Metallica have spoken about their upcoming collaboration with legendary songwriter Lou Reed.
Some things just seem to go together: salt and vinegar, Bert and Ernie, cheese and onion, Morecambe and Wise.
Lou Reed and Metallica are not on that list. On paper, a somewhat bizarre partnership the collaboration is set to result in the new album ‘Lulu’ which is due to be released on October 31st.
Based on German playwright Frank Wedekind’s 1913 play, Lou Reed re-worked a previous score with the aid of the thrash giants. Obviously proud of his achievements, Lou Reed recently pronounced the new album to be the finest of his – or anyone else’s – career.
Reported by the NME, Metallica singer James Hetfield recently spoke about the collaboration. “We were very interested in working with Lou. I had these giant question marks: ‘What’s it going to be like?’ ‘What’s going to happen?’ So it was great when he sent us the lyrics for the Lulu body of work. It was something we could sink our teeth into.”
“I could take off my singer and lyricist hat and concentrate on the music part. These were very potent lyrics, with a soundscape behind them for atmosphere. Lars and I sat there with an acoustic and let this blank canvas take us where it needed to go. It was a great gift, to be asked to stamp Metallica on it. And that’s what we did.”
Hetfield also revealed that the initial plan for the collaboration was to focus on some of the “lost jewels” from Lou Reed’s career.
Elsewhere, Lou Reed insisted that the new album was an attempt to bring ‘Lulu’ to life in a “sophisticated way”. “We had to bring Lulu to life in a sophisticated way, using rock and the hardest power rock you could come up with would have to be Metallica. This is the best thing I ever did. And I did it with the best group I could possibly find. By definition, everybody involved was honest. This has come into the world pure. We pushed as far as we possibly could within the realms of reality.”
‘Lulu’ is set to be released on October 31st.
