In a recent interview with Steffan Chirazi, Metallica’s bassist Rob Trujillo opened up about the band’s upcoming album, ’72 Seasons.’ The discussion shed light on the album’s background and how the members of Metallica decided to embark on the journey of creating a brand-new record. The conversation took an interesting turn when Trujillo spoke about a particular task drummer Lars Ulrich gave him and how his response might have left Ulrich feeling let down.
The forthcoming album, ’72 Seasons,’ promises to be another addition to Metallica‘s impressive discography, showcasing their musical prowess and creativity. Fans eagerly await the release, as the band has kept many details under wraps. However, Trujillo’s interview provided some insights into the formation of the album and the band’s creative process during its making.
When asked how they decided to create a new album, Trujillo shared an anecdote about a conversation he had with Lars Ulrich after they had recorded an acoustic version of ‘Blackened.’ Ulrich had trusted Trujillo to come up with an acoustic rendition of ‘The Day That Never Comes,’ but instead of delivering what was expected, Trujillo produced an original piece unrelated to the song.
In the interview, he recalled:
“That’s an interesting question. I don’t know how the other guys are going to answer that, but I do remember very specifically that Lars and I had a conversation after we had done the acoustic version of ‘Blackened.’ And just to be clear, James sparked the whole thing when he sent over ‘Blackened 2020’ for us all to throw down on in the first place. That helped our home studios come back to life!
After that, Lars kind of trusted that I would try to come up with an acoustic version of ‘The Day That Never Comes.’ I don’t know if I disappointed him or if I didn’t come through, but basically, that day never came because I threw together an original piece that had nothing to do with an acoustic version of ‘The Day That Never Comes.’ By the way, that original piece is not on the album, so don’t look for it. In fact, I don’t think that original piece was ever intended to be on the album. More than anything, it was intended to make a point, which was, ‘F*ck it, let’s be creative, let’s concentrate on new ideas, new music, a new record.'”
Trujillo went on to explain that, at the time, many artists were jumping on ‘the Zoom bandwagon’ and doing covers, but he felt that Metallica should focus on creating new music. He shared this sentiment with the rest of the band, encouraging them to work on a new album. In response to his suggestion, Lars eventually called him back and agreed to start working on new music.
Trujillo remembered the conversation vividly:
“So, the most important thing in this was thinking about channeling our energy from what we’d just done with ‘Blackened 2020’ and starting the process. I brought that up to him, and I could tell he was processing it. I think in his mind, he was just happy to make music again, even if it was covers. But here’s a thing… at that time, everybody was jumping on the Zoom bandwagon, and everybody was covering something. You know, some of it was acoustic, some of it was electric, and we had also done it. We had surprised everybody; it was very exciting what we had done with ‘Blackened 2020,’ but were we going to continue to do that? In my opinion, no. Let’s work on new music. And I told them that. I said, ‘Hey, man, you know, f*ck it. Let’s start writing. Let’s just start working on a new album.'”
He continued the story as follows:
“[Lars] did call me back at some point, I don’t know how long after, and said, ‘You know what? I’m going to take a page from your book. Let’s start working on new music!’ He may not say he remembers that, but I remember that clear as day. From that point on, I think the path we chose was to create our own music and start thinking about a new record. That’s definitely how I remember it. That conversation was really between Lars and me at that point. And then there was communication that started to develop with Greg Fidelman, and I think the ball started rolling at that point. Obviously, they took the lead on that, and here we are with a great album.”
It’s apparent from Trujillo’s recollection that Metallica’s focus has always been on pushing the creative envelope and not merely following trends. While it might have seemed that Trujillo let Ulrich down by not coming through with the acoustic version of ‘The Day That Never Comes,’ his actions ultimately led to the band concentrating their energy on creating an original and innovative album. Fans can eagerly anticipate the release of ’72 Seasons,’ knowing that the creative process behind it was driven by the band’s passion for making music that is uniquely Metallica.
