ARMORED SAINT's JOHN BUSH On More Streamlined Direction Of METALLICA's 'Black Album': 'It Was The Right Move'

In a new interview with Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush spoke about the upcoming 35th anniversary of METALLICA's self-titled album (also known as the Black Album),which was the latter band's first LP to reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart. Released in 1991, it has since received a double diamond certification from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales of more than 20 million copies in the U.S. alone. When MikeZ noted that the Black Album was very different from METALLICA's previous output, John concurred. "Yes, it was," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But you knew that it just sounded so together. I think [producer] Bob Rock scared some people when he came aboard, but you heard it and you're, like, 'Wow.' Just the power of it and the production of it. It was very different from '…And Justice For All', let's face it. I think it was the right step, needless to say. It went on to be one of the biggest hard rock records of all time. So, it was the right move. They were ready to take that step. And I love that album. The Black album is incredible. James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] just took his vocal level to a whole another place and the songwriting was incredible. And 'Wherever I May Roam' and 'Sad But True' and '[Enter] Sandman', 'Through The Never', those are all killer tunes, amazing songs."

Addressing METALLICA's decision to embrace a more streamlined direction compared to the thrash metal overtones of the band's first four albums, John said: "Look, METALLICA was already playing arenas by that point. '…And Justice For All', they were playing arenas and they were already that band. And then 'Justice' is really cool; it's just a different album, with really long songs. Certainly the production... So I think that for them to repeat that would've been weird. I think it was time to do something else, and I think it was a natural progression.

"The thing I always say about METALLICA, and I mean this sincerely, is that they're always willing to take chances," John explained. "They really are — whether it's 'Turn The Page' or cutting their hair or 'St. Anger' or the album with Lou Reed. These are not sometimes things that you're gonna go, 'This is a sure shot. Everyone's gonna get it.' I don't think everyone got the Lou Reed record, but they did it. And to me, that's the thing I always say about bands is taking chances… ANTHRAX is another band that did that. I mean, come on — 'I'm The Man' was a big, big chance. And it was successful. Same with 'Bring The Noise' and then getting in a new singer and doing 'Only', which was very different from certainly anything on 'Persistence Of Time'. And I say the same thing about ARMORED SAINT. We're always willing to try different [things], bring in different instruments. We're a blues band at heart. We're really just a heavy metal blues band, a hard rock band, and we always are willing to do things. [ARMORED SAINT bassist] Joey Vera sings his ass off on this [upcoming ARMORED SAINT] record; there's a ton of really killer background vocals.

"I think the bands that stay the test of time are ones that are willing to take chances," he added. "Sure, you can make the argument, SLAYER stayed [the same throughout their career], but they're SLAYER. So, at the end of the day, I think ones that can make it a couple of decades have to be adventurous in the way they do things. And I think METALLICA did that, and I think that's why they're the biggest band.

"If you're around long enough, not everything is gonna work. It's just not. It's just a fact. I mean, it's just not. If you're around for five years and you had a couple great records, like, 'Hey, we went on a high note,' like George Costanza [fictional character in the American television sitcom 'Seinfeld']. But the reality is, is that if you're around for four decades of music, you're probably gonna do some things that maybe the fanbase is gonna be, like, 'Eh.' They're still gonna go see you at the SoFi Stadium [in Los Angeles]. But the reality is maybe not everything is gonna have the same impact as 'Master Of Puppets' did. But the reality is you have to be willing to branch out and try different things. 'Cause if you don't, you feel stale. And I could say that from the standpoint of a singer and a musician myself. I love [ARMORED SAINT's] 'March Of The Saint', but I don't wanna do it again. We did it. So it's important to take the origins of what you are, but always grow from that. I think that's real important."

This past July, Bush, who was offered an opportunity to join METALLICA in the early '80s but turned it down, reflected on his decision in an interview with Get On The Bus. He said: "That is real. That actually happened before ARMORED SAINT even started, really, for the most part. It was, again, back to Jonny Z [founder of Megaforce Records], who was the manager of METALLICA at first. Then he became the manager of ANTHRAX. And he contacted me, which is kind of funny. And then he contacted me again about [joining] ANTHRAX [in the early 1990s]. I'm, like, 'Wait, okay, this is 10 years later, and you're calling me about maybe joining this other band.' It was kind of funny.

"But, yeah, again, it was an honor to be asked to sing in METALLICA," Bush continued. "I mean, I never can imagine anybody singing other than James Hetfield for that band. Ironically enough, I just saw James Hetfield and Lars [Ulrich] and Robert Trujillo, 'cause we played the Sonic Temple festival in Columbus [Ohio] last weekend, and METALLICA was one of the headlining bands; they headlined two nights, actually. And those guys came and watched ARMORED SAINT. And we played at, like, three in the afternoon. And that was very, very cool that they did that. 'Cause I was, like, 'It's very nice you're here. I don't think I would be here at three in the afternoon if I was going on at nine.' But they did. And that shows that they still, to this day, kind of think highly of us and give us love. And it's really cool."

Bush added: "It was always an honor [to be asked to join METALLICA]. It just was not my fate to be in METALLICA. But I did the one show, which was the — we [played at METALLICA's] 30th-anniversary shows in the Bay Area. They played four nights at the Fillmore. And ARMORED SAINT actually opened one. And then I came out and sang 'The Four Horsemen' with them and they told the story about it and how, 'We were gonna maybe get this guy, but it didn't happen. But this is what it would sound like if he did join.' And so that was a really special moment in my life. And you can see it on YouTube. And it was great. It was cool.

"There's always a connection because ARMORED SAINT ended up going out and touring with METALLICA on 'Ride The Lighting' and 'March Of The Saint' for us," John said. "And we have a lot of history together as friends. And one of the funny things is James, during METALLICA's set [at Sonic Temple], said, 'I was stoked to see ARMORED SAINT today.' This is in front of 50,000 people when they were playing. 'We destroyed a lot of hotels together.' I could have ruined metal. And that's just too much, man — that's too much pressure.

"Like I said, it just wasn't my fate," Bush added. "And I could never imagine anybody [else] singing those songs or not having James Hetfield as a frontman. That would've been a big loss for heavy metal. He was meant to do that. And James became an incredible singer. If you listen to 'Kill 'Em All' to the Black Album, his progression was just off the charts. And he's still an incredible singer."

In July 2024, Bush was asked in an interview with The Dan Chan Show what he thought of METALLICA's recent musical output. He responded at the time:  "METALLICA is a band that never rests on the laurels of what they've done. They're always taking chances, they're always doing different things, they're always expanding on their style and pushing the boundaries of the listeners, whether it's doing the orchestra stuff or doing a record with Lou Reed or making just a metal, powerful, thrashing record. The live performances — I want to see him at SoFi Stadium here [in Los Angeles], and it was phenomenal. It was really cool how they have these four different sections — they actually took this arena and yet when they were all together playing, it felt like you were almost watching them in some small room. It was amazing.

"When you're a band like METALLICA, everybody's expectations are so grand all the time," he continued. "And the reality is you're not always gonna hit the bullseye on everything, especially if you're willing to take chances, which they are. And I really commend that, because it would be easy to just kind of play it safe. And they never do. So I really respect them on that level.

"When I heard 'Lux Æterna' [the first single from METALLICA's latest album, '72 Seasons'], it sounded rad," Bush added. "It just sounded like them. It was really powerful. It's a great tune. And I was, like, 'Wow, it's cool.' And it just sounds fresh.

"James is one heck of a singer and just an awesome vocalist. And so, what are you gonna do? They're METALLICA."

Bush previously spoke about his decision to turn down an opportunity to join METALLICA in a December 2021 interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green. He said at the time: "I've been talking about this for many years now. I'm always gonna be completely super flattered about the fact that I was asked to join METALLICA back in the early '80s. It just was never meant to be my destiny, is what I always say. There's no other singer that should have been the singer of METALLICA other than James Hetfield. That was meant to be, and that's kind of the way I see it. Like I say, I'm always flattered that I'm always connected to the history of that band — it's a huge feather in my cap, so to speak — but at the end of the day, it just was not my destiny to be the singer of METALLICA. I had a different fate in store."

Bush also talked about joining METALLICA on stage on December 7, 2011 for the second of four intimate shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of the band's 30th anniversary as a band for fan club members only. "Yes, that was very cool," he said. "That was an awesome experience. We did that at the Fillmore in San Francisco. It was the 30th-anniversary shows that METALLICA did, which were really, really cool. They had all these various guests coming on stage with them at the time — everyone from Ozzy [Osbourne] to King Diamond to Lou Reed to Marianne Faithful; a lot of people associated with METALLICA through the years. And ARMORED SAINT, we got to open for [METALLICA] that one particular show — one of the four — and then that was the day that I actually came on stage and sang 'The Four Horsemen' with them, which was an incredible experience. And the whole thing was really, really awesome — just a beautiful thing to be a part of. So I always have that as a great memory in my life. We had a couple of friends that were there that came with us, and my wife was there. And we had a lot of fun doing that. Like I said, I'm really flattered that METALLICA thought of me as a person that was good enough to be in their band. But, like I said, it just wasn't meant to be something that happened for the rest of the band's career."

Another singer who was being considered for the frontman position in METALLICA was Jess Cox of Newcastle, England's TYGERS OF PAN TANG.

Bush later said in an interview: "METALLICA did ask me to join, but I said no for all the right reasons. People must think that's crazy, but you have to remember the scene then. METALLICA was nobody. ARMORED SAINT was hot; you have to remember that. Also, I was very tight with the [ARMORED SAINT] guys, back to elementary school in fact. ARMORED SAINT was getting interest from all kinds of places, and we had a lot of people starting to turn up at shows."

He continued: "METALLICA came to see SAINT at a gig in Anaheim, at The Woodstock in 1982. I heard they were interested in asking me to join, which they did later. The thing was that METALLICA was this new kind of thing, and nobody back then. I don't care what they say now; nobody could have predicted what would happen. I didn't know the guys either, so there was no real interest. It was great to be asked — in fact, a lot of people asked — but ARMORED SAINT was really strong.

"Some time after 'Kill 'Em All' had come out, I heard the same thing again, but I never understood that because James was singing great then and he was doing a great job. I understood the lack of confidence back in '82 but not for 'Ride The Lightning'. James owns that record."

In a 1989 interview with Metal Forces, Ulrich talked about what METALLICA could have sounded like had Bush ended up fronting the group. He said: "Only a couple of days ago, we were actually sitting around talking about how it would be now if John Bush had joined the band. Obviously, it's impossible to know how different it would have been, but I can't imagine METALLICA without James Hetfield up there growling into the microphone, fucking curved over and everything. It's really weird to think about it. I mean, nothing against John Bush — I think he's a great vocalist — but ... Well, thank God it didn't happen."