BUCKCHERRY's JOSH TODD Remembers Hearing METALLICA For First Time: 'I Was, Like, 'This Is Badass, Man'

In a new interview with RadioactiveMike Z, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire", BUCKCHERRY singer spoke about his love of METALLICA, in particular the band's early records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I grew up in Orange County, California. Basically, my rock foundation was all independent punk rock records so I never really got into quote-unquote big rock records until I was, like, maybe 17. And I befriended these two guys — they were friends of mine — and they were just crazy METALLICA fans, and they gave me 'Kill 'Em All', that record, and that was the record that did it for me. I was, like, 'This is badass, man.'

"The reason why I liked punk rock so much is because it was unfiltered," he continued. "They didn't have big record labels telling them what to say and what to do. So these were kids that were super honest with their feelings and what they were going through, and they put it in song, and that really connected with me. So, when I heard 'Kill 'Em All', I felt the same way — I felt this was a band that was a gang; they had this gang mentality. And what they were saying was real and I really believed it. And so that's why I love that record so much."

After Todd picked "Whiplash" and "Enter Sandman" as the two songs from METALLICA to play on "Wired In The Empire", RadioactiveMike Z asked him if he thought the "Black Album" was a huge departure from the group's early sound and how reacted when he first heard it. He said: "I didn't know what was gonna happen. They started getting a little more commercial. But that was okay for me, because I started maturing more as a man and a musician, and I really liked the big choruses and the big melodies. That song ['Enter Sandman'] had a lot of hooks, and I thought it was really great. And they still kind of kept their integrity. And that's what I loved about that song, for sure."

BUCKCHERRY's latest album, "Hellbound", was released in June via Round Hill Records. The follow-up to 2019's "Warpaint" was recorded last fall in Nashville, Tennessee with producer and songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow, among many others.