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They were once asked by a fan, "Don't you guys ever get sick of signing autographs?" "Nope," they replied, "the fans make Metallica what it is."
"We never see ourselves as being on a higher level than our fans." -Kirk Hammett
"James, if you could describe Lars in one word, what would it be?"
"Talkative," he answers to the interviewer on the syndicated radio show Rockline.
"And to you, Lars, the same question," she asks.
"Uhh...I'd have to say chubby," he laughs.
"Hey!" interrupts James. "I spent a lot of money on this beer gut."
"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.'" -James Hetfield
"Authority pisses me off. I think everyone should be able to drink and get loud whenever they want." -James Hetfield
"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 short, so why shouldn't you?" -James Hetfield
"We became so fed up with people talking while we were playing that we said, 'Screw it, let's turn it up so they won't be able to chatter.' The band just kept getting louder and louder." -James Hetfield
"Metallica is the world to me - it always has been, and that's not going to change. I'm married to Metallica." -James Hetfield
"...Metallica's the only band I've ever been in and it's the only band I ever wanna be in." -Lars Ulrich
"I don't think the word 'thrash' applies to us. We were the originators of that style, but we've always looked beyond that." -Lars Ulrich
"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'." -Jason Newsted
"Metallica is going to be one of those 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." -Jason Newsted
James, on their idols, Black Sabbath: "Sabbath was everything that the 60's weren't. Their music was so cool because it was completely anti-hippie. I hated the Beatles, Jethro Tull, Love, and all that other happy shit."
"There is something powerful in Metallica, a will, a drive." -James Hetfield
"...I can appreciate the people who only want us to go fast. If you dig those bands, please buy their records and see their shows so we can keep it alive - but don't disrespect the people who paved the way and broke down the doors for so many of the groups you enjoy now. One of the bands that played a big part in that was Metallica. We're the guys who wrote 'Damage, Inc.,' 'Fight Fire With Fire,' 'Whiplash,'...you name it, we helped invent it. And we can still play it better than anyone. I'll go up against any death-metal band - pound for pound, hour for hour, we'll crush 'em. I have great respect for them, but those are the facts." -Jason Newsted
"You don't burn out from going too fast. You burn out from going too slow and getting bored." -Cliff Burton
"No rules but Metallica rules. Here it is, black sleeve, black logo, fuck you." -James Hetfield
"I think the whole concept behind lyrics is you better mean what you say, or you should like, become a storyteller. I mean, there's a lot of bands who are just storytellers, and then there are bands who actually have something valid to say. And the bands who have valid points are few and far between." -Kirk Hammett
"...we got put on their list of the 15 most offensive albums of 1986..." -Kirk Hammett
"My guitars are my umbilical cord. They're directly wired into my head." -Kirk Hammett
"I don't think success has changed us as people at all. We are the same lunatics that we were when this band first got going." -Kirk Hammett
"You can't just put any four people together and it goes 'yaaaaah', y'know?..." -Jason Newsted
"Repeat after me: WE DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" -James Hetfield, from a concert at the VanAndel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on February 15, 1997
"...in other words, no one can stop Metallica." -Scott Ferrall
When Metal Edge magazine asked Metallica, "Which world record would you most like hold?" they responded:
"The longest orgasm." -James Hetfield
"Maybe just the longest time playing." -Jason Newsted
"The most hangovers." -Kirk Hammett
"Songwriting. The best songs." -Lars Ulrich
Some quotes from fan club members:
"...Let's face it, Metallica is, was, and always will be about the music, and more importantly about putting that look on people's faces. You know the one I mean, the glazed eyes, the satisfied smile, and if it's caused by a live helping of the Boys, it's normally accompanied by a very fuckin' sore throat..." -Ian D. (England)
"...To those who say Metallica's gone soft, I can only say that expecting any band to keep doing the same thing album after album is like cutting off a baby's head because you want it to stay cute forever..." -Julia K. (Glen Ellyn, Illinois)
"Yeeeeaaah!!! This album RULZ!!! I propose a new style of metal, DRAG METAL!!!! Because this Re-load sounds like someone took two tons of steel and dragged it across a parking lot at 100 mph! Like an overturned tractor trailer squealing and grinding across a highway. Anyways, I can't wait to hear this shit live!" -Mike A. (Johnstown, Pennsylvania)
Finally, as one of rock's best known frontmen, country music lover and die-hard Raiders and San Jose Sharks fan, James says, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye. Then it's fun you can't see!"
Being a shocking band has never been anything new to Metallica. As Led Zeppelin's bass player John Paul Jones was heard saying to himself after a Metallica concert in 1987, "I didn't know that sort of thing was possible..."
"We wanna play everywhere. Just let us in. We dare 'ya." -James Hetfield