This Monster Lives

A book I recently read was Metallica: This Monster Lives. The book is by Joe Berlinger with Greg Milner. It shows the human side of the band and the daily troubles that they must face. The book is the companion story to the movie Some Kind of Monster that chronicled the bands near breakup for three years. It gives the story of the filmmakers instead of the band, giving a different perspective. The title of the book and movie refer to a monster. A monster can be thought of as a powerful force destroying all in its path. In that way the band had become a monster in that they were unstoppable. Every album they released in the past decade had won awards and been a number one record. The monster also had become a burden for the members and while it brought them together, it also nearly tore them apart. One band member left the band and another ended up in rehab for many months. The fear of failure and the many temptations in a band almost brought the band to destruction yet they pulled together to finish the album, movie, and book. In this way they band, producer, filmmakers, and author came together like one monster to complete the process. The monster not only lives but has become stronger than ever and more of an unstoppable force. It is significant that the title of the book combined with the title of the movie and one of the songs off that album shows the feelings of the band at this important time in their lives.