Hard Rockers Metallica Get Touchy-Feely
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - After two decades as one of the biggest hard rock bands in history, the members of Metallica took the most radical step of their career.
They sat down a few years back and got to know each other.
With the band teetering on the brink, the staunch defenders of bone-crunching heavy metal brought in a therapist who inspired them to share their feelings, hug each other and even resolve issues going back to their childhoods.
Such heartwarming moments play out on "Oprah" every other day, but Metallica didn't sell 80 million records by adopting a warm, cuddly persona. The band became huge through grim anthems like "Creeping Death" and "Seek & Destroy." Onstage, it projected invincibility, pummeling fans with symphonic power.
"St. Anger" (Elektra), Metallica's first studio album since 1997's "Re-Load," set for release the week of June 9, reveals a vulnerable side to the newly enlightened musicians, says drummer Lars Ulrich.
To fans who might worry that the band has lived too long in the liberal bastion of San Francisco, Ulrich told Reuters: "If people don't like the fact that that's what it is now, then at least respect it and then walk away from it gracefully."
That's what bass player Jason Newsted did in early 2001. He stunned the group by quitting after 14 frustrating years during which he was prevented from working on outside projects and also bullied by bandmates grieving his predecessor, Cliff Burton, who died in a 1986 tour bus crash.
"RADICAL CHANGE"
"In retrospect, it's amazing that he lasted 14 years," Ulrich said during an interview at Metallica's headquarters in San Rafael, north of San Francisco. "But what he did was he forced us to take a look at the way we were doing things, and it was very clear that ... in order for this band to have a future and to continue doing something under the Metallica banner, there had to be radical, radical change."
Enter Phil Towle, a performance coach who specializes in getting members of sports teams to get along. But exit singer/guitarist James Hetfield, who spent several weeks that year in alcohol rehab and seemed poised never to return.
Since Ulrich and Hetfield, now both 39, co-founded Metallica in 1981, the two have battled each other for control of the band. The turf war pitted the leonine Hetfield, a shy big-game hunter, against the diminutive Danish-born Ulrich, a self-confessed control freak, whose controversial stand against music piracy enraged fans who like their music for free.
Normally, Hetfield's absence would have allowed Ulrich to grab power. But Towle taught the band -- which also includes 40-year-old lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and Newsted's recent replacement, Robert Trujillo -- to work as a collective.
"We don't spend half our energy now fighting for pole position because now we actually have found a new way of communicating and talking to each other and sitting down and considering other points of view," Ulrich said.
"The whole thing was completely adhered to in the recording of this record, and pretty much all the decisions."
Ulrich and Hetfield were solely responsible for most of Metallica's songs in the past. This time they shared the credit on all of "St. Anger" with Hammett and longtime producer Bob Rock, who filled in on bass.
All the songs were created during lengthy jam sessions at Metallica's headquarters. No one was allowed to bring in any material of his own. After each session, Ulrich and Rock sat at the computer, molding the best bits into songs.
Primary lyricist Hetfield then added the words, with help from his bandmates. Sober and relaxed, he bares his soul in such songs as the title track ("I want my anger to be healthy") and "Dirty Window" ("I drink from the cup of denial, judging the world from my throne").
"COLLECTION OF MOMENTS"
Ulrich calls the record "a collection of moments." Make that "long moments." None of the 11 songs is under five minutes, and three clock in at over eight minutes. That's classic Metallica, before they annoyed fans during the 1990s by recording radio-friendly songs.
Perhaps more worrisome for aficionados is the absence of guitar solos. Ulrich says the band tried desperately to add overdubs, but they ended up "cheapening" the sound.
Trujillo, 38, who was working with Ozzy Osbourne when he got the call to join Metallica in February, said the band has already accepted his input on such matters as album artwork and the DVD that will accompany the CD.
"They're motivated to have a collaborative entity, and that's really important for me," he said. "If this would have been happening two years ago, I may not be sitting here because we might have been clashing in certain ways."
Toronto SARS show sold out in 3 hours
TORONTO (CP) -- It just goes to show how few people are afraid of SARS when weighed against seeing their favourite stars.
All 70,000 tickets for a June 21 concert featuring Avril Lavigne, the Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan sold out in just three hours Thursday.
The Concert for Toronto was organized to kick off the summer tourism season at a time when many are avoiding the city because of the SARS scare.
Ticketmaster said its outlets, call centre and online system were busy after tickets went on sale at noon.
"Demand far outweighed the supply of tickets," said spokeswoman Patti Babin. "The response proves that the ticket-buying public is confident in Toronto as the place to be."
Ticket prices for the all-Canadian show -- which also features the Tragically Hip, Our Lady Peace, Sum 41, Swollen Members, Remy Shand and Glenn Lewis -- were dirt cheap at $29.50 and $19.50, compared with other summer concerts that tend to run over $50.
The six-hour show will take place simultaneously at two downtown venues, the SkyDome and the Air Canada Centre, with acts alternating between the two. That means fans at the SkyDome will watch acts at the Air Canada Centre via a video feed and vice versa.
Organizers have said more acts will be added. It's rumoured Shania Twain and Neil Young are being courted to perform and Mike Myers and Jim Carrey to act as hosts.
Stars Flock To Big-Screen Cole Porter Musical
Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Diana Krall, Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams, and R&B singer Vivian Green will appear in "Just One of Those Things," a big screen musical portrait of songwriter Cole Porter. Actor Kevin Kline will portray Porter in the MGM production, currently shooting in a number of international locations, including London and Venice. Ashley Judd co-stars as Porter's wife, Linda Lee.
"These are some of the world's top musical talents," director Irwin Winkler says in a statement. "By lending their voices to some of the most spectacular music ever written, we'll be able to introduce the genius of Cole Porter to a whole new generation of fans."
Morissette will dance and sing "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" in the film. She previously appeared in the non-speaking role of God in the Kevin Smith-directed features "Dogma" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."
Costello -- who performed with Burt Bacharach in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" and appeared as himself in "200 Cigarettes" and "Spice World" -- performs "Let's Misbehave." The artist also had a small part as a public defender in the 2001 film "Prison Song," which starred Q-Tip and Mary J. Blige.
Crow, whose previous silver screen acting credit is 1999's "The Minus Man," save for a cameo as a nightclub patron in "54," will tackle "Begin the Beguine." Williams, who has only lent his voice to the animated features "Magic Roundabout" (currently in production) and the 1999 holiday TV special "Hooves of Fire," will perform "It's De-Lovely." He previously recorded Cole's "Did You Evah?" on his 2001 EMI album "Swing When You're Winning."
Krall, a jazz singer and pianist who is no stranger to the Porter songbook, has two songs in the film. She will be seen and heard performing the title song and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Krall will also soon be seen in Woody Allen's upcoming feature, "Anything Else." Expected later this year, that film stars Allen, Jason Biggs, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Fallon, Stockard Channing, and Danny DeVito, among others.
Green, who sings "Love for Sale," will be making her film debut in "Just One of Those Things."
Kline will perform a total of 14 songs in the film, including a duet with Judd on "In the Still of the Night." An actress who comes from a musical family that includes sister Wynonna and mother Naomi, Judd also sings "True Love" and several other songs.
Producer Rob Cowan says the film "is unlike any musical seen in recent time. With complex characters and situations for the actors to explore, amazing costumes and choreography, and Porter's terrific music to drive the narrative forward -- the result is moving and exciting."
The film's soundtrack to the film will be released by Sony Music. Projected release dates for the film and soundtrack have not been announced.
Elvis Box Full Of Unreleased Goodies
BMG Heritage has set a July 1 release for "Elvis: Close Up," a four-disc box set featuring a bounty of unreleased Elvis Presley material. "Close Up" follows last year's RCA release of the box set "Elvis Today, Tomorrow, and Forever" and the single-disc collection "ELV1S 30 #1 Hits," which debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 2.8 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"Elvis: Close Up" collects 89 tracks in all, and each of its four remastered discs represent different aspects of Presley's career. Disc one concentrates on stereo master tapes from the 1950s, marking the first such releases for "Blueberry Hill," "Loving You," "(There'll Be) Peace in the Valley (For Me)," "Don't Leave Me Now," and more. Disc two culls tracks from four of Presley's films: "G.I. Blues," "Blue Hawaii," "Flaming Star," and "Wild in the Country." The disc features 25 previously unreleased outtakes.
The third disc covers Presley's 1960s sessions at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. Twenty-one outtakes from a number of different sessions are featured, including "Make Me Know It," "U.S. Male," "Surrender," "His Latest Flame," "The Girl of My Best Friend," and "Singing Tree."
The final disc is taken up by a complete unreleased concert recorded April 18, 1972 in San Antonio. The 23-track show features "Burning Love," "Proud Mary," "Suspicious Minds," "Never Been to Spain," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "Polk Salad Annie."
SURVIVING POLITICS
TV Guide is reporting that CBS execs have nixed plans by Survivor: The Amazon winner Jenna Moraska to star in a new anti-fur ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The network cited "contractual obligations." No other reason was given.