In a recent interview with American Songwriter, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett delved into the band’s enduring presence in the music scene.
“I’ve never said this before, but it feels right saying it: It’s a musical love affair among the four of us and the music that we’re making,” Kirk said. “It brings out the love among the four of us. It’s an incredibly bonding thing. It’s really powerful. It goes beyond us. METALLICA has become bigger than we as individuals will ever be able to become. It’s crazy. All we can do now is maintain it and persevere towards it, respect it, and just try and guide it. It’s a bigger thing than us now. That’s a blessing, and at the same time, it’s hard to contend with. There are no rule books or anything. So we’re just going to continue what we’re doing because what we’re doing seems to be working.
“The band seems to get bigger,” Hammett continued. “I guess that’s a good thing. We’re just going to continue to do the positive thing, which is make music that brings people together and helps people. That seems like it’s the M.O. for the band, and we’ll continue to serve that. Because it’s gone beyond so many other things. It’s beyond status, beyond finances, beyond petty f**king competition. It’s culture in its highest f**king form, in that it helps and inspires people, and gets people through their day. It continues to do this, and there’s no real end. It isn’t like someone could wake up and say, ‘That’s the end of METALLICA.’ No. It’s like saying that’s the end of music. That will never happen. Music is just one of those things that’s needed in life, and thank God we have it.”
As reported by Billboard, METALLICA‘s latest album, 72 Seasons, achieved sales of 146,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. during its initial week, securing the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 chart.
Although it was the first time since their 1988 album …And Justice For All that the band didn’t reach the No. 1 position, 72 Seasons represents METALLICA‘s 12th album to make it into the Top 10 charts, with eight of them attaining the top two spots.
