Andy Greene of Rolling Stone reports:
It’s been nearly six years since Metallica last released a studio album, but as they gear up for a run of summer festivals in Europe, the band is also putting together material for a new LP. “We’re going through the grind,” says Lars Ulrich. “We’re in there doing riffs and putting them into songs. We don’t really write one song and then show up the next day and do another one. We just work on riffs and sections, connecting riffs and tempos and moods.”
There’s no timeline for the release of the album, but Ulrich says they’ve made much progress. “We’ve been doing this, off and on, for the better part of a year,” he says. “We’re going to do these dates this summer and then really hone down. I’d say that right now, we’re in the fourth inning.”
Read more at Rolling Stone.
source: rollingstone.com
24 Responses
Haters and trolls rejoice in 3..2..1…
4th inning??
Not quite halfway then? Or is someone butchering sports analogies?
Nick,
I got the headline from RS. Blame them or Lars for saying it 🙂
Dana from ET.com 🙂
I might be in the minority, but I think Metallica is the most overrated band of all-time.
Easily.
I think from a complete body of work, I may agree….imo theyve taken the biggest nosedive musically…from production to the songs themselves, their new stuff sucks…bon jovi is a very close second…
We all like different things and have different opinions, but i agree. They get a free pass by everyone, they are even regularly played on the “alternative” rock station right along side of Hole, Smashing Pumpkins etc, but they dont play Priest or any other metal acts. Just not my cup of tea, but I hope they give their fans a great album.
I think it depends on where you’re coming from. If you grew up with them in the 80’s to early 90’s, they really were something special and different – along with Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, etc. Consider that the big mainstream rock bands at that time were the likes of Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Poison, Van Halen, etc. At that time Metallica and company were borderline extreme. After the Black album though (and some would even debate that), as far as original music is concerned, there wasn’t much to get excited about. I sometimes listen to Load and Reload, but it’s not “real” Metallica, or maybe better stated it’s not what I want from Metallica. St. Anger was a mess – there are some good riffs in there but the production is so bad and the songs are all over the place, I can’t help but feel like it sounds like an extended demo of unfinished ideas. I do however really like Death Magnetic, the production could have been better but it definitely does fit in alongside the old Metallica.
If you grew up on Slipknot or Lamb of God or some of the other newer, ultra heavy bands, then maybe Metallica doesn’t do much for you or you feel like they can’t “keep up”. There’s always somebody who feels the need to push heavy music farther and faster, and to a lot of people today – especially kids – Metallica IS a mainstream “commercial” band, they’ve been on the radio all their lives. But 20 years ago the only time you would hear them on the radio was after midnight on a Saturday. I won’t defend the mediocrity of the mid 90’s to 2008, because it was just that, but I don’t think any of the early material is overrated and they were (and are) an important part of pushing heavy music forward.
WELL SAID Metalmania
Good stuff.
I dont think they can keep up with their old stuff….I guess its a mindset…I doubt that they could/would have written st.anger in the early 80s…likewise, I doubt they can write another ride the lightning or master of puppets now…imo, it may have to do with where they are in their lives…I imagine they are content…putting personal taste aside, everything from production, lyrics, song structure and playing was much better in the early days than now…could this be the flipside to a long successful career? They join the likes of kiss, aerosmith, bon jovi, skynyrd…bands that stayed to long at the party…imo
Bold words on a metal/hard rock site. But I tend to agree. Anything up to and including Masters gave them the accolades they deserved. However anything after that got blown out of proportion and I’ll include AJFA (terrible production). Metallica in the 90’s became the band non-metalheads listened to when they wanted credibility as a rock n roll fan. They deserve any success that’s come their way, and still put on a good show. But I won’t disagree on the ‘overrated’ comments.
AJFA terrible production? Ill have to dig it out and listen to it..I dont remember being disapointed by the prod…its been years since I listened to it tho..
AJFA is known for its production woes. Jason’s bass is essentially missing. He’s been asked about it plenty of times. Could’ve been a great album but IMO was annoying to listen to.
I don’t think I’d go so far as to call the production on AJFA terrible, but it could have been better. They turned the bass way down in the mix, supposedly as part of the hazing of Jason Newsted. I recall the drums sounding kind of thin. Maybe some of it is 20/20 hindsight, particularly when the next (Black) album sounded so great. Strangely, I don’t think anything they’ve done after that sounded as good – production wise – either. Still, AJFA has some great tracks on it.
It’s about time! Hopefully they’ll actually finish it this year…unless there’s a concert on the moon or something else stupid.
I agree with a couple guys here that stuff evolves over time. They’re different than what they were but that doesn’t mean it sucks. (With exception to St. Anger, what a disaster. I thought I Disappear/No Leaf Clover/Minus Human was a preview to St. Anger, lol.) Death Magnetic was good so hopefully we’ll see some more.
Never understood all the hate for St. Anger, honestly, it wasnt’t THAT bad. I really liked that one.
Eddie…it was THAT bad! Lol
I think in general the problems with St. Anger are that James sounded bad (I’m thinking of the times he tries to scream and his voice just breaks apart – some guys sound better doing that than others, I just don’t think it works for him), the production wasn’t good (the infamous tin can/trashcan lid snare drum sound), NO guitar solos from Kirk. If there was one album I’d say deserves a “do over” it would be St. Anger. There are good riffs on it, many – maybe even most – of the songs have potential to be better than they are in my opinion. There’s no question they regained a ferocity and/or darkness that was lacking in Load/Reload and even the Black album, but (to me anyway) a lot of it just feels disjointed and unfinished. Kirk’s a good lead guitar player, but he was completely unused on that record. The occasional twin guitar harmony lines that James and Kirk do well together were absent – and they lend an air of musicality and sophistication that was missing. I guess if you watch the “Some Kind of Monster” documentary, it makes sense that it turned out the way it did. They definitely had some issues to work out. I’m happy with “Death Magnetic” though, I listen to it a lot. It isn’t realistic to think any of these bands can continually outdo their “classic” material decades later, and even if they did many of us still wouldn’t give it that kind of praise because for some reason we can’t allow anything new to be better than “the old stuff”. And sometimes yes – bands like athletes stay too long past their prime. I don’t put Metallica in that category, not yet. If Death Magnetic wasn’t what it is I might have, and although I’m a long time fan I won’t give them a “pass” – if I don’t think something’s good I’ll say it. We’re quick to dismiss and deride bands that stray from their roots and “core” fanbases, but I think we’re even harder on them sometimes when they come back around to some semblance of their former selves. Success is a bitch I guess.