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With the black album, Metallica saw the
success that few eighties metal bands have experienced. With the release of 'Load' however, the band has found a new sound. A sound that still carries the Metallica flavour, but also a new feeling that gives proof to the statement that Metallica are still growing and maturing. Recently James Hetfield was in Australia for a brief session of interviews and this is what he
had to say...
Q:How did the press conference go?
J.H.:Oh man, it was very cool. A lot of fun. We had a lot of fans in with us, we had the press, we had all the contest winners, we had it all. Just after we split everyone there got to hear the new album. We had to go somewhere else, so we didn't get a chance to hear what everyone thought of it. We didn't get to enjoy the reaction. I suppose the big question is why the long break before the release of this album? Five years...Basically the tour soaked up two of those years, after that we had a little time off and went right back into the studio that summer, to mix down some of the live material that we had recorded on the tour. That took a few months. Then we did a summer tour, and then we just started writing. Five years went by pretty damn quick to us, I know it didn't go too quick for others...I don't remember having much time off at all.
Q:With the big change in the sound of this record, have any new musical influences entered the band?
J.H:Well, five years is a long time, and we all like music and listening to things. Five years, you go through phases of liking
different stuff. I had never discovered the Who until just a little while ago and I'm really into that, and then there is the country stuff. I've gotten more into poet musicians like Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and even Nick Cave. That darker, kind of twisted stuff that is kind of cool. Music wise though, we still listen to the same old shit...what ever makes us feel good, Sabbath, Lizzy - what ever makes you feel good. Like I say man, a lot of shit can happen in five years.
Q:What do you think that fans will think of the new record?
J.H.:What are people going to think? Now that is a good question! I really don't know.
Q:What do you hope they think?
J.H.:I really hope that they can understand what we are up to. I hope that they can follow through with us. The fans are hopefully going to be honest and truthful in what they say, as we are in our music. Obviously, Metallica is a very personal band for some people and people like us for different reasons, which is great. There are the fans who like us for our speedy stuff, there are fans who like us for our deeper more melodic stuff and their are fans who like us for our long hair.
Q:What's going to happen to the fans that liked you for your hair now that it has all come off?
J.H.:Well, the chick who cut my hair guaranteed me that it would grow back! So if it doesn't grow back, we can all kick her arse. No man, hair is just a bunch of dead shit that grows out of your head. There are some people that are very worried about our fashion side. Everyone turns into a fashion consultant. It's ridiculous, I can understand that long hair has always been a part of the image and stuff, but after all it's the music that counts!
Q:How did the new album come together?
J.H.We basically put this one together, like we did all the ones before it. We had a collection of riff tapes from the tour and
when we felt the urge to create and get some new songs happening we sat down and went through the riff tapes and found the best stuff we had recorded over the tour. Then Lars and I start creating it. The main difference this time was that we had a lot
of material, we did not just write the album, I think that is what we have done before. With the Black record and all the ones
before we have written to finish the album, they had never had any extra material left over. With this one we just kept writing.
It was more hard to decide when to stop...we had about twenty eight songs before we decided to stop writing. I just said, "I ain't writing thirty sets of fuckin' lyrics man, so we gotta stop." It was actually going to be a double cd and we got as far as recording thirty drum tracks, and then we said, "We have got to get the fuck outta here! We have to get back on the road, we have got other shit to do." So we ended up with fourteen tracks on this record and the plan is to go out and do a lean and mean tour for a year and after that return to the studio to finish up those songs that were left over and put them out on another release.
Q:So you won't be touring for a long period again?
J.H.:After the album, we hit the road for about a year and then it’s time for that next record. So their won't be another three years of Metallica on the road and another video?
Q:Well we have already done a new video for 'Until it Sleeps'...its really twisted. Why the choice to work with Bob Rock again?
J.H.:Well we figured we got to know him really well on the last recording. We didn't really make him completely insane, so we had to come back and finish the job. He had a couple of brain cells left that we had to tweak. I think after the Black record, we told each other that we were never going to work together again. But time heals all, and we never really could see this record with someone else. It was always him, we knew he'd be back. This time there was no intimidation factor and there was no 'you can't tell me what to do' bullshit. All that petty crap was out of the way, it was more like a friendly set of ears in the studio.
Q:Do you feel that the open atmosphere of the studio has come through on the album?
J.H.:To a degree. Bob tends to help us dig deeper. We tell him what we are sort of after and he tries to help us achieve that. For us even the recording process is made easier with Bob. He sits there and he'll say 'I think you can do that better', which is much better than having to run back and forth between, having to listen to what you have just recorded.
Q:How Long did it take you to record the album?
J.H.:Well, we started writing for it sometime in April, so I guess we were in the studio nine months. When your in their though you really lose all track of time. You are stuck in the dungeon.

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