In a new chat with Music Radar, Metallica frontman James Hetfield explained how the band became more democratic during the sessions for its latest album, 72 Seasons.
Hetfield spoke about how he and drummer Lars Ulrich integrated the musical ideas of lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo: “I don’t want to sit there with (only) Lars (Ulrich) and create the songs anymore. I want everyone to be a part of it and be in it. Can we all show up? Can we all be in the studio together? Can we jam on these things together? Can you speak up and say what you think might be great and not so great? Really wanting to open it up, and there were challenges in that. But I think we got through most of ’em, y'know?”
When pressed as to how Lars Ulrich took to allowing their bandmates a more equal say in musical matters, Hetfield said, “Well, I think we all have fear of change. . . and I think Lars eventually understood why and where I was trying to go with it. And even if there wasn’t input from others, just having that white space for input was great.”