Monday, March 31st, 2008
A Case Study of Producer Bob Rock and his Influence on the Music of Metallica
This is the Written Assignment I submitted as part of my Audio Engineering Diploma course at SAE London. You can view the original PDF version here , but I’ve tweaked it to a more blog-friendly version, which is published below. As with most of my coursework, it ended up a bit rushed and not as good as I’d have liked it to be, but PLEASE leave comments and let me know what you think of it - especially if you’re a Metallica fan! Thanks! [It's also posted as a journal on Last.fm , if you'd rather read and comment there!]
Bob Rock began working as Metallica’s producer on their fifth album, ‘Metallica’. This was generally considered to be the point at which the band crossed over to the mainstream, and Bob Rock is generally credited with making that happen. As Metallica’s career progressed with Rock as producer they alienated a lot of their hardcore metal fan base; most of whom believed Rock to be the primary reason for the band’s apparent downfall. Though his involvement with the band over the years is difficult to understate, there were several other factors contributing to the direction of Metallica’s career.
