"Hero of the Day" is a

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romance (love), romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn m ...

by American heavy metal band Metallica from their 1996 album '' Load''. The song was recorded on December 13, 1995, at Plant Studios in

Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...

. "Hero of the Day" was Metallica's second single release from the album. The song became their second consecutive number-one hit on the US '' Billboard'' Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached number two in Australia, number three in Finland and number eight in Norway. The song is one of the few Metallica songs written primarily in a major key. A promotional video for the track was also filmed. The "Hero of the Day" single is notable for including four

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

cover songs, recorded live direct to two-track at The Plant Studios during a rehearsal for Lemmy's 50th Birthday Party at Los Angeles'

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...

nightclub. These B-sides were later released on the second CD of the ''

Garage Inc. ''Garage Inc.'' is a compilation album of cover songs by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 24, 1998, through Elektra Records. It includes cover songs, B-side covers, and ''The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited'' ...

'' compilation in 1998.

History

According to an article in the rock music magazine ''

Kerrang ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-of ...

'', around the time of '' Loads release, the demo for the song was entitled "Mouldy" due to the main riff reminding James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich of a typical

Bob Mould Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s. Early years Born in Malone, ...

sound. The demo was recorded on December 10, 1994, one of the earliest demo recordings for the ''Load'' sessions (the first demo to be recorded was for "Wasting My Hate" on November 28, 1994).

Critical reception

Discussing the style of the song, '' Loudwire'' opined "Hero of the Day" to be a "mellifluous saunter into soft rock territory". Terry Bezer of ''

Louder Sound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

'' called the song "epic".

Music video

The

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 promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for this song was directed by Anton Corbijn and features a drug-addled youth watching a television, with every channel featuring Metallica in some way. A Western movie titled ''Load'' is featured, starring

Newsted Newsted (stylized as NEWSTƎD) was an American heavy metal band formed in October 2012. The lineup consisted of former Metallica, Flotsam and Jetsam and Voivod member Jason Newsted on lead vocals and bass, drummer Jesus Mendez, Jr., guitari ...

and Hetfield, followed by a boxing match with Hetfield as coach, and Newsted and

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, ...

as the fighters. After a drink called "Load" is advertised by Ulrich and Hetfield in matching suits, a game show called "Hero of the Day" (which is a parody of ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...

'') is seen being played of which Jason Newsted is the host. Then, it cuts to the news with the anchorman played by Hammett and featuring a clip of Hetfield singing the lyrics to the song. A girl calls at the youth's house and they later try having sex, but the young man is unaroused, and leans back in his bed, visibly disappointed. The girl later leaves. At the end, the youth passes out, and dreams of tiny robot creatures, rendered in

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

, emerging from his ear. He awakes from the dream and vomits into his toilet.

Track listings

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs American soft rock songs Black-and-white music videos Elektra Records singles Metallica songs Music videos directed by Anton Corbijn Song recordings produced by Bob Rock Songs written by James Hetfield Songs written by Kirk Hammett Songs written by Lars Ulrich Vertigo Records singles