METALLICA Frontman On Upcoming Album: 'We Don't Want
Pretty Good, We Want Excellent'
In the latest issue of the METALLICA Club (the group's official fan
club) members-only magazine "So What!" METALLICA's James Hetfield,
Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich offer more insight into the
songwriting process for the group's forthcoming album. "We don't
want pretty good, we want excellent and [producer] Rick Rubin is
getting us to try and achieve that," Hetfield is quoted as saying.
"He's [Rick] very good at getting the essence of an artist out and
bringing that back to the top again. It's the 'Master of Puppets'
mentality again. You need to prove the world that you're good, you
need to be hungry again you need to [put on] a showcase that
says, 'Here we are, just like the first time we did it.'"
Added Hammett: "It's about doing the best that you possibly can. I
have difficulty wading through all the ideas because I'm biased I
think everything we do has a lot of merit to it. In that regard
Rick Rubin is great because he will just say, 'Such and such a part
is not good, so come up with something else.' He just leaves the
problem up to us and we just solve it between ourselves without too
much interference from his side, which is completely different from
[longtime METALLICA producer] Bob Rock whose musical thinking would
permeate the record. Rick Rubin leaves a lot of the musical problem
solving to ourselves, which keeps it more pure."
Lars commented: "A lot of the work we did after the band nearly
broke up [during the making of 2003's 'St. Anger'] was not going to
be so evident on the record we made at the time, but more evident
on the next record, which is the one weré making now. This has been
a much more enjoyable experience, much more fun, creatively
stimulating and working with Rick is helping a lot."
Ulrich told Examiner.com in October that the band's upcoming album
will be "heavier" yet more "melodic" than "St. Anger". Ulrich
explained, "Whereas 'St. Anger' was an exercise in over-pummeling
the listener, these new songs echo some of our stuff from the '80s
long, epic journeys through different musical landscapes,
heavier, but a lot more melodic." When asked whether the new songs
will be shorter, in the four-to-five minute range, Ulrich said,
"Well, the most of the intros are four to five minutes. I don't
know METALLICA and short songs just don't go that well
together."
The new METALLICA album is tentatively due in the spring.
