Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho is among the many Metallica fans who didn’t like their Lulu album – but he’s glad they made it.
The controversial collaboration with Lou Reed was almost universally panned on release in 2011, with many followers demanding to know why they hadn’t concentrated on recording a follow-up to 2008’s Death Magnetic instead of turned to a side-project. Before his death last year, Reed admitted the work had resulted in death threats from angry thrash fans.
But Jericho argues the project proves Metallica’s greatness. He tells Rolling Stone: “You want to keep things fresh if you want any sort of longevity. You can’t do the same thing over and over. I think the general consensus is that the Beatles are the best band of all time. And why is that? Because you never knew what you were going to get. There were no restrictions; no rules on who they were as a band or what they did or who they wanted to be.
“Look at Metallica. The record they did with Lou Reed, people buried it, hated it. It wasn’t really my kind of thing. But the concept of them doing it, I loved, because why not? If I was in Metallica and I wanted to make a record with Lou Reed, you’re fucking right I’d do it, because I can – and that’s all that matters to me.”
WWE wrestler Jericho recently released his third book, in which he recounts stories from the road as both musician and sportsman. He says: “I don’t see myself as a wrestler. I’m an entertainer and an artist, so wrestling is part of what I do. Writing’s part of what I do. I have a pretty fantastic collection of things to talk about; it’s not just wrestling or music.
“I had two dreams when I was a kid. I wanted to be in a rock band and I wanted to be a wrestler. Everything else has been an offshoot of that. The crux of it all is being an artist and being creative and just not being afraid to take a chance. That’s the underlying theme of all my books – if you have a dream, go for it.”
The Best In The World: At What I Have No Idea was released last week through Gotham. Metallica will play this year’s BlizzCon gaming convention in California next month, with the show available for streaming via US pay-per-view services. They’re also poised to release a 10th anniversary edition of controversial documentary Some Kind Of Monster – even though frontman James Hetfield admits it’s still difficult for them to watch.
