Word at Rolling Stone mag has it that Rick Rubin – who coaxed both Johnny Cash, in a series of recordings for the American Recordings label, and Neil Diamond, to develop a pared-down, mostly-acoustic sound for their late-in-life recordings – has coaxed Metallica to do just the opposite: return to its thrash metal roots.
In the film Some Kind Of Monster – a moving film that definitely has its Spinal Tap moments (cue the extras, if you don’t believe me) – scenes with Metallica in the studio with producer Bob Rock come across as uncomfortable, forced and stressful. And it’s not just because of Hetfield’s trip into sobriety – the band was going against its songwriting intuitions, or at least to this ear, going against what made them excited about music when they were younger. When Lars Ulrich says that the riffs the band is trying to come up with for its new record are “stock,” he hits the nail on the head.
So, according to the Rolling Stone piece, Rubin was able to tell them, when they were playing poorly during recent recording sessions, that “you guys suck” – or conversely, to tell them that they were “on fire.” This tough-love approach – a far cry from the kid-gloves attitude of Rock – sounds like it will payoff in, at least, a more exciting record, but only time will tell if they can match the intensity and adventurousness of the early four records. But also, as musicians get older – the members are all in their mid-late 40s now – their hands slow down. I, for one, can’t see a 45-year old drummer playing thrash the way a 20-year old would. If you put Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale behind the skins, for example… But Lars: prove me wrong!
Hetfield expresses his lyrical focus in the article in this way, which I’ll let stand on its own:
“The warrior aspect, to survive — I’m hooked into that right now.”
Filed under: music | Tagged: metallica, rick rubin
