METALLICA Book Author Says 'St. Anger' Album Is 'A Work Of Art'

Justin Donnelly of Blistering.com recently conducted an interview with renowned British rock journalist Mick Wall about Mick's newly released book, "Metallica: Enter Night - The Biography". A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On why he decided to write the book:

Mick: "Well, there's a couple of reasons really why I decided to write a book on METALLICA. The first reason is that I think it's unusual for a group of such stature as METALLICA to have never really had a serious book written about them. There have been some decent books, but they're essentially fan books, and they generally join up the dots for you from album to album. That's all well and good, and absolutely fine, but what I wanted to do was try and tell the story from the point of view of someone who isn't necessarily a huge fan. Someone who doesn't let them off the hook or forgive them their sins, but tries to understand the more mature aspect of their story, and presents the reality of their story. As is in the case of LED ZEPPELIN's story, no one is all good, no one is all bad, and no band does nothing but make amazing albums. They make duds, they become selfish, they become full of avarice, they admire themselves too much sometimes, and at other times they hate themselves too much. And the second reason, to be completely honest with you, after writing the LED ZEPPELIN story, I was looking for a great story to tell. And I think METALLICA have that great story."

On Jason Newsted and the Napster fiasco:

Mick: "By the tail end of the '90s, they were quite self-harmful when they tried to reinvent themselves as a band of the '90s. I mean they put on makeup, they had body piercings, and Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich were now kissing each other in public, which only sent James Hetfield insane. They were also bullying the new boy Jason Newsted. The only thing Newsted ever got out of METALLICA was rich. He got no respect, and he was never treated as an equal. In 15 years, he got exactly three co-songwriting credits on what happened to be their three least interesting tracks. And in the end he walks out in a state of dreadful anger and bitterness, which then causes the band to kind of explode. At the same time, you have the whole Napster thing. Even as it was happening, everybody knew it was a dreadful mistake. METALLICA suddenly looked like the sheriff of Nottingham, and Napster looked like Robin Hood. It really was a case of stealing from the rich to give to the poor. It didn't matter who was right or who was wrong, images of Ulrich in a courtroom trying to sue three hundred thousand of his fans just stunk to high heaven. And in a lot of ways, they're still living it down. But then of course you get this fantastic story arc where they do the 'St. Anger' album, which kind of resolves all the issues. It's probably their least enjoyable album. I know many METALLICA fans, many serious musicologists and writers who get very angry about that album. It's very contentious. They really, really don't like it. Many really do dismiss it entirely. You can see in the book just how much people hate that album. Even the band doesn't play anything from it any more. And yet for me, it was the last great musical statement they ever made. For me, it's a work of art. It is fairly unlistenable, but then so is 'Metal Machine Music' by Lou Reed. It really is a work of art. And then of course you get this latest album, 'Death Magnetic'. It's so crowd-pleasing, and ticks all the boxes with its 'going-back-to-their-roots' kind of vibe, you can't but feel that it might as well be a pop record. It's a fantastic journey they've been on, and that's what I was looking for — a great story to tell."

On Cliff Burton's influence and legacy:

Mick: "He certainly was incredibly important. I think without him, there would be no them. But I think also because he died, people trot out a lot of clichés about what happened. And the biggest cliché is that they had to carry on, because that's what Burton would have wanted them to. My response to that is simply 'Get over yourselves!' That's bullshit. They carried on because that's what Ulrich and Hetfield wanted to. The other thing is how his death kind of freed them to become the monster success they became. I think had he stayed in the band, they would have made a much more interesting album than '…And Justice For All'. But the fact that he wasn't around really did leave Ulrich and Hetfield to run the show without any interference. And it's Ulrich and Hetfield that have run the band ever since. You know Hammett gets his two cents worth in every now and then, but unless it's something that Ulrich and Hetfield thinks is a good idea, it isn't going to happen. And that's how the 'Black Album' came about. I have serious doubts that the 'Black Album' would have happened had Burton not died."

Read the entire interview from Blistering.com.