QUOTABLES

James

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On NEM
It's scary to look out and see couples hugging during that song. Oh fuck, I thought this was a Metallica show.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Some guy was bowing to me at the Marguee the other night, seriously! And I was shouting at him, 'Stop it - let me buy you a beer.'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It's all fun and games 'till someone loses an eye, then it's just fun you can't see

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
There's a lot of people there just because 'Ooh play Enter Sandman.' So we play it first to get the fucking thing out of the way. So they have to sit through the rest of the shit! They gotta hear the old shit. You gotta use it against 'em y'know?

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On 3 reasons why James said that his Black Sabbath record was important
First it scared the shit out of me. Second, it crushed the fuck out of all the peace'n'love'n everything's groovy bullshit that was still hanging around in the early seventies. And third, my friends' moms wouldn't let them own it!

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I'd like to have a beer-holder on my guitar like they have on boats.

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I remember back when I stood in line for 3 hours waiting for autographs, and when the star just hopped into his limo, and took off, I'd think 'You dick, I hate you.' I'd go home, rip down all his posters...

THANKS	steinberg@v-wave.com
DATE	unknown
I remember this guy (Cliff) lit my couch on fire a couple of times

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Knowing Cliff's attitude, he'd kick our butt's if we quit.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
People probably thought 'Oh, they're not going to do the heavy lyrics now because of what happened.' Man, those lyrics mean a lot more to me now.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1990
Authority pisses me off. I think everyone should be able to drink and get loud whenever they want.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I'd rather regret doing something than not doing something.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
You've gotta keep fit to play that hard every night. Better order five more beers.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
The first time I played sober was because I just forgot to drink. 'Damn' I thought...'I'm playing better.'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I love my job, play softball and have a great life. Things are a hell of a lot better now than when I was 21.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
People were throwing shoes at us in SF and LA. I don't know why. It's like 'You guys are great. Here's my shoe.' People must have been walking around with one shoe.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We do this basically for ourselves. People appreciate it, which is cool, but I think they appreciate that we're doing it for ourselves. We're doing it our way, and how people like it is not up to us. We like it.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We don't plan concepts. We didn't write RIDE THE LIGHTNING about death, or MASTER OF PUPPETS about manipulation. That just happens.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I sit there and I go 'Oh God, what am I gonna write?' and all of a sudden, it happens. The first line's down and all hell flows after that.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
When people start copying your style, you know that something must be happening.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On AIDS
This shit (AIDS) scares me. You know, one time and you're dead! Touring is the dangerous part. A lot of bands are going to be in trouble the way they carry on. I mean, we've been pretty bad, but on the last tour, no way! It was kinda, 'Screw that!' Some of the roadies are pretty sick, as far as wearing rubbers or whatever. I don't know. I've never done that before...ha ha ha...and that's only MAYBE safe. It's very unhappening, this whole thing.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My family went to the LA show. It was kinda weird. I hadn't seen 'em in quite a while. They liked it. They just wish I'd call more often.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I like a women who's got some balls, some strength. As long as I can beat her at arm wrestling, that's fine.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
You can pick up a very shitty song to cover. I mean, the Foo Fighters doing 'Baker Street'? I don't get that at all. It does take me back to high school, I guess, or at least to a song that I completely fucking hated. So you have to be careful.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Budgie and Mercyful Fate were also pretty inventive. Fate would play a great riff and never come back to it, and it would piss you off.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
There's always a new generation of angry young men who latch onto Kill 'Em All.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On KEA
I guess there was some thought put into it; I mean, at least they rhymed.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I would spend days just going through Lars' record collection, taping over my REO Speedwagon cassettes with bands like Angel Witch and Diamond Head and Motörhead. I was in heaven at his house.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
When it got to the part where the first Pharaoh's son is taken and the fog rolls in, Cliff said,

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My dad was always one of these 'Cut your hair!' kind of guys. My mom was more open to things. She painted a lot. She kinda reminded me of a Berkeley mom. She wasn't alive for any of my success with Metallica. It really pisses me off. But you know, I think she knows what's going on still.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On people showing up at his place
I just walk out with the gun and say 'Hey!'. Oh yeah, I'm a meanie. I send my dogs after 'em... No, actually, I just tell 'em, 'This is my house and...leave me alone, okay'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We can do whatever the fuck we want, really. We've got carte blanche. I mean, when we did 'Fade to Black', that was our first ballad and it really blew a few minds out there. People wrote us off then; 'Fuck them! It's over. It's no longer speed metal.' Okay, fine. You can feel that way. But fuck you, too.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Ted Nugent and hunting
Ted's pretty intense, put it that way. I love hunting; I love getting away and the quiet part of it all. I think he's a little opposite of that. Whack 'em and stack 'em, ya know?

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Marianne Faithful
You know, she's quite a character, and I love that. She could sit and tell stories for days. But she's a very, very elegant and pleasant woman, very 'been there, done that.' You could learn alot from that.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On married life
You know, it's not as different as I thought, which is kind of disappointing. But it's fine. Everyone said, 'Oh, your life is going to be totally different,' and it's the same. Which is good, in a way.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We discovered how much money influences certain things and discovered how things work in the United States. How things might seem okay on the outside, but internally, they're corrupt.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Call it anarchy or whatever you want to--there's times when you wanna be able to do whatever the fuck you want and, y'know, life's always short, so why shouldn't you?

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Regret? That's a screwed up word.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On "So Far, So Good, So What"
Megadeth's whole album could fit onto one of our sides.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We just get along hella good.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We didn't fuckin' set out to make history or whatever. Fuckin' shit happens.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Who gives a shit about autographs?

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I like Danzig from the Misfits. He can sing real good.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My older stepbrother, David, was kind of a hippie, kind of a hairy guy. He went to college and stuff. He played drums in a band, and I used to go bash on the shit.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I was in a band called Obsession. And then there was another band called Leather Charm. Then I met Lars.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
If I'm hung over, I'd rather just stand on the side and play. We wanted to get a frontman but no one sang good enough so I just did both.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Back then (in highschool) you'd look under the music section of The Recycler for heavy metal, and there's like two people. The same people every fuckin week into 'sex and Motorhead.'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I was pretty quiet as a child. I kind of hung out with my family and listened to music and shit. I wasn't too outgoing at all.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
(On first jam with Lars) He had a fucked up, hella fuckin cheap Gemco kit or whatever. We told him, 'Yeah, we'll give you a call,' and we never even called him back!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
In the early days, when we were playing clubs around LA, people didn't understand what we were about. 'Oh,' they'd think, 'a God-damned punk band,' and they'd throw chairs at us.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I remember the first time we ever got an encore. It was a Monday night at two in the morning at the Troubadour and there was about ten people there but they were clapping and we came back for the encore. We were deciding on what song we were going to play and Lars starts up a different song! He just decided he wanted to play. And we hadn't practiced that song for like three months. I had forgot all the lyrics, but I went through the motions. And after the gig, I just turned right around and punched him out onstage!

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On switching from Piano to Guitar
I wanted to make noise, not study theory

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On how long it took to make TBA
We've been in the studio for so long, a war has come and gone, and we're still stuck in here

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
When the Black Album got popular, I stopped listening to it.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On TBA
Economy my ass! That was the most expensive record we've ever made.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
There's a fucking recklesness to all the new stuff which I just love.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I'm married to Metallica.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Sometimes we spit towards each other to wake up. A good loogie can really get someone's attention.

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	1991
We'd record a song that people liked and wanted to hear on the radio, and the radio wouldn't play it because it was too long. Or they wanted to edit it, which we wouldn't allow.

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	1991
I don't remember doing anything else; I don't remember not living in the studio. I'm itching for people to hear this album because I'm sick of hearing it myself.

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	1992
Lars was always nervous on stage, so he'd play faster and faster. Nobody wanted to wimp out and tell him that he was playing too fast. We just figured, 'Hell, we'll just play faster too.'

THANKS	MinusClover84@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On styles of music
We do have many styles of music, its called Metallica

THANKS	jovy_quaso@hotmail.com
DATE	unknown
We've come here, TO KICK YOUR ASS!!! ...That's why you're here, right?

THANKS	halfdeadpimp@hotmail.com
DATE	unknown
Metal Up Your Ass!

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Definitely, the harp player. We met him at the first rehearsal, and we knew he was into our music when he rolled up sleeves and there were a bunch of tattoos. He introduced himself, 'Hi I'm the harpist,' and we were like, 'Get the fuck outta here! You're one of the stage hands.'

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	1996
INFO	On Bleeding Me
It's thick as snot, man. It's full on. It's a great song. It's got it all.

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	1998
Well, without getting really political, I think there have always been people who have been afraid of music and its potential for, I guess, social breakouts, or whatever you want to call it. You know, young kids are looking for something to grasp onto, whatever it may be. When you're that age, there's a lot of that feeling of needing to belong, whether it's wearing black lipstick and cutting the ass out of your pants, or whatever -- people are looking for things to grasp onto.

THANKS	t_hickey@optusnet.com.au
DATE	unknown
INFO	On James getting burnt in Montreal
I watched the skin on my hand swell up and blister, like the toxic avenger

THANKS	lpm519@yahoo.com
DATE	1996
Guys relate to their moms, I think, a bit better than their fathers. When you're singing about Mom, it's like...what are you gonna say when you're getting into a fight with some guy. You say: 'Hey! Your fucking mom blew me!' That hits home, it's a little deeper, gets you a little more upset. Hur, hur.

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
Excuse my fucking laguage

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
We...don't...give...a...shit, we are playing this song for us

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
We like set bombs off

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
There is something powerful in Metallica, a will, a drive

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
If you came here to see spandex, eyes makeup, and the words ' Ooh baby' in every fuckin song, this ain't the fuckin band. We came here to bang some heads

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
No rules but Metallica rules

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
Look at his pants. He's either in a gang, or he's a plumber

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
My vocals are bad, I can't sing. Hey man, I wouldn't ask you to do a drum roll if your arm was falling off

THANKS	makala_15@yahoo.com
DATE	unknown
The fans like the idea that we do what we want. It's not an act. Screw the record company and the beaten path. Without MTV or radio, we still have a huge underground following

THANKS	Timothyner
DATE	1975
There's noticeably a bundle to know about this. I assume you made sure nice points in options also. http://hellowh983mm.com

Kirk

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
A women should be able to make her own decisions whether or not she should have a baby. She should have control over her body, not the fucking government, congressman, or whatever.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I have a little table with a reading light, and those guys have it quite cozy too, I'm not to the point where I take newspapers down there yet, but I have seen certain band members reading scuba magazines while other guys solo.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We used to sleep four to a room. I had to share a bed with Lars, he used to take all the blankets. I would never sleep with Cliff, because he had really pointy elbows. Really bony. Actually no one snores much. We drool a lot.

THANKS	Steinberg@v-wave.com
DATE	unknown
Sold out?! Sure we sold out, last tour we sold out almost everywhere we played

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Both ears, lip, belly button, and nose twice. I'm working my way south.

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
The worst thing that can be said about me has already been said; that I'm a total shit crap guitar player. And you know what? On certain nights I have to agree! Hey, we're only human!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
If we had hung it up, Cliff would've been so pissed off.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
In Denmark while recording Master Of Puppets, we hung out a lot. We'd go out and play poker for 8 hours straight after being up for 24 hours. We'd find a seafood restaurant that was open, eat raw oysters and drink beer, scream at the natives while we were drunk....that's some of my best memories of him.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
There was this incident when we were in New York and a friend of mine sent me a whole case full of liquor. So we celebrated its arrival and were there drinking it until four in the morning, then went to visit Jason...He sleeps with earplugs on and didn't hear us knocking, so what we did was call the doorman and said, 'Hey man, our friend's in there choking on his puke! We have to get in there!'....We kicked the door in...turned the bed over on Jason, sprayed shaving cream everywhere, threw his money all over and took his blaster...He didn't say anything. It was really funny.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
We like to have a drink or five.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
It's so strange and completely needless that so many people become caught up with the whole idea of selling image rather than accepting people for who and what they really are.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I would have never imagined that we'd be as popular as we are right now.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
We're on commercial flights and sometimes the stewardess will call you by your first name. It kind of throws you a bit.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
I hate being treated like some kind of icon, that's totally uncomfortable for me. I simply want to be thought of as a musician.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
We're doing this for ourselves. If we write an album, it would be something we'd be satisfied with. We don't come up with something for the kids to like and put our demands on the back burner because our last album was so good we have to make a carbon copy of it. That was the furthest thing from our minds.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
There are actually quite a few bands not necessarily in our genre, that reflect what's going on nowadays. Public Enemy, N.W.A.-two rap bands I can think of that are the best examples-their lyrics are so heavy! Bands like them or us are simply a reflection of the times, a statement on our world. It's an ugly place and the sad thing is that the world doesn't seem to get any better as the years go by.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My guitars are my umbilical cord. They're directly wired to my head.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
One thing that constantly pisses me off is what's happening with the environment nowadays. I'm an environmentalist, though I think I probably create more than my share of noise pollution every time we play.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
I have a new house I haven't seen yet, a new car I haven't seen yet, I miss eating food that my wife has cooked for me...It would be nice to wake up in my own bed, see my cat-y'know, just hang out. It's funny, I find myself constantly daydreaming of staying in the same place.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Such a huge void was created after Cliff died - a really big hole that only he could fill.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Cliff
I remember him really loving the way Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd played guitar. He'd always ask me to show him Skynyrd licks, and then he'd end up saying, 'Man that's tricky, that's really tricky.'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It was really unusual because I was standing there and I'm always polite about it - 'Hi Dave, how ya doin'?' And he goes 'Hey, how ya doin'?' And basically he just came up to me and apologized for all the bad-mouthing that he did to me and the band. I was really surprised. I think that was a result of him cleaning up and actually being able to think with a clear head... I thought it was very decent of him.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On picking Bob Rock for TBA
We liked the sound of his name.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
There's a lot of nonmusical things that demand our attention right now, like family being the number one thing, having a life outside the band, you know? Having enough private time that isn't consumed by the band - that's what I'm talking about.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On the fans who don't like Met's current direction
Maybe they're just not very evolved musically. Maybe they're just not musically mature in the way they hear things.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It happened on every album. It comes to the point where he just like, screams at me, and it's halfway through what we're doing. He's venting, but he's also right, too. But he brings out the best in me. If anything he is the music director of Metallica. The music dictator.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I don't listen to critics. I read reviews (and) take it all with a grain of salt, take the good with the bad. It really doesn't phase me, because they can't change what I really feel about the music.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I'm death obsessed. You know, I have death all over my house. I have a stuffed two headed sheep!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Blues Musicians
B.B King, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy - these are guys who did it when there wasn't even much of a living they could make out of it. I have a tremendousrespect for them sticking in there and hanging onto it, and it finally paying off in their later years, thank God.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Dyers Eve
I forgot how to play it. We never play it live. Certain members of the band are very adamant about not playing it. I think it's a physical thing. There's some awful fast strums in that song.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
One of these days I'm gonna put out an experimental album that's gonna be so fucked up it will probably sell 10 copies, but I am gonna put it out.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
A lot of people get pissy about people like Kenny Wayne Shepherd, or Jonny Lang, and say, 'How can they know the blues? They're too young.' Well let me tell you something, man: They're tapping into emotions that everyone's born with. And the blues is all about those emotions.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I will go on the record to say I will do anything for a good riff. I'll listen to the most retarted music in the world, if it will inspire me to write a good riff.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Whichever way you go, someone is going to tell you you're wrong. My point is that you should just go with your heart and just play what you want to play and not listen to what's fashionable or what's trendy at the moment.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We're the underdogs. We haven't had a Top 10 hit, and we look like a bunch of bums out there. Amidst all this glam and this huge production, we're going to stick out. But that's what we're here for--and that's what put us here in the first place.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I'm very fortunate to be doing the thing I do best, which is play guitar. There aren't many other things I could do.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
INFO	On Cliff
To this day, I think about him every day.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I had seen Cliff in this band called Easy Street when I was like 16 years old at a club called International Cafe in San Francisco...It always stuck out in my mind. This guy with wild, wild red hair flying all over the place and a Rickenbacker and a real distinct bass style and I thought to myself, 'This guy is fucking wild!'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I realized I was part of the band when we started cutting tracks for the album.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We're not afraid to take chances.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I was born in San Francisco, at St. Lukes Hospital, at three o'clock in the morning. My mom had green bedsheets.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
The audiences have been tremendous, phenomenal. I have nothing to complain about.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
As a kid I was introverted. I read a lot. I had a fascination with comic books, monster magazines, and monster movies, which carries on through now. I'm still heavily into monster movies and monster toys.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My brother got me into music. He started playing guitar around 1968. He was a hippie. He exposed me to the Haight-Ashbury scene, so I was exposed to Hendrix, Zeppelin, and Santana right when that stuff was release, '67, '68, '69.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
On Monsters Of Rock we had nothing to do, so we went to a lot of nightclubs.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I've always listened to music. It was always there in my household, and I've always been into it. I never actually got into it, because it was there since I can remember.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I'm particularly fond of 'One'.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Tom Hunting, the drummer, and I started Exodus in 1981. That was my first band. We played a lot of clubs, and we did one demo tape, which is pretty collectible on the underground circuit. We actually played with Metallica when Dave Mustaine was in the band.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We (Spastic Children) do it just to be really shitty on stage, we're really awful because we're all on an instrument we don't usually play. We play stuff like 'Pus Is Great' and 'I Like Farts.' Metallica fans expect us to play Metallica songs, but we never do. The last time we played, we came out in our underwear. We were going to play naked but the club owner threatened to call the police.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
My affiliation with Metallica began the time Exodus played with Metallica. I talked to Lars and James briefly, in passing. They were planning to go to New York to hook up with Johnny Z and do their first album. They had been having problems with Dave, and they were looking for someone who was more a melodic, controlled player. Our soundman played them some tapes of Exodus live, and they liked what they heard. They gave me a call in April 1983 and asked me if I wanted to join Metallica. I thought it was an April Fools' joke, but I said 'sure' anyway.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Getting back on the road is a very healthy thing for us 'cause we had so much time off--we were getting a bit edgy. The domestication was showing.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
This is the greatest part of it--getting up on stage and playing. This is what it's all about.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I've been adding more and more guitars to my arsenal. I'm travelling with 11. I told my tech I'm gonna get some more, so he wants me to send some home.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Not bad for a snotty little thrash band from San Francisco, huh?

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
You can only be what the public thinks you are for so long before it becomes boring.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I'm not into that whole Satanic thing. It's something to fall back on if you don't have much imagination.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
When we were making our last record, nobody even knew who the fuck Kurt Cobain was!

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
If people think we've lost our minds, I think we're doing the right thing.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Cliff had a way of commandeering the tape player in any vehicle.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
See, you're born punk. When you get your first haircut, then you're alternative. Then you let it grow long, then you're metal.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Jimi Hendrix
He invented the Church of Tone. He had monster tone, monster technique, monster songs. And soul to spare.

Lars

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
To me the most boring thing in the world is safe, mainstream heavy metal...I'd rather listen to Madonna.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Jason
He's a little gullible at times, which makes it kinda fun.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I have a lot of piercings in my ears and my left nipple is pierced but not anything below.

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Today we think about him a lot and talk about him, even joke about him. I often think, now much more than ever, how much of a character and personality Cliff actually was. He was just one in five billion people on this earth, and we will never, ever, even be tempted to come up with anyone like him.

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Metallica is the only band I've ever been in. I'm not sure that when it ends in five, ten years, I'm going to put an ad in the paper saying 'Stupid drummer looking for stupid people to play music with.' Metallica is it and I think when that ceases, that's it.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1990
We don't sit and write music for the masses. We suck up a lot of what we see out there and then we write it for ourselves. Then a lot of people cling onto it.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Being on tour has nothing to do with a regular existence.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We're just a continuation of the stuff we've been doing for years.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Hell, I don't even know what making it means to me, and we hopefully have another 10 or 15 years left with bigger records and better shows.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We've always known that there's been a need or a want for a band like us. We've fought back and broken through all the bullshit of the business, and now it's great to be able to say 'Fuck off' to the whole business, and 'We did it our way' and blah blah blah. We've always had our own way of doing things...

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
You can't worry about how people will react to or interpret what we do. You're bound to be running around in circles all day.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
He (James) probably drinks beer when he's sleeping.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It's too easy to say something like 'Yeah, we don't care if the album doesn't sell one copy or 10,000 or 10 million.' Anyone who tells you that-deep down, they're not telling the truth. But at the end of the day, the thing that matters is that you make a record that's completely yours from beginning to end-with no sacrifices, no compromises, no corners cut.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We know certain groups out there figure, 'These are the current trends-how do we milk the market for the most we can get at the moment?' I think the music business nowadays is becoming such a fake thing; there's much more emphasis on business than music.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1990
Sometimes I'll be walking around in a ponytail and beard and walk right by someone with a Metallica T-shirt who doesn't even notice me, which is pretty funny.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
We've stuck to our own beliefs, we haven't cheated anyone, and we've done what we wanted.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We always wanted to be different from the rest of the music business. It's too classic: You make a record, you make a video. We were the first to give the finger to the music industry in America.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Right now we're in a great situation and a lot of people are opening up to Metallica at a rapid rate. But we can't sit back and look at it because it starts fucking you up.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We're no different from them (fans). We see the world like other people. We don't live in mansions, and we're not hiding behind fences and making our own pretentious fantasy world with chicks and mountains of drugs. We live in the real world, and the real world's an ugly place.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
People can interpret the lyrics any way they want, and we're always careful to say in interviews that we're not trying to tell anybody what to think or how to feel about any particular subject. If there is one thing that we're trying to say, it's 'Be independent, don't listen to anyone-don't listen to US.'

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
We try and come up with alternatives to clichés. Sex is not boring, but songs about it are.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
We've been a victim of rigid categories. A lot of the time, people approach Metallica with a bit of caution. Once they see us live or hear our records, they usually come around. But until then Metallica is one of these bands they hear about and go 'Hmmm...I dunno.' Our music has to be experienced before people make up their minds.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
A couple of years ago, I think we were concerned with trying to prove ourselves as musicians. Everyone was doing these solo trips-drum fills and bass solo runs and guitar things-which were fine for back then. But now it's much more about doing what's best for the song and for the group instead of everyone trying to steal the spotlight...

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1989
I hope that Metallica will be remembered or looked upon as a band that cut through all the political and business bullshit. So then people will realize that it's possible to control yourself and gain a certain level of popularity without having to cater to anyone else's ideas or thoughts other than your own. If that's all that Metallica will ever stand for, then that's news enough.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
To go from one extreme to the other, with no boundaries. That's the best. That's what Metallica is all about.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I think Japan's the most fun place to tour but only for a while, then it gets very claustrophobic. All the shows are at about 6:00 pm...we're offstage by 8:15 p.m., which is before we even go out in the States.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We're very lucky that we have our own plane, which makes things a lot easier. I'm sure people understand we're not too comfortable in a bus after the accident.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Metallica's plane
It's nothing fancy. It's your basic nine-seat turbo prop, no jacuzzi in it or anything.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We usually end up doing two hours and 10 minutes when we feel up to it and the vibe is good. But in some cities unions are really strict and it costs you extra.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On the Free Philly Concert
It's (like) saying all ex-football players are potential wife killers. It's these stereotypes that you get stuck with.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
To this day, my dad...has still got longer hair than I do. He's got a longer beard than the guys in ZZ Top. He looks like Rasputin.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Jason leading the effort to turn Lars' garage into rehersal space
I came down to help out every day when I woke up, about 2 p.m.. James would come over and do whatever he could with his arm being broken, and Kirk was out doing his toy shopping!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On AJFA
How can I put it? If you've got a piece of meat, a steak or whatever, you remove the fat and the bits of meat you don't want, and what remains is a high quality steak. We did the same with the songs. The result was nine songs which in comparison to the old material are more compact, thought out, and mature.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On the May 23, 24th, 1988 gigs at the Troubadour
It was fun! The place was about the size of my fuckin' bathroom. We once opened for Ratt there!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I think it's pretty easy to see that we're not buisnessmen disguised as musicians who put on wigs and pretend the music we're playing is so great. Then when the shows over, you're somebody else. That's not us.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Everything we've done has always been on our own terms - I know, you read these magazines and every band says, 'We never compromise,' but in our case, it's true.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Marianne Faithful
It is the most seasoned voice I've ever heard. It has so many emotions, and they're all there; dramatic, sad, beautiful, sincere. That voice has lived - you can hear that.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We formed this band when we were 18-19, we couldn't play...we were just like 'Let's get together and play some cover songs, drink some vodka'...A year and a half later we were touring the world, releasing records!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
What's this all about? It's about music, it's not about anything else, it's not about having the coolest cover, or the coolest title, or about anything. It's just about music...

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
If you sit there and know that rule #1 is just that everything you do is honest and is just a natural and instinctual extension of yourself, then there you go.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
The whole way that me and James write songs together...that was very much shaped when Cliff was in the band, and was very much shaped around Cliff's musical input. The way he really taught us about harmonies and melodies and all that kind of stuff...his vibe is always with us, and he was certainly a big part of the whole way that we got our chops together in the early days, about our attitudes and our musical vibe and our everything.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
What's the message in Metallica? There is no message, but if there was a message, it really should be look within yourself, don't listen to me, don't listen to James, don't listen to anybody, look within yourself for the answers.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Isn't that the whole integrity of this fuckin' band to do different shit? We've always tried to avoid following what everyone else is doing. It's a challenge to come up with things that are original. It's not easy, but that's part of the fun.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We always miss Cliff, but he is kind of on the record (...And Justice For All.) The song

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I know Cliff, more than anyone else in the band, would have been the first guy to give us a kick in the ass, and wouldn't want us to sit around. It's what he would have wanted us to do.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
If it feels good, do it.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Metallica likes to live on the edge, but you can only push it so far.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
All through the '50's my dad had a jazz club in Denmark, and he had a band together, a fun thing like Metallica. He used to play all the time and then play tennis for real income.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Being on tour is like living in a bubble, but we're people who like to care about what goes on around us.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
In 1973 I got dragged along to see Deep Purple. That was the turning point. I didn't know what was going on, but I saw Ritchie Blackmore throwing his guitar around and doing all these silly poses, and I was pretty impressed.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We don't work by a clock, but I think it's safe to say 1990 will be a very low profile year for Metallica. The 'One' video proved to us that things we thought of as evil aren't as evil as we thought--as long as we do it our way.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
So much of a Metallica gig is being there and feeling the kick drum in your stomach. We want to make sure that can be transferred to a TV screen.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
You meet people in other bands who have a floating attitude and just cruise along all the time in whatever direction they're steered. That's fine for some people, but I think we're more aware of what's going on.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I mean, who gives a shit if you're the 'in' thing. It's just satisfying to feel that we're reaching out and more and more people are opening up to us.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On the AJFA tour
We've been on the road for ten months, since Monster of Rock started, and will be out at least another seven months. But I'm not burning out.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
They closed most of them (hot tubs with Geisha girls) due to the spread of AIDS. It doesn't go on anymore.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
There's always the odd letter or comment like, 'If you don't play ten Metal Militia's on every album then it's not Metallica and it's not good.'

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Harvester of Sorrow
Lyrically, this song is about someone who leads a very normal 9-5 type life, has a wife and three kids, and all of a sudden, one day, he just snaps and starts killing the people around him.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I'd like to thank all the radio stations and MTV without whom...all this was possible anyway!

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On playing the Grammies for the first time
I think a lot of people probably thought there'd be satanic cross-burning and ritual sacrafice!

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Kirk
I remember the first time I heard Kirk. He had a feel that very few young players have-very rooted in European metal.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
Human nature is strange.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
We were writing Master of Puppets and driving around in his green Volkswagen to photo sessions. Cliff would just pound this Misfits stuff, drum on the dashboard, and make everybody fucking nuts. And Cliff wasn't the best driver to begin with.

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	1996
Things are so deep and people are always trying to read shit into things that real simple. Some people try and tell you what the songs are about and it bores me to death.

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	1996
Doing things the way you see it, going by your own heart and soul, that is pure artistic integrity. Whatever the hair is six or sixty inches long, the eyes have make-up or not, the riffs are in 'E' or 'F' sharp, the amps are Marshall or not, all those things don't matter if you are doing it for the right reason, which to me means doing it for yourself!!

THANKS	Megara999@hotmail.com
DATE	unknown
The day Metallica's over, i'm not going to put an ad looking for another band. I'll put my drumsticks on the shelf and there's 14 other things I wanna try. Metallica's the only band I've ever been and it's the only I ever wanna be in.

THANKS	saintktulu13@hotmal.com
DATE	unknown
Sex isn't boring, but the song about sex is

THANKS	MinusClover84@aol.com
DATE	1991
INFO	On Kirk
Look! A guitarist who can only play guitar!

THANKS	MinusClover84@aol.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Jason's Departure
i remember when me and james came off stage after the vh1 performance. we had a moment together just me and him. we looked at each other and locked eyes and acknowleged that that was probably the last time we would ever play with jason

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I do also see things about the Internet being something that people I think taking for granted, that they're becoming so comfortable with it that the feel they have a right to any piece of information that comes to them through the Internet. The Internet is changing our perception about a lot of things, it's changing our perception about almost everthing around them in society.

THANKS	bobby@snchnobby.bet
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Stage idea in Cunning Stunts
The idea of the new stage came upon a drunkled.. drug induced babble at 6:00 in the morning.

THANKS	lpm519@yahoo.com
DATE	1986
Tell Kirk to call Dave Mustaine. He needs some lessons.

Jason

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We're the token metal act on these award shows.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
James may get angry with Lars with the time he takes on the drums, but if you looked him in the eye and asked him who his best friend is, he'd say Lars.

THANKS	SykoChik82@aol.com
DATE	unknown
I'm still a big Metallica fan. I've gotta say that Metallica are the hardest working, most dedicated and determined band around. As an outsider I thought so, and now I'm an insider, I think the same thing.

THANKS	steinberg@v-wave.com
DATE	unknown
Cliff had some very loyal fans, including me.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We do whatever we want, more than we could before, and we get away with it. It's really cool.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We don't have to do any shit we don't want to. If it doesn't come out good, forget it. It has to be unique, something that really represents us.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	1988
It's getting more comfortable for me to offer up ideas to Metallica. James Hetfield especially is really a genius when it comes to writing. It really amazes me sometimes. He can come up with the heaviest, chunking riffs, and then turn around and do something so pretty it makes you tingle. These guys are all the upper sect of classy musicians.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It was tough to get used to playing two hours. At Monsters we only did an hour. When you do two hours you can't be slamming the whole time. You've got to pace yourself so you can't be strong the whole time.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I eat two hours before we go on and practice for a half hour. I've been walking out in the crowds. I put on my incognito disguise and check out the scene. It's cool to do that, soak up the vibe of the kids. A few recognized me, so I gave 'em passes.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Metallica is going to be one of the bands you look back on in the year 2008, that people will still listen to the way I still listen to Zeppelin and Sabbath albums.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I ended up gettin' a little Gibson amp and a bass, because of Gene Simmons of Kiss. Myself and three other kids would pretend to be Kiss--I liked Gene the best.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
He was a great and very special talent...Cliff's solos were absolutely brilliant.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Cliff
There was a huge shadow there. I'd always looked up to him so much.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
It's cool, having the control, the last word. It's very comfortable. We've always watched ourselves as far as keeping in shape. We base our whole day around the shows 'cause we want it to be as good as possible.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
As far as players, what I really like is Geezer Butler, Chris Squire, Lemmy, and Geddy Lee.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Kiss is the reason that I ever got a bass in the beginning. I wanted a bass because I liked Gene Simmons. So I had my dad buy me one for my fourteenth birthday.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
'Blackened' is probably my favorite song on Justice. I just like the grooves. It's got a good feel. 'Orion' and 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' are my favorite old songs.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I was a farm boy. My father and I raised Arabian stallions on our farm. I rode all the time, and I did the circuit horse shows, all that sort of crap.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
I listen to weird stuff that no one else likes. Old Motown or Elvis or Temptations. Louis Armstrong, Tom Waits. I still listen to a lot of heavy stuff. Violence and Sacred Reich. Black Sabbath and Zeppelin are still the best. We play them in the dressing room. Blue Oyster Cult. We listen to Red Hot Chilis too.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Filling Cliff's shoes really had me worried. Then I realized I had to live with it. I just have to crush everyone and do my own thing.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
One thing that we want to do that's fairly close in range is play the Soviet Union.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Metallica presented me with a gold album for Master Of Puppets. I didn't expect one. That's when it really hit me that I was part of Metallica.

THANKS	Unforgvn7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
To this day, there's not a half hour that goes by that I don't just go, 'OK, I'm gonna wake up, and this is all gonna be a dream.' But ten years have passed, and I still haven't woken up.

THANKS	jovy_quaso@hotmail.com
DATE	unknown
INFO	On Accusations of selling out
Yes, we do sell out, every single time, everywhere we play.

Cliff

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Bach is God.

THANKS	Reaper9666@aol.com
DATE	unknown
We do what we wanna do, if they consider that selling out then WHATEVER

THANKS	Reaper9666@aol.com
DATE	unknown
We're not trying to be something fancy, it's just us doing what we do and trying to keep it that way

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
To live is to die

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
We're getting a good draw, it's a fucking hell of a lot of fun. It is painful at first, our necks and lower backs really hurt. But asprin is a great drug.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
Control your life through insanity.

THANKS	deecoven7@aol.com
DATE	unknown
When a man lies he murders some part of the world. These are the pale deaths by which men miscall their lives. All this I cannot bear to witness any longer. Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home.

Other

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Johnny Z
The true story about Dave Mustaine will never be told, because there's something of a pact between Dave, Metallica, and myself.

THANKS	Dopefish3@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Carole
INFO	Carole worked at the Metallica Club
Yes, you don't have to worry, the Fan Cans are in the mail.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Steven Tyler
I occasionally run into bad influences, like Lars Ulrich from Metallica.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Scott Ian
INFO	On he and Cliff being arrested as suspected drug kingpins in London
The captain called us into his office and apologized. He said that in America we'd probably have been treated even worse. Cliff told him that in America the police don't stop you for having long hair and that most US cops can tell the difference between a cold pill and a Quaalude, and that they spend their time tracking down real lawbreakers like jaywalkers.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Scott Ian
INFO	On the September 21, 1986 Hammersmith Odeon show
At the end of the party, Cliff, James, Kirk, Charlie [Benante], Frankie [Bello], and I made a pact that we would come out together onstage at the approaching Aardshock Festival and do some songs in our underwear. Well, we never got to that Aardshock show...

THANKS	erinb_100@hotmail.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Rich "Banger" Birch
Bang The Head That Doesn't Bang!!

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Marrs
INFO	On the first time James and Lars saw Cliff play. Marrs was a Metallica drum tech.
I could just see them go, 'oh my God! Look at that guy!' The thing that struck them most was that while you see lead guitar-playing, here you had a guy playing lead bass! They though that was great.

THANKS	KtuluCJ77@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	John Davis
INFO	On wanting to be like...
Metallica too, they had the credibility without any airplay. I was never a big Metallica fan. I didn't buy all the albums, but after I did and listened to 'em I like the old stuff. I'm not trying to disrespect them because I must say that the band treated us the best on their tour. Every tour we went on we got treated like shit, but those guys treated us like royalty.

THANKS	LowLyric17@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Gem Howard
Beneath the noise they were actually quite good

THANKS	Zangfam@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Richard Harrington
INFO	Harrington is a Washington Post Staff Writer
Metallica, a critic noted, is the only heavy metal band that adults could listen to without feeling their IQ diminishing.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	MTV executive in the past
The only way this band will ever make it on MTV is on our news show.

THANKS	anonymous
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Dave Mustaine
INFO	On Cliff
...we came up here and played with Cliff, who just blew the doors off anyone we've ever played with. He's the new Steve Harris of metal.

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Dave Mustaine
Die for Megadeth, get seriously injured for Metallica!

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	2001
QUOTED	Dave Mustaine
I am here to say that I don't condone people coming up to me and saying something negative about my former band mates either. Sure there was a time when both camps were in a cold war, but those 'times' have been over for a long time. And even though the tension is still slight, I wish only the best for Metallica.

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	1983
QUOTED	Dave Mustaine
I think that James and I are very much the same man. I think that we grabbed an angel, split him in half, and both of us are possessing that power.

THANKS	DHSDrama@aol.com
DATE	unknown
QUOTED	Dave Mustaine
I was convinced that I should be in the band and went to rehearsal. I was tuning up when all the other guys in the band went into another room. They weren't talking to me, so I went in and said, 'What the fuck? Am I in the band or not?' and they said, 'You've got the gig.' I couldn't believe how easy it had been and suggested that we get some beer to celebrate.

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