10 Times Metallica Did Whatever The Hell They Wanted

After the turbulence of the 90s and early 00s, 2008’s Death Magnetic saw Metallica returning triumphantly to their thrashier roots. Whilst the production left a lot to be desired, much of the squandered goodwill of the past had been returned to the band, and they finally found themselves on level footing again, ready to capitalise and take their next creative step forward.

Nobody in the entire music industry could have predicted that this next step would be a collaboration with experimental rock icon Lou Reed. The former Velvet Underground frontman had spent the best part of fifty years disrupting expectations with his eclectic musicianship, so working with a band as equally daring as Metallica would make sense on paper. Nevertheless, Reed’s predilection for the bizarre and deliberately obtuse did send a worried chill down the spine of many Metal fans.

Their fears would unfortunately be realised when, in 2011, Lulu dropped with all the ceremony of a dead rat at the Christmas feast. Based on the Frank Wedekind plays of the same name, the double album can best be described as Lou Reed mumbling nonsense poetry whilst Metallica lurch through a half baked jam session in the background. People weren’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

Lulu has its defenders, few though they may be, and the ambition it took to make something so avant garde in this day and age is commendable, but this is one work that Metallica fans will be quick to define as a Lou Reed album featuring Metallica.