, right now, is taking a side
Edit: Guys, there was a time when we weren't so divided and everyone didn't make politics so important to their identity. Social media is dividing us. Stop worrying about what Metallica thinks and get off your lazy butt and vote if you actually care (and I know a lot of you couldn't be bothered to vote last time).
Pretty sure Hetfield was the one who brought it up in the first place...
Dude coulda just kept his own trap shut and played his show and we wouldn't be having this conversation, right?
Not sure what the obsession with hearing your “insert favorite celebrity “ ‘s political opinion. These people live completely different lives than any of us outside of the top percent.
You have more in common with the average person on the opposite end of the political spectrum. There’s more to life than politics.
Idk when politics became so “important” to the point where we won’t even talk to people that have different views. Once we realize all politicians are trash we will be better off. But that won’t happen. As humans we have to have someone to idolize for some reason.
Metallica helped redefine thrash metal, and popular metal in general, by writing songs about meaningful social issues, including the senseless violence and destruction of war. That doesn’t mean they have to keep leaning into political messaging. People evolve, and so does their music.
But the criticism isn’t about Metallica choosing not to engage in politics. If they had simply said nothing, put on their shows, and rocked people’s brains out, nobody would have had a problem.
The issue is that they chose to make a statement. Saying “we don’t get into politics like some other bands” is itself a political statement. It’s not neutrality when you’re using that supposed neutrality to take a swipe at artists who choose to speak out.
So, do I have a problem with artists who don’t engage in politics? No. Do I have a problem with artists hiding behind a facade of neutrality to belittle those who stand up for what they believe in? Hell yes.
There was a time when “politics” meant seeing a problem as disagreeing on how to solve it. When you could trust politicians to at least be serious about their jobs and be professional. And to have a respect for the constitution and constitutional rights.
Those times are gone. Trump and the rest of those that support his regime do not act in good faith. They do not follow the rule of law. They do not respect the constitution. They project everything they want to do in order to take down democracy on the people that are fighting against it.
I am definitely a progressive left leaning person, but I wouldn’t be existentially scared for the future of this country if, say, a Mitt Romney type were president. He has respect for this country and its institutions even if I disagreed with his policies. These are unprecedented times and we can’t pretend this is politics as usual.
People are treating politics as if it’s a game and a joke and it’s fine if you can’t tell if the president is serious about setting off nukes or killing/jailing the opposing party. It’s ridiculous and dangerous.
The president SHOULD BE AND NEEDS to be someone whose word you can take seriously and trust they mean what they say seriously.
I'm sorry, but these days politics isn't just "divisive". There's a moral battle being fought for the soul of the country and our future. If you can't speak out against apartheid, genocide, evils being perpetrated, OR you can't stand that other artists do, your integrity as a human being is in question. Yes, it IS on the level of Nazis, the tolerance for mass murder and control, and empowering degradation of humanist values. If you're not with it, this is the moral call to at least reconsider if you actually stand for anything. And these days if our artists can't stand for anything then their art doesn't have substance. For those that don't have a need for substance in their art, they're keeping their heads in the sand. Yes we need to vote, but artists have platforms and it gives them a unique privilege. At the very least they can do good by propagating a message, or else they can show where they stand to remind their fans to be human, too. Those that don't or sneer at others that do are encouraging their fans to be complicit and stop paying attention.
Just as a hypothetical example. Some people Support Organisations and maybe i don't want to contribute to the money they make with which they Support said Organisations.
In the end it's like boycotting a company because the Support thing you diaagree with. The product Bands sell is their music
Really? What time was that? Eisenhower was perhaps the last broadly acclaimed president, and it's because he was the Supreme Allied Commander against the Nazis. Kennedy assassinated, Johnson reviled in the south for the CRA, Nixon as a proto-fascist precursor to where we are now, Ford's pardoning of Nixon, Reagan's corruption, Gingrich's normalization of "hardball" (uncivilized) political absolutism against Clinton; Bush Jr; Obama; Trump; Biden; Trump. So when exactly was this rose-tinted time you remember so nostalgically?
I don’t want to hear Metallica’s view on politics, but when the vast majority of artists lean one direction and Metallica refers to it as “political bullshit”, I’ll assume they lean the other direction and judge them for that just as I judge any regular person.
There was no need for them to make that statement unless they were trying to make a political point.
There's plenty of bands that don't make political statements on the stage, the difference is none of them decided to make a political statement about not being political.
When I heard people were trying to cancel Metallica I was like “it’s probably just activist losers demanding they take a stand on Palestine or something” and I laughed my ass off when I found out I was dead on.
Why do activists expect every public figure to validate their political opinions constantly? And why do they think it’s reasonable to try and end the career of anyone who disagrees with you?
I guess that’s what happens when you live in an echo chamber where you and everyone else in it is constantly telling yourselves that anyone who disagrees with you is evil.
Not a political band, yet they wrote several songs at the beginning of their career that are interpreted as HIGHLY POLITICAL for the situation….sometimes fame just makes old farts forget their youth
That's the best comment I've read on this whole stupid nonsense. I don't listen to Metallica for politics and I don't care if some of their music is political. Het was saying that they're going to let the music speak, and otherwise not get into it. He probably didn't really need to say that, but it isn't like he got out there and praised Israel.
The haters can eet fuk. Metallica for fucking life.
Brother we had a civil war in the US and didn't officially desegregate until the 60s. Some schools desegregated less than a decade ago. There were large portions of Americans that had no problem with what Hitler was doing in the 30's.
Not a very political band?
Shortest straw, blackened, ride the lightning, don't tread on me, disposable heroes, and justice for all...the list goes on....
"Everything" is political right now because there is a clear choice to say or do the right thing, be on the right side of history.
Taking the time to make a statement like this is a choice and like it or not shows where the person saying it stands.
"Politics" is the word used by people on the wrong side of history. This is a Strawman Argument used by people that are uncomfortable with the actual questions at hand, such as:
Are Concentration Camps bad?
Are Brown people people?
Should the IDF use children for target practice, just for fun?
Should a racist, rapist con man be the most powerful person in the world?
And stop using divided as a bad word. Like most people, I want absolutely nothing to do with those who can't answer these simple, basic, moral questions. There should be no coming together. There should only be ridicule.
Five Finger Death Punch are another good example of a band with some pretty charged political messages in some of their songs. It's not their schtick or anything, but politics definitely play a role in several of their singles over the years.
If Republicans hadn’t made what people can do with their own bodies into a political cry, I could see that. Unfortunately, they have, and are coming after women, trans people, immigrants, and brown people.
Speaking up for them isn’t political. Human rights are inherent, or at least they were, so now we do expect people to speak up.
That's because politics is a lot like professional wrestling. None of the candidates are there to represent us, they represent their campaign donors. They literally sell those people their vote on policy and legislation. It doesn't matter who we vote for. Presidents are groomed from birth and hand picked behind closed doors. Vote if you think it works, but the only place we have any control is local elections, and really, depending on where you live, such as here in NYC that's over your average person's pay grade.
Your comment and others like it are so very much empty platitudes, and they're exceptionally boring.
When bipartisan politics are aligned across a party that actively seeks to criminalize, lock-up, or prevent the livelihoods of entire swaths of the population while the other party actively attempts to protect them, you are no longer entitled to pretend both sides are equal. People's politics are important because it immediately tells you whether they consider certain people human or subhuman.
It's really not a difficult concept to understand.
I remember when either With Teeth or Year Zero came out, Trent Reznor was genuinely curious why anyone would want to base their opinion on or care what he had to say.
A good handful of songs on their early albums are about how the military industrial complex chews up young men and spits them out broken.
him shitting on other, usually younger bands speaking out about current societal issues seems tonedeaf at worst and hypocritical at best.
i agree there was a time but this aint it anymore. you are either for genocide, child rape, and human rights violations or you are against them. this isnt some small difference of opinion anymore
It's not that RATM is political as much as their politics is "on the nose" and exstreme. Im talking about writes songs lionizing the Shining Path of Peru exstreme.
Uhhh Metallica tried to take a political stance during the Napster phase, didn’t work out so well for them. They took their medicine, if they’re trying to ride some high horse now , they need to stfu. They’re not political because they bombed out, not because they’re holier than thou
You’re missing the fact that when we were less divided, we actually DISCUSSED politics. Viewpoints were listened to. New opinions had a chance of forming. Wild times.
Does it matter? No. Doesn’t change that James was being stupid here. And Metallica made pretty damn anti-gov music before, so going up and saying that spreading ur opinion is “bullshit” makes no sense. And yes social media has obviously very badly damaged people’s mindsets, but stupid shit should still be called out.
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u/GiveMeSomeShu-gar 13h ago edited 11h ago
Why do you want to hear Metallica's view on politics? Sure, bands like Rage Against the Machine are inherently political and that's fine, but not everyone has to be. All this insistence on politics and us vs them is so toxic. Metallica is a band - that's all, and not a very political band.
Edit: Guys, there was a time when we weren't so divided and everyone didn't make politics so important to their identity. Social media is dividing us. Stop worrying about what Metallica thinks and get off your lazy butt and vote if you actually care (and I know a lot of you couldn't be bothered to vote last time).