Better than You (Metallica song)
Encyclopedia
"Better Than You" is a song by the American heavy metal
band Metallica
. It is the fifth track on their seventh album, ReLoad
. The song was originally titled "Better". It won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
, it was the band's fourth award in that category. The song refers to the story of someone with an obsession to fight to be better than another. The band performed a jam of the song for the first time in London
in 1995. The single cover features the same picture as the cover of Metallica's Cunning Stunts.
1998 CD promo (USA: Elektra PRCD 1165-2)
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
. It is the fifth track on their seventh album, ReLoad
ReLoad
ReLoad is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 18, 1997 through Elektra Records. The album is a sequel or counterpart to the band's previous album, Load. It debuted number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in its first week....
. The song was originally titled "Better". It won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre...
, it was the band's fourth award in that category. The song refers to the story of someone with an obsession to fight to be better than another. The band performed a jam of the song for the first time in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1995. The single cover features the same picture as the cover of Metallica's Cunning Stunts.
Track listing
1998 CD promo (USA: Elektra PRCD 1149-2)- Better than You - 4:45
1998 CD promo (USA: Elektra PRCD 1165-2)
- Better than You (edit) - 4:44
Personnel
- James HetfieldJames HetfieldJames Alan Hetfield is the rhythm guitarist, co-founder, main songwriter, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering a classified advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler,...
– lead vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Kirk HammettKirk HammettKirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
– lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - Jason NewstedJason NewstedJason Curtis Newsted is an American bassist known for his work with Metallica, Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam. Joining Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton's death, Newsted remained a member until 2001, making him the band's longest-serving bassist...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Lars UlrichLars UlrichLars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Bob RockBob RockRobert Jens Rock, , is a Canadian musician, sound engineer, and record producer best known for producing bands such as Aerosmith, The Cult, Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe, 311, Metallica, Our Lady Peace, The Offspring and most recently Bush.-Payola$ and Rock and Hyde:Rock began his music career in Langford,...
- producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...