Seeker of Truth
05-30-2003, 01:45 PM
Hard Rock Mavens Metallica Show Off Sensitive Side
Fri May 30,11:36 AM ET
By Dean Goodman
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After two decades as one of the biggest hard rock bands in history, the members of Metallica took the most radical step of their career.
They sat down a few years back and got to know each other.
With the band teetering on the brink, the staunch defenders of bone-crunching heavy metal brought in a therapist who inspired them to share their feelings, hug each other and even resolve issues going back to their childhoods.
Such heartwarming moments play out on "Oprah" every other day, but Metallica didn't sell 80 million records by adopting a warm, cuddly persona. The band became huge through grim anthems like "Creeping Death" and "Seek & Destroy." Onstage, it projected invincibility, pummeling fans with symphonic power.
"St. Anger" (Elektra), Metallica's first studio album since 1997's "Re-Load," set for release the week of June 9, reveals a vulnerable side to the newly enlightened musicians, says drummer Lars Ulrich.
To fans who might worry that the band has lived too long in the liberal bastion of San Francisco, Ulrich told Reuters: "If people don't like the fact that that's what it is now, then at least respect it and then walk away from it gracefully."
That's what bass player Jason Newsted did in early 2001. He stunned the group by quitting after 14 frustrating years during which he was prevented from working on outside projects and also bullied by bandmates grieving his predecessor, Cliff Burton, who died in a 1986 tour bus crash.
"RADICAL CHANGE"
"In retrospect, it's amazing that he lasted 14 years," Ulrich said during an interview at Metallica's headquarters in San Rafael, north of San Francisco. "But what he did was he forced us to take a look at the way we were doing things, and it was very clear that ... in order for this band to have a future and to continue doing something under the Metallica banner, there had to be radical, radical change."
More @ yahoo.com (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=3&u=/nm/20030530/en_nm/leisure_metallica_dc)
Fri May 30,11:36 AM ET
By Dean Goodman
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After two decades as one of the biggest hard rock bands in history, the members of Metallica took the most radical step of their career.
They sat down a few years back and got to know each other.
With the band teetering on the brink, the staunch defenders of bone-crunching heavy metal brought in a therapist who inspired them to share their feelings, hug each other and even resolve issues going back to their childhoods.
Such heartwarming moments play out on "Oprah" every other day, but Metallica didn't sell 80 million records by adopting a warm, cuddly persona. The band became huge through grim anthems like "Creeping Death" and "Seek & Destroy." Onstage, it projected invincibility, pummeling fans with symphonic power.
"St. Anger" (Elektra), Metallica's first studio album since 1997's "Re-Load," set for release the week of June 9, reveals a vulnerable side to the newly enlightened musicians, says drummer Lars Ulrich.
To fans who might worry that the band has lived too long in the liberal bastion of San Francisco, Ulrich told Reuters: "If people don't like the fact that that's what it is now, then at least respect it and then walk away from it gracefully."
That's what bass player Jason Newsted did in early 2001. He stunned the group by quitting after 14 frustrating years during which he was prevented from working on outside projects and also bullied by bandmates grieving his predecessor, Cliff Burton, who died in a 1986 tour bus crash.
"RADICAL CHANGE"
"In retrospect, it's amazing that he lasted 14 years," Ulrich said during an interview at Metallica's headquarters in San Rafael, north of San Francisco. "But what he did was he forced us to take a look at the way we were doing things, and it was very clear that ... in order for this band to have a future and to continue doing something under the Metallica banner, there had to be radical, radical change."
More @ yahoo.com (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=762&e=3&u=/nm/20030530/en_nm/leisure_metallica_dc)