"The Memory Remains" is a song by American
heavy metal band
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, with British singer
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
on backing vocals.
The
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
from Metallica's seventh
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
, ''
Reload'', released in 1997, it was first performed live in a "jam" version on July 2, 1996.
[The Memory Remains](_blank)
EncycMet.com. Retrieved March 21, 2008. Faithfull was brought in, as
James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...
felt her "weathered, smellin'-the-cigarettes-on-the-CD voice" fit what he described as "the whole eeriness of the ''
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...
''-feel of the song", given the lyrics tell the story of a faded artist who goes insane from losing her fame. The spoken words "Say yes, at least say hello", during the outro, are a reference to ''
The Misfits'', the last complete movie in which
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
starred.
The song was written by
James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...
and
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...
. It can be heard playing in the strip club Bada Bing! in the episode of ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', "
The Knight in White Satin Armor
"The Knight in White Satin Armor" is the 25th episode of the HBO original series ''The Sopranos'' and the 12th of the show's second season. It was written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Allen Coulter, and originally aired on ...
". It is also used as one of the theme songs for
WrestleMania XXVIII
WrestleMania XXVIII (also written as WrestleMania 28) was the 28th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 1, 2012, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is the high ...
.
Asked if he would have bought ''Reload'', bassist
Jason Newsted
Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician who was the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to su ...
said, "Not if I heard 'The Memory Remains' first."
Demo
The song's demo was called "Memory" and was recorded in Lars Ulrich's home musical studio "Dungeon" on March 6, 1995, (take 1) and March 17, 1995 (take 2).
Other versions
The band, with
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
, performed the song on the December 6, 1997, edition of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''. A live version was released as B-side to the single "
The Unforgiven II
"The Unforgiven" is a power ballad by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the second single from their eponymous fifth album ''Metallica'' (also known as ''The Black Album''). Though one of the slower tracks on the album, its ...
". It was later performed with the
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San Fr ...
(conducted by
Michael Kamen
Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician.
Biography Early life
Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
) for ''
S&M'' and again for
S&M2
''S&M2'' (stylized as ''S&M2'') is a live album by American heavy metal band Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony. It is a follow-up to '' S&M'', a live collaborative album released in 1999. The album was recorded during a live performance in ...
(conducted by
Edwin Outwater
Edwin Maurice Outwater (born 12 April 1971) is an American conductor from Santa Monica, California.
About
From September 2007 until 2017, he served as the music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony in Ontario, Canada.
From 2001 to 200 ...
). Another live version was included on ''
Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria''. According to a post on Metallica's Facebook wall, they performed the song, again with Faithfull, on December 7, 2011, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.
Covers
Several bands have covered the song (either live or on record), including
The Kovenant
The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish elec ...
, Spleen,
Iron Horse
''Iron horse'' is an iconic literary term (considered by the early 21st century to be transitioning into an archaic reference) for a steam locomotive, originating in the early 1800s, when horses still powered most machinery. The term was common ...
and
The Stanford Harmonics.
Critical reception
Larry Flick
Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...
from ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' wrote, "Rock radio is already way hip to this smokin' jam from the band's new album, ''"
Re-load"''. The time has come for popsters to climb aboard and join the fun. With its grinding, slow groove and winding melody, "The Memory Remains" has the traditional song structure and crisp production needed to attract listeners who don't usually indulge in such guitar-heavy fare. In fact, this song has the potential to draw a pile of new people into the band's
already massive legion of fans."
Chart performance
The single was successful, hitting number 28 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 3 on the
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
chart and number 13 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. It was Metallica's last appearance in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 until 2008's "
The Day That Never Comes
"The Day That Never Comes" is a song by heavy metal band Metallica, and the lead single from their ninth studio album, ''Death Magnetic''. The song was released to the radio and for digital download on August 21, 2008.
The working title of the ...
". The song was Faithfull's first Top 40 single on the Hot 100 since 1965's "Summer Nights", and her last to date.
Music video
The "Memory Remains"
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
(directed by Paul Andresen) features a
surreal
Surreal may refer to:
*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art
* "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki
* ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze
*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor
...
,
anti-gravity
Anti-gravity (also known as non-gravitational field) is a hypothetical phenomenon of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to ...
concept. The band plays on a large, suspended platform making full and continuous rotations throughout the performance, like an enormous
swing
Swing or swinging may refer to:
Apparatus
* Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth
* Pendulum, an object that swings
* Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus
* Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse
* Swing rid ...
. The platform and band are actually stationary and the room, a giant constructed box, spins around it. Faithfull sings in a dark corridor and turns the crank of a
street organ
A street organ (french: orgue de rue or ''orgue de barbarie''; german: Straßenorgel) played by an organ grinder is a French-German automatic mechanical pneumatic organ designed to be mobile enough to play its music in the street. The two most co ...
, the crank presumably attached to the rotating platform upon which the band plays. In some scenes paper money rains down, an allegorical reference. Throughout the music video, Jason Newsted
fingerpicks
A fingerpick is a type of plectrum used most commonly for playing bluegrass style banjo music. Most fingerpicks are composed of metal or plastic (usually Celluloid or Delrin). Unlike flat guitar picks, which are held between the thumb and fin ...
his bass, despite almost exclusively playing with a
pick throughout his career.
According to Encyclopedia Metallica, the video was shot at the
Van Nuys Airport
: ''For the United States Air Force use of the airport (1942–1990), see Van Nuys Air National Guard Base''
Van Nuys Airport is a public airport in the Van Nuys neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles. The airport is operated by Los Angeles Wo ...
and cost $400,000, with the large platform costing over $100,000. The video premiered on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
's ''
Mattrock'' on November 15, 1997.
Track listing
Personnel
;Metallica
*
James Hetfield
James Alan Hetfield (born August 3, 1963) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder and a main songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionall ...
–
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...
*
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist and a contributing songwriter for heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Before joining Metallica, he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, ...
–
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
*
Jason Newsted
Jason Curtis Newsted (born March 4, 1963) is an American musician who was the bassist of heavy metal band Metallica from 1986 to 2001. He first performed with thrash metal band Flotsam and Jetsam from 1981 to 1986 before joining Metallica to su ...
–
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
*
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
;Additional performer
*
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
– additional vocals
;Production
*"The Memory Remains", "Fuel for Fire", and "The Outlaw Torn"
produced by
Bob Rock
Robert Jens Rock (born April 19, 1954) is a Canadian record producer, sound engineer and musician, best known for producing rock bands and music artists such as Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Tragically Hip, the Cult, 31 ...
with Hetfield and Ulrich
*"The Memory Remains" and "Fuel for Fire"
mixed by
Randy Staub
Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...
*"The Outlaw Torn" mixed by
Mike Fraser
*"The Memory Remains" and "The Outlaw Torn"
mastered
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...
by George Marino
*"King Nothing (Tepid Mix)"
remixed
Remixed may refer to:
*Remix, a piece of media altered from its original state
*Remix album, an album collecting remixed songs
*Remixed Records, a record label associated with Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Albums
* ''Remixed'' (Alicia Keys ...
by
Sascha Konietzko
Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band KMFDM. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the fath ...
*"For Whom the Bell Tolls (Haven't Heard It Yet Mix)" remixed by
DJ Spooky
Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...
Charts
Release history
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memory Remains, The
Metallica songs
1997 singles
Songs written by James Hetfield
Songs written by Lars Ulrich
American hard rock songs
1996 songs
Elektra Records singles
Song recordings produced by Bob Rock
Number-one singles in Finland
Number-one singles in Iceland