Metallica thread

[FunkyMonkey]

Metallica's Lars Ulrich on Orion Fest, 'Lulu,' and a 'Black Album' Regret

May 2 2012

Drummer on Orion Fest gender divide, his band's most embarrassing moment

Metallica have entered their fourth decade far away from their comfort zone. Last year, the quartet released the nobly experimental Lulu, an almost universally detested art-metal collaboration with Lou Reed. On June 23 and 24, the band will host Orion, their very own music festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where they will share billing with the likes of underground extremos Liturgy and beach-pop heartbreakers Best Coast. Also in the offing are a 3-D concert film and a new album. "People gotta let us run amok," says drummer and mouthpiece Lars Ulrich, 48, speaking from his Bay Area home. "To be what everybody wants us to be would fuckin' kill us." Unless these questions do it first.

The Orion lineup is eclectic, but as of the day we're talking, Best Coast is the only female-fronted band on the bill. Why?
We don't go, "There have to be x slots for girl-fronted bands, and there has to be somebody from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and we have to find a band where the bass player's a twin." We don't have demographic requirements. [Best Coast] write incredibly well-crafted songs.

Is it necessary for you to charge $150 for an Orion ticket?
We're not being paid to play Orion. It costs close to $10 million to put it together. That's gotta come from somewhere other than, "Metallica's gonna write a check."

Given how pervasive free music has become, was it a losing battle to fight file-sharing?
It's 12 years later and [Metallica's battle with Napster] doesn't consume my waking hours. I've heard a thousand times: "How greedy can Lars Ulrich be?" I got enough money. It was about choice. Do you want to give your music away? Sell it for Twinkies? It should be your choice.

Wasn't asking for the names of those who were illegally downloading Metallica's music going one step too far?
We didn't ask for names. People said to us, "We don't know who's downloading this stuff." We said, "We don't believe that," and hired a company who supplied us with those names in half an hour. But [Napster] was brilliant at publicity. We had always been the good guys and all of a sudden we were greedy Luddites. The whole thing was bizarre.

Speaking of bizarre, were you surprised by the reaction to Lulu?
It was more spiteful than anyone was prepared for. Especially against Lou. He is such a sweet man. But when Metallica do impulsive riffing and Lou Reed is reciting abstract poetry about German bohemians from 150 years ago, it can be difficult to embrace.

You never had second thoughts when sweet Lou came in with lyrics like "I swallow your sharpest cutter / Like a colored man's dick"?
I understand that to some 13-year-old in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, it can all seem a little cringe-worthy, but to someone raised in an art community in Copenhagen in the late '60s, that was expected.

Did Lou ever give you his what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you stare?
One time I had to point something out to him about how things were functioning in the outside world and he got hot and bothered. He challenged me to a street fight, which is a pretty daunting proposition because he's an expert in martial arts and is never too far from a sword. The good thing about me is I can do the 100-meter dash faster than most other 48-year-old musicians.

What's the most embarrassing moment of Metallica's career?
There are easy clich?s, like "The Load album when you cut your hair." I'm proud as fuck that it is what it is. I don't carry a "Five Things I Wish I Could Change" list around so I can throw them out in an interview.

How about one?
I'll never forget the summer of '99. We came back after touring Europe and I heard this song on the radio called "Nookie." We were making a record with a classical orchestra [S&M] while Limp Bizkit was going on. We were off in our own little world. But I didn't think it was embarrassing.

Does being so secure about Metallica's place in the world affect the music you make?
We wrote Ride the Lightning in a garage in El Cerrito, California, and a cold cellar in Nowheresville, New Jersey. Does that make for better art than when you've sold 47 bazillion copies of the "Black Album" [Metallica]? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.

If you could take back one Metallica song, what would it be?
"Don't Tread on Me" has that shuffle vibe. That's not my thing, but I don't wish to erase it from all 97 bazillion copies of the "Black Album."

You know the cover of Death Magnetic looks like a hairy vagina, right?
It can be viewed many different ways. But of course I'm aware of that.

http://www.spin.com/articles/metallicas-lars-ulrich-orion-fest-lulu-and-black-album-regret

[FunkyMonkey]

An Interview With Icon Lars Ulrich

The Metallica skin-pounder talks Hulk Hogan, porn stars, and Danish cheese. Rock on!

Metallica were legendary partyers back in the day. Is there any one moment that still stands out?
The recording of The Black Album was probably the most insane on the debauchery front. We were in L.A. for about nine months, at the same time that Guns n? Roses were recording their Use Your Illusion albums. Los Angeles in the early ?90s was ground zero for any kind of outrageous hard-rock behavior. It all started and ended in the corner booth of the Rainbow Room on the Sunset Strip! It was a pretty crazy convergence: music, alcohol, drugs, debauchery, porn. At that time the porn world and the music world were kind of like bedmates?if you were mixing with anyone other than your own group, it was the porn world. We had a lot of fun, and I have good memories from that time. I?m glad I lived it?and I?m glad I don?t have to live it again.

Hulk Hogan recently said you once asked him to be Metallica?s bassist. What the??
I think I?ll say: See the previous answer. There are some things that get a bit hazy back there. I have?this is scary?the best memory of any of us, and I still have to file that one under ?hazy.?

That could?ve been one hell of a beefy bass line?
Listen, you know me?I?m up for anything! Don?t take my inability to remember as a negative thing. That sounds sensational.

You?re starring in Hemingway & Gellhorn, an HBO movie about Ernest and his third wife. Are you looking to move more into acting?
I don?t know if I?m moving into acting as much as acting?s moving into me. I don?t chase this type of stuff?I don?t have people out scouring the Earth for parts for a drummer in a heavy metal band to star in!

You?re also shooting a 3D film. Is it a concert movie?
It?s set against a concert, but with a narrative going on because, you know, a 3D Metallica movie?that?s a lot for anybody to sit through. I wouldn?t wish that upon your worst enemy.

What was it like filming in San Quentin prison for the ?St. Anger? video?
Very intimidating?trust me. It?s surreal being inside San Quentin and looking out at the surrounding area where every morning I drive my kids to school. I now know which chimney is the exhaust pipe from the gas chamber. It?s truly, truly bizarre.

You famously lost a Grammy for best metal performance to Jethro Tull in 1989. What was going through your head when they announced that?
Man, when you?re doing live television, you?re so fucking high, nothing else registers. I don?t think we were really aware of what was going on?we just got shuffled off. ?OK, back to your dressing room now, little metal people.?

You?ve expressed some regret about your handling of Napster. Is there anything you?d do differently now?
What I have said was, we were kind of blindsided. It started off as a backyard scrap?it was personal. It was a control issue, then all of a sudden it became like a crusade. There was a little bit of ?Huh? Wait a minute, shouldn?t Sting be doing this??

Is there anything in the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster you wish had been left out?
I?m definitely guilty of poking sometimes. I?m Danish, and Danish people sometimes like to stick their finger in somebody else?s shoulder and push them a bit. I sometimes think that the metal community is just so fucking serious and up its own ass. Once in a while it needs a little poke, and I don?t mind being that guy. Nobody else seems to do it. Some?times I read, ?Oh, Lars Ulrich, what an asshole,? or, ?Lars Ulrich can?t play drums.? I laugh at all of that. People sit there and say these awful things in the chat forums. I think it?s really funny when someone sits there and says something that he?s typed with his dick, or some 12-year-old who hasn?t figured out how to jerk off yet is sitting there typing insults about somebody he?s never met. The whole thing?s hilarious.

What do you have in your fridge right now?
Cheese is a big thing in Danish refrigerators: It?s good if you?ve been out drinking till 2 a.m. and need something quick before you fall over, but swallowing a whole Danish fucking cheese raw is not necessarily the best thing when you gotta sit there and drum the next day?

http://www.maxim.com/music/interview-with-icon-lars-ulrich?

[rebelhipi]

im going to see metallica tomorrow for the second time! i hope i will find a nice place to stand (im on the froor with 48 000 others)
gonna be awesome!

[rebelhipi]

the gig was great! i noticed that lars uses a similar cars side window thing in his drum kit. no idea why?

[westcoast_junkie]

Saw them a couple of weeks back too. Big production, 40000 attended i think. It was a great show

Mastodon (warm-up) wasn't that good though. Had little bit of expectoration since I think their latest record is kinda good, but the stage were too big I guess....

[cotis]

First night of Orion Festival in Atlantic City was awesome last night!

Great festival with tons of great bands, vendors - including one selling bootleg DVDs from all bands including Metallica and GNR, and tons of stuff to do.

Tonight: Avenged Sevenfold and The Black Album!

[Bodhi]

yeah that was a great festival, not a ton of the bands that I like but it was a decent crowd because it wasn't all obnoxious fat redneck metal heads which is what you get when you team Metallica up with bands like Slayer.  This crowd was way better than the Big 4 crowd.  Avenged stole the show as far as all the support bands go, and had the second biggest crowd for their set behind Metallica.

[tim_m]

Playing RTL in its entirety was cool. I think they should've picked another album then the black album for the second night. I would've suggested MOP or AJFA.

[Bodhi]

Nah I still think to this day the Black album is their best album.  It is the most melodic, best vocally, and best produced.    That is not to say the previous 4 records aren't great in every way, they are, I just prefer the black album to the others.  I would love to hear them do Justice and Kill em All next year.  They have already played Puppets in its entirety several times.

[tim_m]

Nah I still think to this day the Black album is their best album.  It is the most melodic, best vocally, and best produced.    That is not to say the previous 4 records aren't great in every way, they are, I just prefer the black album to the others.  I would love to hear them do Justice and Kill em All next year.  They have already played Puppets in its entirety several times.

I love the black album as well its an incredible album, but i believe there are songs on AJFA that have never been played or not played in full that would be awesome to hear. I'm not sure if there were any on the black album that had not been played.

[faldor]

I love the black album as well its an incredible album, but i believe there are songs on AJFA that have never been played or not played in full that would be awesome to hear. I'm not sure if there were any on the black album that had not been played.

http://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/metallica-3bd680c8.html

   ?and Justice for All    3105
   
    One (1269)
    Harvester of Sorrow (728)
    Blackened (436)
    ...And Justice for All (217)
    Justice Medley (208)
    Eye of the Beholder (124)
    The Shortest Straw (87)
    Dyers Eve (35)
    To Live is to Die (1)
   

Metallica    4987
   

    Enter Sandman (1102)
    Sad But True (1101)
    Nothing Else Matters (1001)
    Wherever I May Roam (731)
    The Unforgiven (364)
    Of Wolf and Man (250)
    Through the Never (225)
    The God That Failed (88)
    Holier Than Thou (74)
    The Struggle Within (17)
    Don't Tread on Me (17)
    My Friend of Misery (17)

[LongGoneDay]

Would love to hear To Live is to Die into Dyers Eve live.

I think And Justice would be my first pick, but can't go wrong with Kill em All, Lightning, Puppets...

For me, the Black album has it's moments, but was the beginning of the end.

Sounds like a band trying to cash in with a more radio friendly sound(which they were, and did).
The dirty reckless sound stripped away. Still love songs like Sad but True, Unforgiven, but its the first album I bought by them that I felt had some real doozies on it.
I cringe every time I hear those cheesy lyrics of Enter Sandman..

I guess you can only make so many straight up metal records, or you run the risk of becoming stagnant like Slayer.

I thought Megadeth pulled it off beautifully managing to expand from the trash sound on Countdown to Extinction w/o sounding like they had been castrated(Nothing Else Matters).

Metallica had one foot in the grave with Black, was underground with Load, and they've been pissing on their own grave since then. Tried to make a mends with the back to basics paint by numbers Death Magnetic, then shit the casket with that Lou Reed album. Granted they could sell their own shit these days and people would line up to buy it, so their doing something right.

Megadeth hung on longer with Cryptic Writings having it's moments, but pretty weak effort overall. They got their Lulu out of the way early with Risk, but put out a proper metal album with Endgame. Something I didn't think I'd hear again. Back to making boring records again w/13 though..

Still, 2 of the greatest metal bands in history. 2nd and 3rd only to the great Black Sabbath, who's coincidentally in the process of pissing over it's own legacy.

[Bodhi]

I never understood that mentality that the Black album was the beginning of the end, although I do hear a lot of metal fans say it. I thought Load was where there was a drastic drop off for them.   I guess for me its different because I am more of a hard rock fan than metal.  I love Megadeth, but my favorite record of theirs is "Countdown",and that is clearly not their most metal album.  I like all of Megadeth's albums because even the earlier stuff which was heavier there is a melody behind the madness.  I'm weird with music though, for instance I love Metallica, Megadeth and Ozzy's solo work they are 3 of my favorite artists of all time, but I don't really like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. I don't dislike those bands I am just indifferent to them.  I do think Maiden and Priest are silly, I never really got if they were for real or not, Maiden especially is very Spinal Tap to me.   I loathe Slayer though.   I have seen them live twice, in the front row because they were playing with other bands I like, they are just noise.  They have chops, but can't write for shit.

[LongGoneDay]

I'm actually in the same boat with you for the most part.
Rust in Peace is my favorite Megadeth album, but Countdown is right there for me.
I never got into Priest, and while I do enjoy the shit out of some Maiden songs(You simply can't not like Hallowed be thy name!! haha), never really got too deep into their catalogue.
Can't stand Slayer, especially after seeing them live. First I saw them w/Pantera, and thought, okay it''s not their fault, Pantera is gonna make a lot of bands look bad in comparison.
Had to sit through them a couple times since being on the same bill as other bands I've gone to see, and they are just plain awful live. Granted it was Megadeth that embarrassed them last time.

I love early Sabbath though. Ever pick up Master of Reality?

[tim_m]

I love the black album as well its an incredible album, but i believe there are songs on AJFA that have never been played or not played in full that would be awesome to hear. I'm not sure if there were any on the black album that had not been played.

http://www.setlist.fm/stats/albums/metallica-3bd680c8.html

   ?and Justice for All    3105
   
    One (1269)
    Harvester of Sorrow (728)
    Blackened (436)
    ...And Justice for All (217)
    Justice Medley (208)
    Eye of the Beholder (124)
    The Shortest Straw (87)
    Dyers Eve (35)
    To Live is to Die (1)
   

Metallica    4987
   

    Enter Sandman (1102)
    Sad But True (1101)
    Nothing Else Matters (1001)
    Wherever I May Roam (731)
    The Unforgiven (364)
    Of Wolf and Man (250)
    Through the Never (225)
    The God That Failed (88)
    Holier Than Thou (74)
    The Struggle Within (17)
    Don't Tread on Me (17)
    My Friend of Misery (17)




Were those from AJFA played in their entirety though?

[FunkyMonkey]

Metallica's Lars Ulrich interviewed by Stash at Orion: Music and More 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJzWxno5psM

[FunkyMonkey]

Metallica's Lars Ulrich interviewed by Stash at Orion: Music and More 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJzWxno5psM

METALLICA Drummer Interviewed At 'Orion Music + More' (Video) - July 7, 2012

Stash of the 98 Rock radio station in Baltimore, Maryland conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich at METALLICA's two-day festival Orion Music + More, which took place on June 23-24 at the popular Atlantic City, New Jersey concert venue Bader Feld. You can now watch the chat below.

METALLICA headlined both nights of Orion Music + More and played "Ride The Lightning" in its entirety the first night and "The Black Album" in its entirety the second.

A 58-minute recap of some of the second day's events, including METALLICA's performances of the songs "Hit The Lights" and "Master Of Puppets", can be seen below.

The band's setlist for the June 23 concert was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights
02. Master Of Puppets
03. The Four Horsemen
04. Sad But True
05. Hell And Back
06. The Call Of Ktulu
07. Creeping Death
08. Escape
09. Trapped Under Ice
10. Fade To Black
11. For Whom The Bell Tolls
12. Ride The Lightning
13. Fight Fire With Fire
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

Encore:

16. Battery
17. One
18. Seek & Destroy

The band's setlist for the June 24 concert was as follows:

01. Hit The Lights
02. Master Of Puppets
03. Fuel
04. For Whom The Bell Tolls
05. The Shortest Straw
06. The Struggle Within
07. My Friend Of Misery
08. The God That Failed
09. Of Wolf & Man
10. Nothing Else Matters
11. Through The Never
12. Don't Tread On Me
13. Wherever I May Roam
14. The Unforgiven
15. Holier Than Thou
16. Sad But True
17. Enter Sandman

Encore:

18. Blackened
19. One
20. Seek & Destroy

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=176441

[faldor]

http://www.noise11.com/news/metallica-release-free-concert-download-in-honour-of-cliff-burton-20121001?utm_source=Noise11+Subscribers&utm_campaign=522ea39f45-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email

Metallica Release Free Concert Download In Honour Of Cliff Burton
by ANDREW TIJS on OCTOBER 1, 2012
In tribute to their late bassist Cliff Burton, Metallica offer a free download of him playing with them live in 1984.


Blabbermouth noted that Metallica had posted a photo of Burton on their site, captioned ?We miss you?, on the 26th anniversary of his death in a tour bus crash in Sweden.

In addition to this, the metal icons posted up a free mp3 download of a live performance from France in 1984, featuring Burton with the band (and including the second track ?Cliff solo?).

They wrote: ?While you?re remembering Cliff on the 26th anniversary of his passing, give a listen to this free download from the ?Ride The Lightning? tour.?

Download it here.  http://www.livemetallica.com/live-music/0,403/Metallica-mp3-flac-download-11-22-1984-Le-Riff-Toulouse-FRA.html
R.I.P. Cliff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7KpxOmksHrY

[Lord Kayoss]

Did anyone dig Death Magnetic?  I liked a lot of the music, but James' voice makes most of the songs nearly unlistenable for me.  I guess he blew it out one too many times.  That, and not many are high on Rubin's production on the album, which seems to be a recurring theme for his work.

[Bodhi]

Did anyone dig Death Magnetic?  I liked a lot of the music, but James' voice makes most of the songs nearly unlistenable for me.  I guess he blew it out one too many times.  That, and not many are high on Rubin's production on the album, which seems to be a recurring theme for his work.

I thought James voice was fine, and the songs were really well written.  The production on that album is complete and utter shit.  Those songs live are 10 times better.