Lou Reed’s posthumous book, ‘The Art of the Straight Line,’ edited by Reed’s wife, Laurie Anderson, Stephan Berwick, Bob Currie, and Scott Richman, has recently been published. The book also features 80 interviews with many names, including Lars Ulrich. The Metallica drummer discussed their collaborative album with Reed and why it didn’t get enough attention from the fans.
After Reed and Metallica played together at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th Anniversary Concert, the idea of working together on a record came up. So, they got into the studio in California from April to June 2011 for the recording sessions. The collaborative effort of the two, ‘Lulu,’ arrived on October 31, 2011, as a double album.
However, the record polarized Metallica fans, as many thought the album was difficult to listen to. It was a departure from Metallica’s usual sound and style and may not have resonated with fans who expected a more traditional Metallica album. In the book, Ulrich stated that he still couldn’t understand fans’ negative reactions to ‘Lulu.’
The drummer thinks Metallica fans underappreciated the quality of the album, as it offered them a different side of the band they were not used to. Ulrich also believes it would probably get a more positive reaction if they released it now. Yet, he is still very proud of creating such an experimental record with Lou Reed.
Here is what Ulrich said about ‘Lulu’:
“What the f*ck is it about ‘Lulu’ that it got that kind of reaction? I can’t quite figure it out, but years later, it’s aged extremely well. It sounds like a motherf*cker still. So I can only put the reaction down to ignorance… It took our fans to a place I wish they would go more often. Maybe it would be a better time to release it now with what’s going on outside in the world, the chaos.
I don’t know, but I am very proud of this record … James [Hetfield] and I would be figuring out ways through a piece of music, and then Lou would look over and go, ‘That’s it. I’m not doing another f*cking take of that.’ That’s not the way we usually worked, but it was so beautiful and great, the whole thing.”
Ulrich also explained in the book that he was grateful to Reed for getting them out of their comfort zone during the making of ‘Lulu.’ Thanks to the late musician, they were able to take a different creative direction than their usual style.
