Metallica's Lars Ulrich Has an Interesting Take on Band's 'Lulu' Album

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich Has an Interesting Take on Band’s ‘Lulu’ Album

2023-03-23

Lars Ulrich says working on new Metallica music has helped him get through a difficult 2020.

Photo by Ken Settle, story by Cat Badra

Lars Ulrich of Metallica opens up about the band’s criticized collaboration with Lou Reed

Remember when Metallica and Lou Reed joined forces for their storied “Lulu” record? That was more than a decade ago, and the collaboration drew some of the worst reviews of both Metallica and Reed’s careers.

Many critics and fans criticized Reed’s spoken-word delivery and Metallica’s towering riffs as simply not going together like peanut butter and jelly. Think of it more like peanut butter and tomato sauce.

Now, in a section of Reed’s new posthumous book, “The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich discusses the positive side of “Lulu” and says critics’ negative response was based on “ignorance.”

“What the f*** is it about Lulu that it got that kind of reaction?” Ulrich says (via Loudwire). “I can’t quite figure it out, but years later, it’s aged extremely well. It sounds like a motherf***er still. So I can only put the reaction down to ignorance … It took our fans to a place I wish they would go more often. Maybe it would be a better time to release it now with what’s going on outside in the world, the chaos.”

He added, “I don’t know, but I am very proud of this record … James [Hetfield] and I would be figuring out ways through a piece of music and then Lou would look over and go, ‘That’s it. I’m not doing another f***ing take of that.’ That’s not the way we usually worked, but it was so beautiful and great, the whole thing.”

Reed passed away back in 2013 at 71 years old, and “Lulu” marks his final studio recording. Metallica have “redeemed themselves” since then, releasing 2016’s Grammy Award-winning “Hardwired…to Self-Destruct” and are gearing up to release the follow-up, “72 Seasons,” in April. Metallica are also getting ready to embark on a worldwide tour in support of “72 Seasons.”

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Cat Badra

Meet the expert - Cat Badra is a music writer for Audio Ink Radio and a range of other music, sports and lifestyle publications. She's a graduate of Michigan State University with a master's degree in theater and speech. Contact her at cat@audioinkradio.com.