Metallica - Some Kind of Monster

So, what we're gonna do is, we're gonna play back

some of the band's new songs.

There'll be no cameras allowed in there.

There'll be no video, no bags in there.

You can only walk in with paper and a pencil.

We're ready. Are there any questions?

You want a single?

Camera over here.

Was there ever a moment you thought about stopping

with Metallica or the whole band was falling apart?

Was it a kind of a power struggle between you and him?

How did you manage to solve this crisis?

Where in God's name are you getting this aggression from

on this new album? Where's it coming from?

Why did it take so long to release

an album with the new songs?

After 20 years, is it possible to retain the fire

that, you know, you guys once had at the beginning?

Do you think the young generation of metal fans will accept the new album?

Eighty-five million records, 22 years.

I think it's 11 albums and various official releases.

One word.

Oh, my God.

One word to span our career?

We are scanning the scene In the city tonight

We're looking for you To start up a fight

There is an evil feeling in our brains

But it's nothing new You know it drives us insane

Running, on our way Hiding, you will pay

Dying, 1,000 deaths

Running, on our way Hiding, you will pay

Dying, 1,000 deaths

Searching

Seek and destroy

Searching

Seek and destroy

Thank you!

After 14 years of headbanging, Metallica bassist Jason Newsted

has quit the band, citing:

"Private and personal reasons and the physical damage that I've done

to myself over the years while playing the music I love."

Metallica's management had no comment when asked by MTV News

if there's a replacement waiting in the wings.

But the band is still scheduled to begin recording a new album this spring.

That's the news for now. Stay tuned for more news.

I mean, I think everybody understands

the concept of trusting instincts.

That's getting to a place where you don't let egos and let stuff

get in the way of artistic expression. You know?

Do you wanna say anything more about that? Everybody understands...

I met Metallica through Q Prime Management,

after having seen me work with another band of theirs,

when they called and said that Metallica,

with Jason announcing that he was exiting the group,

needed to take a look at itself and say:

"Well, what's going on here? We've lost touch with our personal relationships,"

and face some of the issues that I think Q Prime felt that they were headed for.

You know, we haven't really worked together for almost nine months.

When we were talking a couple of days ago about whether--

You know, if we wanted to do this film or not,

I was wondering if having these guys in here would affect that.

Because I'm just-- There's an intimacy that you get

when it's just a few people in the room,

and I'm just wondering if that's gonna get lost,

if we're gonna go back to sort of, like,

battling each other and trying to be, like, all strong and--

What intimacy? What the fuck are you talking about?

I think, to me, it's not gonna be a matter of whether

the cameras are in play,

but whether or not you guys are free enough

to risk being seen by other people.

We're here in the Presidio in San Francisco,

and this is gonna be the location where Metallica

is gonna start recording their next album.

We decided that we didn't wanna go back into a studio again

and do kind of, like, the same thing we had done before.

We had to kind of change things up.

And this is one of the things that we talked about,

was to go into a space that's not a studio,

bring in kind of, like, a portable studio or a makeshift studio,

and basically make the situation uncomfortable.

You know, don't buy new furniture, don't paint the walls.

Don't do anything. Just keep it Spartan, keep it crude.

They're such a success that you can get comfortable.

I don't think they wanna be comfortable.

There's definitely a vibe in here.

They got a lot of attitude, and I think they want it

to come out on this next album.

How did you approach this record differently?

Did you talk about things, did you have ideas, keywords, things like that,

that you wanted to put across before you started

putting the whole thing together?

Well, ego was a big one. Coming in here

and not bringing a riff, not bringing a song,

not bringing a title. Nothing.

Me and James did not meet somewhere else

and come in here with material, with songs, with music.

This time we all got in a room and just started playing.

And that's how we wrote songs.

The idea is it should sound like a band getting together

in a garage for the first time.

Only the band's Metallica.

I really like going fast.

Just go off and meditate in the wind, you know.

As corny as it sounds, it works, and it feels good.

It's a good way to just let the weight of the world off every once in a while.

It is-- It is kind of strange being, you know,

like, a famous guy. You know.

This is-- This is part of me that's trying to be unfamous, I guess.

But it's also go-against-the-rules attitude.

You know, is this a big pose? I mean, yes, this is a pose.

I mean, am I driving down the street to not get noticed in this thing?

I mean, "rebellious" is kind of what this says, I would say.

- Have you got a plug-in here? - Wait.

So, what exactly are you doing?

Well, you'll just hold it above the pickups.

Oh, okay. I got you.

Yeah!

Give me fuel, give me fire Give me that which I desire

I got some bad news. Gonna have to--

Change the lyrics?

I like this thing, Bob.

- What? - I like this thing.

I used to kid myself that art was my great escape away from music.

And I think I've become increasingly aware

that my interest in art, music and Metallica

is not separate from anything.

You know, where does he feel that there's enough

of that kind of gold thing?

How come there isn't another 20 strokes

up in that black area up there, where it's kind of bare?

Where are the starting points and the end points,

if you know what I mean? When's a song done?

What the fuck does that mean, anyway? Done.

When's a record done?

You know, where does a record start? Where does it end?

Where does the process start? Where does the process end?

All that type of stuff. Do you know what I mean?

Daddy! - It's really interesting.

Yes, sweetie.

I don't feel anything great there.

I don't think it's that great of a riff either.

- How do you hear the riff then? I like that:

And then:

Yeah.

In nine days, it'll be my two-year anniversary of surfing.

It's taken the place of a lot of bad things in my life.

So I basically stopped doing the drugs that I was doing

and cut way back on my drinking.

You can't surf when you're hung-over.

You can't surf if you've been up all night. Well, at least I can't.

There's a sort of individualism, also, about surfing that I like.

I mean, when it's your moment, man, that's your moment and yours alone.

And no one can help you.

For all intents and purposes, we go into this record completely equal.

Everybody contributing

just as much on the lyric front as James contributing

with drum parts and...

As soon as you started talking about that, I just like...

Yeah. Yeah. You flash back now.

Well...

You wanna hear it with vocals?

Go sing it.

You guys had some rules about that before.

Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck. I'm tired of arguing.

You couldn't talk about his lyrics,

therefore, he couldn't talk about your drumming.

Right. Do you know what I mean?

And you and him did the solos,

so you weren't allowed to comment on the solos.

Do you know what I mean? There was, like, rules.

Are you telling me that those boundaries are gone now?

In the past, what we did was

started with a bunch of ideas existing on tape from everybody.

Then me and James would sit down and turn those ideas into songs.

And then we would tell the rest of the band what to play

and when to play and how to play it.

There was never any, just, other ways of doing it.

You know, it's a whole new thing for me.

You know, writing in front of everybody,

because I've always just gone into my own head

and wrote stuff down, instead of taking things from outside

and putting them down.

What I was thinking is, is like-- "These are the hands that--"

"This is the face that--" So it's, like--

Building a Frankenstein or something?

- Yeah. Pretty much. Building what?

A Frankenstein. - "This is the top of my head that's flat."

"These are my bolts..."

We're on the same stream of consciousness here.

We're just all working on the same creative wavelength.

And it's inspiring to me.

Now I can further express myself with these lyrics

now that, you know, James has opened that door for Lars and I.

- This is "clay," right? Yeah.

- Not "clam." - Clay.

"These hands finger the clam."

These are the eyes That can't see through me

This is the tongue That speaks on the inside

Make sure you really, like, spit "can't see me."