LARS ULRICH Names His Favorite METALLICA Songs To Perform Live

Mandatory Metallica, METALLICA's exclusive SiriusXM channel, is back for a limited time in celebration of the band's upcoming album, "72 Seasons".

The channel kicked off today (April 4) and will run through May 3 and is available to SiriusXM subscribers nationwide in their cars (channel 105) and on the SXM app.

SiriusXM's Mandatory Metallica features the rock great's ferocious, heavy music, including their remasters, demos, alternate mixes, live concerts, and favorite songs by other artists. Additionally, tune in from April 14 at 3 a.m. EDT through April 16 to hear a special simulcast on both Mandatory Metallica and Liquid Metal (Ch. 40) for the release of "72 Seasons", METALLICA's highly anticipated 11th studio album, due out April 14.

Listeners can tune in to METALLICA members James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo deliver an exclusive track-by-track special about "72 Seasons" featuring commentary about each song on Mandatory Metallica. Both Hetfield and Trujillo will also share their music they grew up listening to in special guest DJ sets in honor of "72 Seasons", the title of which refers to how the first 72 seasons (or 18 years) of your life shape who you are. Additionally, a new Lars Ulrich interview will premiere today on the channel.

Speaking about what METALLICA means to him, Ulrich said in one of the clips: "To me, the best part of it is just one of the main parts of the METALLICA experience, which is the community and the collective experience and just sharing.

"I was an only kid growing up," he continued. "I listened to most of my music in my early years by myself. But then you started hanging with your buddies and just sharing those musical experiences. And the reason I wanted to be in a band was to play music and share music with other like-minded people like myself. So being in a band, being out there and playing and playing shows, it's all about that communal experience, trying to break down that barricade, that physical barricade between the band and the audience and just trying to make us all one. And so in METALLICA, that's one of our M.O.s, is just to try to figure out how to sort of get everybody together and share."

Referencing the fact that METALLICA and Trafalgar Releasing will hold a worldwide "72 Seasons" listening party for one night only on Thursday, April 13 when the full album will be played in full in pummeling surround sound exclusively for cinema audiences worldwide, Lars said: "Neighborhood movie theaters, new tunes, the new album. Here we go. So April 13th, strap yourself in. And [I] hope you guys dig it. And we've got some videos and some visuals to go along with the tunes. So there'll be something obviously up on the screen also. So it'll be hopefully fun for everybody. And once again, the key thing is just that the room will be full of — hopefully full of — METALLICA diehard fans in your neighborhood and your community to share this experience with. So we think that's super cool."

Asked what his favorite METALLICA songs are to play live, Lars said: "I have a few favorites from where I'm sitting. 'Sad But True' is a particular favorite of mine. I love the feel of that song and the kind of the stomp and the size of it. You know, it's a song for me that I play pretty much different every [time]. There's some of the songs that are really rigid and some of the other songs that are a little more freeform. 'Sad But True' falls kind of on the far end of the freeform scale; every night [I] play sort of different drum fills and push, pull, all that stuff. So that one I love playing. I love playing 'Welcome Home (Sanitarium)', which also subscribes a little bit to the same kind of [approach]; I don't think I ever play it the same way twice. So those are fun. Those are the first two that come to mind."

Broadcast schedules for interviews and specials below.

Lars Ulrich interview (hosted by Shannon Gunz):

Tuesday, April 4 @ 5 p.m. EDT / 2 p.m. PDT
Wednesday, April 5 @ 12 p.m. EDT /9 a.m. PDT
Thursday, April 6 @ 8 p.m. EDT /5 p.m. PDT
Friday, April 7 @ 2 p.m. EDT /11 a.m. PDT

James Hetfield first "72 Seasons" guest DJ s p.m. EDT cial:

Friday, April 7 @ 12 p.m. EDT / 9 a.m. PDT
Saturday, April 8 @ 6 p.m. EDT /3 p.m. PDT
Sunday, April 9 @ 3 p.m. EDT /12 p.m. PDT
Monday, April 10 @ 9 a.m. EDT /6 a.m. PDT
Tuesday, April 11 @ 6 p.m. EDT /3 p.m. PDT
Wednesday, April 12 @ 9 p.m. EDT /6 p.m. PDT
Thursday, April 13 @ 12 p.m. EDT /9 a.m. PDT

METALLICA"72 Seasons" track-by-track special hosted by James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo:

Friday, April 14 @ 7 a.m. EDT /4 a.m. PDT, 1 p.m. EDT /10 a.m. PDT, 9 p.m. EDT /6 p.m. PDT
Saturday, April 15 @ 4 p.m. EDT /1 p.m. PDT, 11 p.m. EDT /8 p.m. PDT
Sunday, April 16 @ 10 a.m. EDT /7 a.m. PDT, 6 p.m. EDT /3 p.m. PDT

Robert Trujillo first "72 Seasons" guest DJ special:

Friday, April 21 @ 12 p.m. EDT /9 a.m. PDT
Saturday, April 22 @ 6 p.m. EDT /3 p.m. PDT
Sunday, April 23 @ 3 p.m. EDT /12 p.m. PDT
Monday, April 24 @ 9 a.m. EDT /6 a.m. PDT
Tuesday, April 25 @ 6 p.m. EDT /3 p.m. PDT
Wednesday, April 26 @ 9 p.m. EDT /6 p.m. PDT
Thursday, April 27 @ 12 p.m. EDT /9 a.m. PDT