10 Things Metallica Need To Get Right On The New Album

4. Lars Needs To Push Himself

I say 'needs' but no of course he doesn't, not in terms of 'he's got something to prove', anyway. However, as the many performances that get committed to DVD prove, as well as his performance on last years' Through The Never, Mr. Ulrich can still play beat-for-beat as well as his 20 year-younger self, he just seems very unwilling to do so. You watch any footage of the guys backstage and you'll see Lars mostly doing the bare minimum to allow the band to play their sections, and in effect 'hide' the fact that he's not doing as many little flurries and fills as he used to do. Now don't me wrong, I love Lars, I genuinely think he's one of the best spokespeople you can get on camera for rock and metal (apart from that time he said his favourite band of the last few years was The Arctic Monkeys), yet I can't help but think he's just become a little bit too comfortable. If we start combining the above entries on this list, and imagine an opening track that features Kirk and Hetfield doing a Thin Lizzy-esque guitar-duel as Lars and Trujillo thunder away underneath them, the whole band firing on all cylinders and searing shut the voices of the those who would question their abilities, we can start to really get excited for how this album could turn out.