Metallica frontman James Hetfield appeared on SiriusXM and talked about the band’s latest release, ‘The Metallica Blacklist,’ which is a tribute album produced to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘The Black Album.’
‘The Black Album’ was released on August 12, 1991, and it is Metallica’s fifth studio album. The album is also considered their most remarkable achievement as it is their best-selling album. It ranked No. 1 album in ten countries and achieved international recognition. It has been 30 years since its first release, and Metallica celebrated their record’s anniversary with several different projects.
‘The Metallica Blacklist,’ released on September 10, 2021, is also one of the projects that the band worked on as a part of the celebration of the anniversary. Fifty-three artists from various genres, including famous names like Elton John, Miley Cyrus, Phoebe Bridgers, Mac DeMarco, and St. Vincent, contributed to the record with the covers of 12 songs from the album. Each artist performed their unique interpretation of the songs, and thus, the album has attracted different types of music listeners.
Some fans criticized Metallica’s collaboration with different artists in ‘The Metallica Blacklist’ because they were concerned that it could change Metallica’s unique style. After the reactions, James Hetfield tried to reassure the fans by highlighting that no one can change Metallica. In his appearance on SiriusXM, Hetfield explained what ‘The Metallica Blacklist’ is and reflected on what he thinks about the different versions of the songs. Hetfield also made it clear that he has no problems with the rap covers of Metallica songs.
Here is how Hetfield responded:
“Whether it’s in Spanish, or it’s in rap, or it’s in a country twang or a crazy remix kind of thing… I love the fact that they’re all really, really different. And the people that did them, the artists, they took the time.
They took the time to make it theirs, and they didn’t just phone it in and say, ‘Oh, we’ll just cover it how it’s supposed to sound.’ They took it in and made it theirs. That, to me, is beautiful.”
You can watch the interview below.
