Word: hetfield
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When shooting commenced in 2001, Metallica--drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and singer James Hetfield--was starting a new album, dealing with the resignation of bassist Jason Newsted and entering therapy with performance-enhancement coach Phil Towle. With its record label, Elektra, the band hired Berlinger and co-director Bruce Sinofsky (Brother's Keeper, Paradise Lost) to document the process with an eye toward turning the footage into an infomercial. "You know, sell some albums on TV," says Hammett. "We had no f____ing idea what we were getting ourselves into...
...from Day One. For the first time in its history, the band entered the recording studio with no written material. The jam sessions are excruciating but not nearly as tough as watching the band members interact. "Back then, I didn't know how to deal with my anger," says Hetfield, 40, who does a fair impression of Stanley Kowalski during the first half of the movie. "I'd bottle it up and then explode on an easy target. Usually Lars." Ulrich, 40, an impish Dane, says, "I always felt it was my duty to be the one guy to stand...
...JAMES HETFIELD...
...that on its 11th record, St. Anger, Metallica is in position to do something original? Largely because it has not only survived all the cliches; it has survived, period. Metallica is the first credible heavy-metal band to reach something approaching middle age, and after years of alcoholism, Hetfield, 39, says he's not only sober but also serious about making an album that deals with his new adult identity and responsibilities. St. Anger starts promisingly enough with Frantic, which has Hetfield growling over a classic, violent speed-metal riff, "If I could have my wasted days back/Would...
...Hetfield is the son of a truck driver and a light-opera singer, and while he writes with all the subtlety of a Peterbilt, he can sing. What saves St. Anger from being a victim of its own self-pity, and actually elevates it into the category of a pretty good metal record, is his voice. Producer Bob Rock has wisely taken the gloss off Metallica's sound, and Hetfield is the biggest beneficiary. On tracks like My World, he comes through in all his gruff and gravelly glory. The unaffected strain in his voice acts as a form...