The world’s biggest metal group, who just celebrated 30 years as a band with a blowout set of guest-heavy shows, will headline both nights of the festival, and will perform their legendary Black album in its entirety on one of the two nights. This will mark the first time that the band has ever performed the album in the United States. The band will also play Ride The Lightning in its entirety, which is considerably more awesome across the board.

Nearly two dozen artists are on the bill, including Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, The Gaslight Anthem, Cage The Elephant, Fucked Up, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Roky Erickson, The Black Angels, The Sword, A Place to Bury Strangers, and Liturgy. More bands will be announced soon.

Presale tickets for Met Club fan club members go on sale Wednesday (February  at 10:00 am ET and will remain on sale through Friday (February 10) at 10:00 pm ET. General admission tickets for the two-day festival will be priced at $125 and Ultra Passes (including front of  stage viewing area access, exclusive lounge access, and more) will be priced at $225.

Public tickets go on sale Saturday (February 11) at 10:00 am on the festival’s official site. Early bird tickets will be priced at $150 and advance tickets will be priced at $175. VIP passes and travel packages will be announced Saturday.

The band mentioned that they’re looking forward to being an integral part of the festival experience, rather than just a player on the bill. What that means in terms of the fest’s overall atmosphere remains to be seen, but it’s going to be one exciting June in Jersey for Metallica fans…

Firstly, the new tracks. Metallica decided to resurrect four songs that were left on the cutting room floor from their 2008 album Death Magnetic, and perform one at each of their Fillmore concerts. Simultaneously, they sent out mp3s of the four songs’ studio versions to fan club members, under the name Beyond Magnetic – an EP of sorts. We’d already shown you the first, Hate Train, so here are the following three (with links to their studio counterparts)

Just a Bullet Away (studio):

Hell And Back (studio):

Rebel of Babylon (studio):

Also making their live debuts were previously-released tracks Carpe Diem Baby and To Live Is To Die -, one for each of the first two gigs.

As for the special guests that appeared onstage, they are far too numerous to have videos of each posted here, but we’ve selected a few highlights for you. Former bassist Jason Newsted joined the band for several songs on the first gig, then returned on the three subsequent ones. The second night saw an onstage reunion of Mercyful Fate, King Diamond’s old band, performing a 10-minute medley with Metallica. (Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull were also there).

The third night was arguably more star-studded, as Glenn Danzig performed three Misfits covers, Rob Halford sang Judas Priest’s Rapid Fire, and the following Lynyrd Skynyrd cover took place:

Tuesday’s Gone (featuring Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell, Down’s Pepper Keenan, Faith No More’s Jim Martin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s own Gary Rossington. Oh, and a horn section):

(For good measure, have a look at this great rendition of For Whom The Bell Tolls also featuring Jerry Cantrell)

But the main event in terms of special guests took place on the final night of the residency. With Black Sabbath’s reunion looming on the horizon, bassist Geezer Butler first went onstage and performed a cover of Sabbath’s Sabbra Cadabra with Metallica. Later, singer Ozzy Osbourne also joined the group, and they launched into Iron Man and Paranoid:

Iron Man / Paranoid (featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler):

And finally, Metallica was reunited with Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine – their famously-fired original lead guitarist. Although he had already performed with his former group at the Big 4 concerts, where every band on the bill played a cover song together, last night’s occasion was a bit different: Mustaine actually performed five songs from Kill ‘Em All, the album he co-wrote with Metallica prior to being fired.

Phantom Lord (featuring Dave Mustaine):

Another surprise came during the fourth Kill ‘Em All song, as Mustaine and Metallica were joined by original, pre-Cliff Burton bassist Ron McGovney, and guitarist Lloyd Grant, who was credited for one guitar solo on the band’s first recording of Hit The Lights – which they performed. As much of an “original line-up reunion” as there could ever be. It’s nice to see that Metallica and Dave Mustaine have apparently come to terms with each other – ironically, just after Megadeth’s latest album Thirteen sold over twice as much as Lulu.

The 4-song Beyond Magnetic EP might see a commercial release soon, and it’ll probably outsell Lulu as well. Next year, Metallica will tour playing their Black Album in its entirety.

As Blabbermouth reports, Hate Train was originally intended for Metallica’s last non-Lulu studio album, 2008’s Death Magnetic, but ultimately didn’t make the cut. After the band performed a world premiere of the song last night in San Francisco, a free download of its studio version was sent out to fan-club members. Hate Train can be found below:

The main riff might be a dead ringer for the band’s own Fuel, but it’s still a solid track – certainly in comparison to anything from Lulu.

Metallica have three more scheduled dates at the Fillmore this week, and we’ll be sure to report if any more new songs pop up.

Earlier today, IFC debuted the Aronofsky-directed music video for The View. Shot in black and white, the video showcases the supergroup performing the harshly-received song in a rehearsal space. Some added camera effects also give the frontmen’s faces a haunting and blurry essence as Hetfield profoundly barks that he is a table, and Lou Reed tiredly reminds us of his active despise.

The IFC website describes the video as follows: “If there was something incongruous about the idea, Aronofsky’s menacing camera puts that to rest, and Reed’s villainous monotone suddenly seems at home indicting lustful fancy over Metallica’s huge riffs.”

We’re not so sure about that, but you can watch the video below and judge for yourself:

In the press release for the video’s premiere, Aronofsky explained why he chose to direct for the band: “The first time I heard The View I was stunned… I had never heard anything like it. Half was all Lou. The other half all Metallica. It was a marriage that on the surface made no sense, but the fusion changed the way I thought about both artists and morphed into something completely fresh and new. I couldn’t stop listening to it. Lou’s crushing lyrics, and the band’s incredible licks.”

Reed also had some nice words for Aronofsky, stating in the press release: “I feel Darren understood the power and range of the emotions fueled by the fire of Metallica. His strength and spirit are on display in every frame and I think he has caught the anger, rage and anguish at the bottom of the soul of real rock.”

Even if Aronofsky “understood” The View, most of us have yet to catch up, and as of yet, we still hope that this is all a big joke.

In announcing their summer vacation plans, the Bay Area thrash veterans said on their official website:

This year’s European trek has a twist…to help celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the Download Festival, the dudes who run it asked us how we felt about playing ‘The Black Album’ in its entirety and we thought “hold on, that could be really cool since it’s technically the tail-end of the 20^th anniversary of the release (August ’91).” So come hang with us for the 2012 version of our European Summer Vacation featuring ‘The Black Album,’ with the exclusive stop in the UK on June 9^th.

As you may recall, it was on the bands European vacation in 2010 when the first Big Four concerts were held.

Expect more European 2012 show announcements from Metallica in the near future. Tickets for the 2012 Download Festival go on sale Friday November 18^th.

The first track performed was Iced Honey – which, as mentioned in our 1-star review, is perhaps the only proper song of the record, where both artists actually sound like they’re recording the same thing. Video of the performance can be found below:

Later, they also played the classic Velvet Underground song White Light/White Heat, although in a new “metal” arrangement:

Iced Honey is set to have a music video directed by Darren Arronofski (best known for his movies Requiem For A Dream and the Oscar-nominated Black Swan). Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said of the video: ”As if making a record with Lou Reed is not enough… now I get to make a video with Darren Aronofsky, who has been among my very favorite filmmakers since his first movie, Pi. This is turning into a monumental chapter in the ongoing saga entitled ‘Lars Ulrich…living the dream!!!’” Ok, then.

The first single from Lulu, entitled The View, had already garnered hatred from listeners, and in the context of the album, it pretty much shows all the things that went horribly wrong  with it. First and foremost, Lou Reed doesn’t sing – he never really has – he basically reads the lyrics to the song, in an often emotionless delivery. While this style has worked in his solo career (and in his glory days with The Velvet Underground), here, backed by Metallica, it sounds instantly unsettling. The heavy metal provided by the band is as inappropriate to Reed’s non-singing as any random musical genre you can imagine, and the juxtaposition of both styles is downright laughable in several spots. The fact that metal and Lou Reed don’t match becomes quickly noticeable, and only becomes more blatantly obvious as Lulu goes on.

Take Mistress Dead, for instance, which is probably the clearest, most basic example of the poor combination of styles. While Metallica play a standard riff that might as well be the dictionary definition of “thrash metal”, Reed moans his usually weird, graphic lyrics, “I wish there was a strap of blood / That you could kiss away / Tie me with a scarf and jewels / Put a bloody gag to my teeth“. And yet, neither element sounds like it belongs to the same song, at any given point, as if both parties were competing to see who could move the further away from a stylistic crossroads. The fact that the instrumentation shows about as little variation as the vocal performance, doesn’t help either. The results, while not always ridiculous, still fail to demonstrate why this collaboration ever sounded like a good idea.

That’s not to say, however, that there aren’t moments where small hints of actual chemistry pop up. On a few cuts, Metallica deviate from their usual brand of metal, and approach something more akin to Reed’s previous solo work. Iced Honey, one of only two tracks that don’t go over five minutes here, contains proper rock arrangements that fit Reed’s voice more appropriately, he makes an effort to actually sing – though within his limitations. James Hetfield helps out on the singing during the chorus, hitting the notes that Reed obviously can’t, and, surprisingly, the song goes by without any embarrassments.

Cheat On Me, which follows, also features Hetfield on vocals, to an even greater effect. After an atmospheric start with dissonant string arrangements and distorted guitars, the song takes form with a relatively slow beat, and Reed does another performance that doesn’t sound alien to the music. As it progresses and gets heavier, Hetfield begins to share vocal duties with Reed, sometimes even taking the forefront, avoiding the stylistic disparity that plagues so much else on this record. Also due to some great riffing, Cheat On Me winds up as a highlight, and shows a mold that could have been adopted on more songs.

Unfortunately, even on those moments where it seems like the project might take flight, they’re still merely less discomforting than the many, many disappointingly bad musical choices made here. Any hope gained from the two tracks mentioned above is quickly dissolved by Frustration, which returns to the unfortunate combination of heavy metal and spoken word. To make matters worse, it features a mid-section with nothing but Reed and drum fills by Lars Ulrich, in something that dangerously resembles Spinal Tap’s Jazz Odyssey. The balladry of closing track Junior Dad, tacky as it may be, comes as a relief, but its ten minutes of string arrangements inevitably serve for the listener to raise several questions about what the hell just happened during the past hour and a half.

Lulu is extremely hard to recommend, and even harder to find out who to recommend it for. Fans of Reed might be able to enjoy his lyrics on some level, for they are, if anything, easily identifiable – there’s the song where he begs to be degraded and eat waste, the one where he yells “JACK” about fifty times, the one where he’s “spermless like a girl”, and, of course, the one where James Hetfield is a table. Alas, little does the poetry matter if the music doesn’t hold up.

As for the four musicians’ contributions, they’re far from impressive, but never get as embarrassing as some of their least-inspired Load/Reload/St. Anger cuts. While James Hetfield’s rhythm guitar is the driving force most of the time, Kirk Hammett barely gets any chance to shine, as there are disappointingly few solos here. Lars Ulrich continues his strength-over-versatility drumming approach, arguably the least appealing aspect of the group for many years now, and Robert Trujillo’s bass remains practically buried in the mix. Sometimes, It’s almost as if the group decided to hold back, and not waste any good riffs here. Except that’s really not the case here, as evidenced by the members themselves.

Metallica, already fully aware of the hatred Lulu was getting, have already stated that it indicates what their future studio work might sound like. With that in mind, it’s also frightening that every party involved shows so much confidence in the quality of this material. Interview after interview, they demonstrate nothing but complete investment into the project, and genuine belief that this is among their finest work. It’s disturbing to think that they don’t see anything wrong with this collaboration.

Metallica themselves are not the real mistake here, as they can still dish out decent thrash metal hooks, and on some occasions deviate from that style, producing arguably better results. The mistake was assuming that their particular brand of music would be a good fit for Lou Reed’s voice. Most of the time, Reed’s non-singing is too prominent for fans of Metallica to just enjoy the music, and, at the same time, the music can be too heavy for Reed’s fans, culminating in something that neither group of listeners can properly enjoy. Considering that this never sounded like much of a good idea to anyone, it’s not a huge loss.

First single The View was already unveiled, and it sounded exactly like a Metallica jam with Lou Reed talking over it. Now, the entire album, in its hour-and-a-half length, has been made available for streaming at the project’s official website.

The tracklisting with the full song lengths is below:

Disc 1:
1. Brandenburg Gate 4:19
2. The View 5:17
3. Pumping Blood 7:24
4. Mistress Dread 6:51
5. Iced Honey 4:36
6. Cheat on Me 11:26

Disc 2
1. Frustration 8:34
2. Little Dog 8:01
3. Dragon 11:08
4. Junior Dad 19:29

Lulu will be released on October 31, and you can expect a review as soon as we figure out what the hell is happening on these songs.

It may be Reed’s fresh-off-the-respirator impression of Eeyore dressed as a Vietnam vet at a biker rally in the video below, or his assertion that the album is the best project he’s ever been involved in. Maybe not. But there’s an odd sense of unease settling in, as diehard fans of one or the other slowly acquaint themselves with the feeling one gets when finding themselves locked in a ritual that will inevitably end in sex with a hideous person.

Listen, it’s great that Metallica’s getting behind an old legend to send him off with a flex-blast. The man is gaining speed down the other side of the hill these days, and Iggy Pop’s throwing side-eye jealousy at the man’s skincare techniques. It’s honorable that a group of metal icons (who are getting long in the tooth themselves) are providing the catapult for sending the Velvet Underground hero into the great musical beyond with a ball of fire – but let’s not go shitting all over our own history by calling it the greatest work by either artist.

Then there’s this, a first full taste of The View reminding us of how weird and seemingly unfortunate this little pairing is. Can’t get over the straightjacket melody of the line “the normalcy of heartbreak” – which is just about the only actual singing you hear in the clip.

We’re holding the clothespins for another couple months. See you in 2012.

Now, the masses finally get a full-flavored taste of the “Lulu” project, via the song The View. As the sounds below indicate, we’re in for some serious weirdness when this full album drops. Imagine Iron Man played backwards slowly while your molester uncle talks some weird shit about his ex, and you’ve got a good sense of just what the fuck is going on here.

Here’s some lyrics as well:

AM A CHORUS OF THE VOICES
THAT GATHER UP THE MAGNETS
SET BEFORE ME

I ATTRACT YOU AND REPEL YOU
A SCIENCE OF THE HEART
AND BLOOD AND MEANING

THE COLDNESS OF MOST BEAUTIES
IS A CHALLENGE THAT OUR YOUTH
MUST QUICKLY CONQUER

THERE IS NO TIME FOR GUILT
OR SECOND GUESSING, SECOND GUESSING
BASED ON FEELING

I AM THE TRUTH, THE BEAUTY
THAT CAUSES YOU TO CROSS
YOUR SACRED BOUNDARIES

I HAVE NO MORALS
SOME THINK ME CHEAP
AND SOMEONE WHO DESPISES
THE NORMALCY OF HEARTBREAK
THE PURITY OF LOVE

BUT I WORSHIP THE YOUNG
AND JUST FORMED ANGEL

WHO SITS UPON THE PIN OF LUST
EVERYTHING ELSE
BORES ME

I WANT TO SEE YOUR SUICIDE
I WANT TO SEE YOU GIVE IT UP
YOUR LIFE OF REASON
I WANT YOU ON THE FLOOR
AND IN A COFFIN YOUR SOUL SHAKING
I WANT TO HAVE YOU DOUBTING
EVERY MEANING YOU’VE AMASSED
LIKE A FORTUNE

OH THROW IT AWAY

FOR WORSHIP SOMEONE
WHO ACTIVELY DESPISES YOU

FOR WORSHIP SOMEONE
WHO ACTIVELY DESPISES YOU

I AM THE ROOT
I AM THE PROGRESS
I’M THE AGGRESSOR
I AM THE TABLET
THESE TEN STORIES

WORSHIP
WORSHIP

PAIN AND EVIL HAVE THEIR PLACE
SITTING HERE BESIDE ME
I OFFER THEM TO YOU AS SERVANTS
OF THE GOLD THAT YOU MUST GIVE

PAIN AND EVIL HAVE THEIR PLACE
SITTING HERE BESIDE ME
AND I’LL OFFER THEM, I OFFER THEM TO YOU
AS SERVANTS OF THE GOLD
THAT YOU MUST GIVE TO ME

I WANT TO SEE YOUR SUICIDE
I WANT TO SEE YOU GIVE IT UP, GIVE IT UP
YOUR YOUR LIFE OF REASON

I WANT TO SEE YOU ON THE FLOOR

AND IN A COFFIN, SOUL SHAKING
SOUL SHAKING
I WANT TO HAVE YOU DOUBTING
EVERY MEANING YOU’VE AMASSED
LIKE A FORTUNE, LIKE A FORTUNE
THROW IT AWAY

FOR WORSHIP OF SOMEONE WHO ACTIVELY DESPISES YOU

WHO ACTIVELY DESPISES YOU

Lulu, which will be released on Halloween, was co-produced by Reed, Metallica, Hal Willner and Laurie Anderson, among others.

Lulu tracklisting:

01. Brandenburg Gate (4:19)

02. The View (5:17)

03. Pumping Blood (7:24)

04. Mistress Dread (6:52)

05. Iced Honey (4:36)

06. Cheat On Me (11:26)

07. Frustration (8:33)

08. Little Dog (8:01)

09. Dragon (11:08)

10. Junior Dad (19:28)