ENTER UNDERSTANDMAN
HEAVY metal masters Metallica couldn’t be shinier than they are right now. The band – featuring singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich – is at the top of this year’s list of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and their recent CD “Death Magnet” is up for four Grammys. Plus, their tour, which plays sold-out shows at Nassau Coliseum Thursday and Newark’s Prudential Center Saturday and Sunday, is earning raves.
Metallica is back. It’s something that you’d never have thought possible if you saw the 2004 documentary “Some Kind of Monster” that found the boys on the brink of breakup and Hetfield being carted off to rehab.
Speaking to The Post from a sound check in Milwaukee, Hetfield recalled those bad days – and just how grateful he is at how far the band has come since then.
Was that movie as hard to make as it is to watch?
It was hard. It went from being a film about making [2003 album “St. Anger”] to the disintegration of the band and me falling apart and having to go away. It was powerful because it was real. There wasn’t a script – I really was freaking out and heading to rehab.
How did you go from “St. Anger,” one of the band’s weakest efforts, to 2008’s “Death Magnetic”?
I credit [producer] Rick Rubin. He helped us realize we shouldn’t run from our past. He told us, “Don’t erase who you were, just bring your sound up to speed.”
Was Metallica running from its past?
We were always fearful of repeating ourselves. That’s the Slayer, the AC/DC, the Bon Jovi route. Sure, their sound is reliable, but they use the same schematic every time.
What did Metallica want?
We wanted to keep moving forward, creating different stuff every album. We thought that was how to stay relevant. Rick helped us remember what we do best; he stripped our music down to what makes Metallica Metallica.
And that is?
Intensity. Like we had in the “Master of Puppets,” “. . . And Justice for All” period. I think this album has been compared to those records because we were thinking in that old mind-set. We felt like we had to be hungry, like when we were kids playing clubs and trying to impress record company people.
But those early albums were dark and cynical, and this one has hope and humanity.
That’s what I’m feeling these days.
Anger and rage were Metallica’s staples. Is that all gone?
I’ve thought about that when I’m at home with my children. I’m starting to see my oldest, who’s 10, showing signs of frustration and anger. When I talk to her I tell her I know how she feels. I feel responsible for her feelings, not just because I’m her dad, but also by the example I’ve set.
The way you say that, it sounds like you think you’re Mr. Bad Example.
I’m getting a lot better these days. I used to not get involved in any situation until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and then I would explode – it was a scary kind of anger. I’ve learned to manage that kind of anger a little better.
So that means you’re not still mad at the Internet?
No, I love the Internet. There’s lots of talk about me that I hate technology. That’s not true. I love how it lets the fans be connected to us as a band. What I didn’t agree with and still don’t is using the Internet for stealing. Music is our passion, it’s not a hobby, and artists should get paid for their work to be able to sustain their art.
