It won't surprise anybody that I am going to start with Kirk:

- Gives $1,000 to the Democratic National Committee annually

- Is for abortion, and has stated that he is pro-choice because he believes it is the woman's body and therefore her right to choose.

- From Pretty Hate Machine Interview, 1996: "James is not as conservative as one would think," says Hammett. "Him and I went through our phases where I was ultraliberal and he was . . . I wouldn't say right-wing, although he had that reputation. More right of center. And over the years, I've come closer to the center, and so has he. James is more tolerant than he used to be."

- Is not a vegetarian because he is against the killing of animals, but because he believes that meat is bad for your health.

- On Oct. 28, 1998, he quoted on Bill Clinton:

"In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, personalities from the music and entertainment business were asked to share their opinions of the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Kirk had this to say about the ongoing situation in our nation's capital:

"I'm not going to condone behavior like that. Basically, it's wrong. But impeachment is fucking serious. The last president threatened with impeachment did something really bad: bugging the Democrats' campaign offices. The only thing Clinton is guilty of is committing adultery. He should be punished. But, goddamn, he should not be drawn and quartered in public like he is. Let the punishment fit the crime.

Clinton is really good at telling everybody what they want to hear without really giving anything. I did vote for Clinton. I don't follow politics as much as other people do, but what he's done for the economy and what he's done for the arts really outshines what he's done with his zipper." - From InterSandman.com

- In 2003, he quoted that President Bush "has blood on his hands":

Unlike his bandmate Lars Ulrich who prefers to keep his political opinions to himself, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett appears to have no problems voicing his views in a public forum.

When asked recently during a question-and-answer session with the readers of Ireland's Hot Press magazine for his opinion of President George Bush's performance during his first two years in office, Hammett said, "He won this election by proxy. I don't think he was qualified in the beginning to lead this country and I don't think he is qualified now. In my opinion he's got a lot of blood on his hands."

In the same Q&A session, Hammett reiterated the band's disappointment over the news that the military is using their songs to "break down" Iraqi captives in Baghdad, calling the interrogators' use of METALLICA's tracks, including "Enter Sandman", in the hope of extracting information about weapons of mass destruction a "tragedy." "That, to me, is a very sad thing," he said. "It's a Goddamn shame. It's a serious misuse of our music." (From Blabbermouth.net)

If I find any more on Kirk I'll post it . . .

Anybody have anything on the other members?

Interesting! Kirk sounds like a very wise man. :)

Also interesting about the 'music torture'. I've read about that in the newspaper recently, and the article in there said that "Metallica feel fine about the fact that they are playing a role in preventing terrorism".
I was slightly upset by that comment because I didn't really expect them to say that. It turns out now (from your post) that Kirk doesn't like it. Maybe James thinks it's good then? Because of his right wing position (if he's still like that).

I've never really bothered with Metallica's political views. But I've wondered what they'd vote for, Democratic or Republic. I guess James is a republican voter.

I like Kirk's views too :) Though I could never be a vegetarian, personally!

Well, according to what he said in 1996, he was saying that James is more of a Moderate. Maybe once to the right of center, but never as much of a right-winger as people thought he was.

But in accordance to what you said, that is a little odd. It was just this year that they think they're "playing a role in preventing terrorism"? What did they mean by that?

It is rather Republican-sounding.

Yeah it's weird. Maybe the newspaper just made something up. Not everyone likes Metallica as much as we do. Or they messed up and it was actually another artist that has said this but they mixed up the names.

I don't think I could be vegetarian either. But I'm not a big meat eater either. Just kinda in between I guess.

Maybe it was false, then. People have abused the song "Don't Tread on Me" to support the War on Iraq, which upset Kirk at least.

All I know is that James hates politics! He avoids talking about it. I think he claimed it in Live 8 interview.

I don't even want to read this thread, because for me, Metallica should keep their politics to themselves. I hate it when bands get political. That's what I love about Metallica: they for the most part keep their views personal.

yeah their not a political band but...they are people and they should be allowed to voice whatever they want, like any normal person might to if their asked.

I agree. And I still think it's interesting to know what they believe in, even though they are not a "political" band.

I don't think it is wrong for a band to get involved in a cause. If people are wealthy, shouldn't they put their money to something useful?

No different than Kirk contributing to the DNC.

He's my man...I don't like political and I avoids too

same here

Well, I've always pretty much heard that metalheads are linked to right wing indeals, at least in Italy. Maybe this jounralist is just using a sterotype, like the fact that all metalheads worship satan....

really? right wing ideals?

In Spain metalheads are linked to left wing ideals.
It surely depends on the country.

Yeah... and I think it even depends on the type of music.

It's a stereotype in Italy that metalheads are plain facists. Not such a good reputation. But, personally, I've met people that are quite the opposite.

Definitely. In America, metalheads are considered "left-winged".

In the 70's and 80's, right-wingers considered metal to be the "Devil's music".

Now, in the 2000's, rock is better accepted, and even Christians are creating their own rock music . . .

So it certainly depends on country AND era!

I never really attached a political view to metal music.
And to be fair I don't give a damn about metallica's political views...
I love them for their music.
But one thing I found interesting and that was the vegitarian part (which isn't political).
I am not a vegetarian, never will be. If you are one I don't mind. But i hate it when people are spoiling my meal asking I know where it's been and stuff (leave me alone i'm eating).. but the fact that he believes that it's bad for your health is to me the first time I ever heard that someone used that reason. If people tell me that as a reason why they are vegitarian, would be more logical to me.
Most people do it for the animal suffer.. I completely understand and respect that... but all those people who gave me that for a reason owned a pair of leather shoes.

And with this I am not attacking vegitarian people, everybody is free to eat or not eat what they want as long as it is legal. I just think that to me that is one of the most logical reasons to become a vegitarian

Yeah yeah. Like in USA society left wing ideals were considered to be bad, as in italian society it was the right wing ideals. So since metal was (and from my personal experience still is) linked to whatever is evil and bad... :rolleyes:

I think that a lot of meat is unhealthy in vast quanitities...and also in the way its produced, the feed of the animals means that sometimes we ingest what they've been eating. With vegetables...though, they have chemicals on them as well. If you are going to eat meat...try and find organic produce and meat that is produced in a more ethical way. Kosher meat would be good if they didnt slit the throat of the animal...i dont get how thats less distressing than a bolt gun or breaking its neck.

I find Kirks reason to be a vegetarian very logical.
I've heard before of people not eating meat because they were concerned with their health. I've heard various reasons. One of them was that meat consists of hormones that make us more adult at younger ages (you know, girls getting boobs and curves at 8 or having their period for the first time at that age). I don't know if this is true, and I also don't know if that's all that bad. But I've heard of something else and it disturbed the fuck out of me...
I heard that the average 40 year old has a lot of red meat left in the bowels! I don't know how much (in kg) but only the thought of having red meat left in your bowels sounds so disturbing! I never eat red meat myself. I'm not that much of a meat eater anyway. Yesterday I was at a restaurant and they fucking served me...red meat! I didn't eat any of it. :ugh:

Right. I know someone who stopped eating meat because she was having digestive problems, and those problems stopped after she became a vegetarian.

Yeah that is a little strange. And why just girls? I do think they have genetic problems though. I couldn't see a girl developing breasts early or a boy's voice changing at age 8 because of "hormones" in the meat. It would depend on whether it was testosterone or estrogen too, surely?

It's something that I enjoy, but eating it every day certainly is not good for someone's health.

What part of Europe are you from? Some people, like the Germans, make it part of their culture to eat red meat frequently . . . they don't seem to die any earlier than the average vegetarian . . .

Man we really are getting off subject here, but oh well!