Members Of SLIPKNOT, KORN, GODSMACK, SLAYER Remember First Time They Heard METALLICA - Apr. 16, 2011

With the "Big Four" — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — taking over Indio, California next Saturday April 23, ARTISTdirect.com editor author Rick Florino spoke to numerous musicians and celebrities about the first time they heard METALLICA and what the band means to them. A couple of excerpts follow below.

Question: When did you first discover METALLICA and what do they mean to you?

Slash (VELVET REVOLVER, GUNS N' ROSES): "I first discovered METALLICA when they came out with their first EP. METALLICA has always been one of my favorite heavy metal bands. I think that they are one of the most versatile metal bands that came out in the '80s. They are also one of the most creative. I think that James Hetfield is one of the greatest heavy metal guitarists to ever walk this earth."

Kerry King (SLAYER): "I imagine it was at The Woodstock in Orange County when Dave Mustaine was in the band. I instantly became a fan. I couldn't believe Mustaine was ripping these incredible leads way back then and not even looking at his fingers. I still fucking looking at my fingers [Laughs]. There were no records then it was just seeing them. I think METALLICA might've just been on the 'Metal Massacre' compilation or something."

Jonathan Davis (KORN): "I first heard them on either 'Master Of Puppets' or 'Ride The Lightning'. I was at my buddy's house, and this guy came over and said, 'You've got to hear this shit!' I was 14 years old or something; I can't even remember how old I was [Laughs]. This dude put METALLICA on, and I was like, 'Wow, what the hell is that?' I only listened to them at that moment, and I sort of forgot about it afterwards. I thought it was cool, but I genuinely didn't get into them again until they hit with 'The Black Album.' It was all over MTV at the time. I really got into METALLICA when I got in KORN, though. I love playing 'One'. It was cool to play it for them at the 'MTV Icon' special. They're one of my favorite bands. I look up to them. They've been doing it for so long. That's truly the band I look up to — them and Ozzy Osbourne. We've also toured with METALLICA a bunch; it's fucking awesome!"

Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR): "I actually talk about when I discovered METALLICA in my book — 'The Seven Deadly Sins: Settling The Argument Between Born Bad And Damaged Good'. That's how big it was. [Laughs] I remember hearing 'Master Of Puppets' at a friend's house. That line at the end of 'Damage Inc.' — 'Fuck it all and fucking no regrets' — was the one that every metal head waited for with baited breath. When it came, you'd jump up and scream along to it. It was amazing. METALLICA will always be important to me!"

Sully Erna (GODSMACK): "I first discovered them somewhere around 1982 or 1983. It was the early '80s. I remember that a friend of mine came over with 'Kill 'Em All' and 'Ride The Lightning'. For whatever it was worth, this dude was always way ahead of his time. He knew what new thing was going to hit before it hit. I was still very much into IRON MAIDEN and JUDAS PRIEST at that moment. That was metal, but it wasn't METALLICA metal. My buddy put on 'Ride The Lightning', and the first song I heard was 'Fight Fire With Fire'. I just said, 'What the fuck is this?!' [Laughs] It so fast, the double bass was flying, and the vocals stood out. I didn't get it at first. However, a week later, I was like, 'This is the greatest band ever to walk the planet!' I couldn't get enough. That was my first METALLICA experience."

Read more musician accounts at ARTISTdirect.com.

LARS ULRICH: 'We Have A Tendency To Be Pretty Adventurous In METALLICA' - Apr. 22, 2011

Vanessa Franko of The Press-Enterprise conducted an interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich ahead of the "Big Four" show this Saturday (April 23) at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the big four bands of thrash metal — METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — getting together and touring Europe last year:

"We were all keeping our fingers crossed that the experiment would work. When we played the first show in Warsaw, just about 10 months ago, in June of last year, everybody felt right away that this thing was really working and the 75,000 people who showed up in Warsaw really felt that it was working, too."

On not wanting to cram the tour down the throats of fans:

"There's a fine line. You don't want to push it to the point so 'Now we're going to hit every arena, every theater, every backyard, everywhere.' You want to keep it special."

On the "Big Four" show in Indio, California:

"We're bringing all the bells and whistles and all of the stuff that turns on and off and all of the stuff that pops and goes boom. Hopefully people all over Southern California will be able to experience some part of this, if not by direct association, then at least by indirect association. It will be cool. If the weather's clear, they'll be able to share this all over Southern California."

On how METALLICA plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary:

"I think we sort of forgot. When you get to have been around as long as we have, you can almost find an anniversary in anything — 10 years since this, 20 years since that came out, 15 years since somebody picked their nose. There's always an anniversary you can celebrate."

On METALLICA's continued success and relevance, which Ulrich attributes to the band's ability to change:

"We have a tendency to be pretty adventurous in METALLICA. We're not afraid to move around on the musical map a little bit ... you've got a lot of curious personalities in this band; you've got a lot of people who are very inspired by many different things. There's always different flavor that comes up whenever we get together and do our thing. We like to mix it up as much as possible. Hopefully in the wake of that, there comes an unpredictability and something where people don't pigeonhole you and take you for granted."

Read the entire interview from The Press-Enterprise.

METALLICA: We Have 'Over 700 New Riffs' To Choose From For Next Album - May 1, 2011

METALLICA is scheduled to enter the studio later this month to begin recording a yet-to-be-revealed new project, which guitarist Kirk Hammett described to RollingStone.com as "more a recording project than a bona fide METALLICA album."

In a brand new interview with U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich was asked to comment on the band's recording plans. "Ooh, boy. Yeah, I… What would you like me to say?" he replied. "Obviously, I can't talk about it. If I could talk about it, I would — you know me. It's… We'll see… It's something… We'll see how it plays out. If there's something, you'll be among the first to know, trust me."

When asked if the project involved "something new," Ulrich paused before replying, "Er… something new? Um… not necessarily. It depends on where you look at it from. I wouldn't call it something new. You guys will be right there when we're ready to share it with somebody. Right now there's nothing to say, and Kirk's been… er… He's been given 10 push-ups! And not kid push-ups! Kirk is doing 10 push-ups every morning 'till rehearsal."

Regarding whether there have been signs of any new material, Ulrich said, "James [Hetfield, guitar/vocals] told me in Australia that he had over 700 [new] riffs. That was slightly overwhelming. When I spoke to him yesterday, he told me that he'd been playing guitar again in the last couple of weeks. And listen, when James tunes his guitar, he comes up with three to five usable guitar riffs. It's kind of frightening. James is not allowed to play guitar without being recorded. Literally! There are also hours and hours of jams and tuning-room shindigs. After the ['Big Four'] gig [in Indio], we're gonna sit down and wade through two and half years' worth of riffs and jams and hopefully a lot of the seeds for the next METALLICA record will be in that. When you're just jamming instead of — quote — 'writing,' things have a tendency to be more organic and flow a little more. We can use the rest of the riffs for ringtones or… I don't know. Set up a web site: SpareRiffs.com."

METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo told Palm Springs, California radio station KCLB-FM that the band will work with producer Rick Rubin again on the follow-up to 2008's "Death Magnetic" album, Rubin's first collaboration with the group.

METALLICA decided to work with Rubin on "Death Magnetic" after making five albums over 15 years with producer Bob Rock.

Speaking about METALICA's "return" to its metal roots with "Death Magnetic", Ulrich told Metal Hammer, "Obviously, the key element in this whole thing [goes back] to playing 'Master Of Puppets' in its entirety [in 2006], which was something that 10 years ago I'd have not thought we would ever do. Revisiting 'Puppets' while we were writing the next record certainly put a stamp on 'Death Magnetic'. We'd never allowed ourselves to be inspired by our past. And Rick Rubin encouraged us to be OK with revisiting 'Ride The Lightning' and so on. Then came the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame — which brought another kind of nostalgic thing. So there are these highlights over the past 10 years, these triggering points. The side of METALLICA that we are having a lot of fun with right now is the harder, faster, more manic, more out-of-control stuff than, say, the 'Load'-'Reload' British blues stuff. Playing a lot of the full-on metal stuff like 'Dyers Eve' and 'The Shortest Straw'. We played 'The Call Of Ktulu' in Australia. Bringing out 'Trapped Under Ice' again… It's just been cool to feel comfortable about embracing that side of METALLICA."

METALLICA Monopoly Game Coming Next Week - June 8, 2011

One of the world's most popular board games, Monopoly, has been customized to celebrate the history and music of heavy metal giants METALLICA. The game will be available starting next week from the band's official webstore.

METALLICA follows KISS, THE BEATLES, ELVIS PRESLEY and THE GRATEFUL DEAD, among other artists, who have their own Monopoly games.

Secret Recording Project?

June 15, 2011

A few months ago our own Kirk Hammett hinted at a new Metallica project that's "not really 100 percent a Metallica record." While Kirk may have jumped the gun a little (and has since been properly punished with a series of push-ups!), we are more than proud to announce that we have just completed recording a full length album that is a collaboration with none other than the legendary Lou Reed.

Ever since we had the pleasure of performing with Lou at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009, we have been kicking around the idea of making a record together. Some of you astute Bay Area residents may have picked up news of recent Lou Reed sightings in the greater San Francisco area and we have indeed been working at our home studio at HQ on and off over the last few months. In what would be lightning speed for a Metallica related project, we recorded ten songs during this time and while at this moment we're not exactly sure when you'll hear it, we're beyond excited to share with you that the recording sessions wrapped up last week.

A true innovator and easily one of the most influential songwriters, musicians, and performers in rock music history, Lou's work with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist has such an enduring quality that he has long been revered and respected by us and many of our peers. We can't wait for you to listen to the finished record, so as we like to hear ourselves say around here, keep watching this spot for updates . . . we'll be back with more details as they come together.

METALLICA To Play Corporate Event In San Francisco - June 22, 2011

METALLICA's official web site has been updated with the following message:

"San Francisco show?? Well, sort of…

"It all started when Kirk [Hammett, guitar] mentioned that his next-door neighbor had invited us to play at his party in San Francisco and we figured, 'Why not?' After all, it has been quite some time since we've played in our hometown, and we haven't exactly been getting out a lot lately.

"Well, it turns out that Kirk's neighbor, Marc Benioff, is the top dog at a 'small' company called Salesforce.com and his shindig actually lasts for four days and hosts over 30,000 people!

"So much for a little backyard barbeque . . .

"Following in the footsteps of Neil Young, the FOO FIGHTERS, BLACK CROWES, and Stevie Wonder, we are excited to announce that we have been invited to play at the ninth annual Salesforce.com Dreamforce convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco on Wednesday, August 31. It promises to be quite the party... Where else can you learn everything you ever wanted to know about cloud computing during the day and then rock out with the 'TALLICA at night?

"If you're planning to attend Dreamforce, cool, we look forward to seeing you there and of course, if you're a Met Club [official METALLICA fan club] member, log in and check out how you can win tickets . . . we're giving hundreds away."

AntУ Металлики вышел новый альбом

Metallica in 3D?
Happy New Year!!! As you know, we generally make it a policy not to comment on gossip or rumors, but we also pride ourselves on being first with 'Tallica news. So, with that said, the more astute of you may have noticed a couple of mentions in trade publications, and most recently in the new issue of Rolling Stone, that a Metallica 3D movie is in the works. We're here to tell you that, yes, there is indeed a 3D project in the very early stages of production! We wish we could tell you more right now, but we don't have all the finer points nailed down just yet. What we can tell you is that we are planning on being in a theatre near you sometime in 2013 and as you hear us say ever so often, this will be the space for all the details as we finalize them.

Welcome to 2012... we're pretty psyched about the year ahead!

More Magnetic... on DVD!

Happy September... we've got an early Christmas present for you! As we get ready to head back into the studio, we thought we would round out the Death Magnetic experience with the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the two nights we filmed in Quebec City way back in the fall of 2009. We were in the thick of the World Magnetic tour at that time and thought it would be cool to invite our friend Wayne Isham out to capture the shows, so while we were getting ready to film the 3D movie and all the other shenanigans we've been up to since then, Wayne and his team have been quietly editing and working with our team of next level audio engineers. The resulting two disc set will be ready in early December of this year with all the details coming very soon. However, we need your help now!

As we mentioned before, we played two shows... we would like YOU to pick which setlist is the main feature with the remaining songs not played in the setlist that you choose appearing later on the disc in the "extras" section. It's simple - just vote for setlist one or setlist two before this Monday, September 24 at 9:00 AM PDT and which ever setlist gets the most votes will be our "main feature."

Thanks in advance and as we love to say, keep watching here for all the info!

KIRK HAMMETT Says METALLICA Will Play 'Completely Insane' Rendition Of 'One' At GRAMMY AWARDS

January 17, 2014

KIRK HAMMETT Says METALLICA Will Play 'Completely Insane' Rendition Of 'One' At GRAMMY AWARDS
METALLICA will perform at the 56th annual Grammy Awards — the band's first appearance at the music industry's biggest event in 22 years — alongside renowned Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang. METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett revealed to RollingStone.com that the band will play its classic song "One" at the event and that it will be "completely insane."

He explained: "Lang Lang has interjected himself into the song in a way I don't think anyone else has ever done in the course of our career. He's going to be playing major parts of the songs. He's going to be playing through the melody." Hammett also revealed that METALLICA has already been working with Lang Lang on a demo of the song and that the collaboration definitely works. "He's going to be weaving in and out of my guitar solos, which is amazing for me," said Hammett. "I've never played with another instrument that's been able to do that so effortlessly."

But Hammett was quick to add: "We're keeping all the heavy parts. And it's going to be really cool and it's really dynamic."

The soundtrack to METALLICA's recent 3D IMAX movie, "Metallica Through The Never", is nominated for a Grammy for "Best Recording Package."

The 56th annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, January 26 at the Los Angeles Staples Center and will be broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

METALLICA first performed on the Grammy Awards in 1989 — the first metal band to do so as the event included an award for "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" for the first time ever. METALLICA performed "One" and was largely favored to win — before losing to JETHRO TULL in one of the most embarrassing and widely ridiculed upsets in Grammy history.