Lars Ulrich on Metallica Reissue ‘Goodies,’ Cliff Burton’s Bass Solo
It’s a rainy Thursday in early April, and Lars Ulrich has posted up at one of his favorite places in New York, a luxuriant hotel owned by Robert De Niro. “I love sitting here in this courtyard,” he says, gesturing through a window at a favored spot that the bad weather is keeping him from. “Usually when you sit here, you sit outside, but it’s fine.”
The drummer is in town for a short time to induct Deep Purple into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – an honor he embraces passionately the next day – before he heads back to San Francisco, where he and his Metallica bandmates are to play a concert in a music shop as they serve as Record Store Day Ambassadors. But as he looks out at the hotel’s would-be piazza, the subject at hand is his band’s past.
Today, Metallica are reissuing their first two albums, 1983’s thrash tour-de-force Kill ‘Em All and its more melodic follow-up, 1984’s Ride the Lighting. In addition to remastering the records as stand-alone release, they’ve also created deluxe box sets that contain several discs’ worth of previously unreleased material. The “goodies,” as Ulrich calls them, include unearthed concert recordings, alternate mixes of songs, demos and video interviews, spread across CDs, DVDs and vinyl. Both reissues also include a book containing liner notes and previously unpublished photos.
The reissues herald the beginning of a long reissue campaign – launched last year with the re-release of Metallica’s No Life ‘Til Leather demo cassette – that will continue through their catalog. After years of planning, Ulrich tells Rolling Stone that for now he’s just excited to see the first two major reissues make it into his fans’ hands.
Why did you want to do these reissues?
I’ve seen some formidable reissues coming out. Deep Purple did some, and U2 did some great things, like the Achtung Baby 20th anniversary release. I liked what Oasis did with Definitely Maybe. I’ve been looking forward to our albums joining the ranks of those reissues for some time.
Does it feel good to have the first two reissues done?
Yes, but I’m experiencing a crossfire of energies. I’ve sat here all day telling journalists about what I had for breakfast in 1984, and I sat with [Metallica managers] Peter [Mensch] and Cliff [Burnstein] all morning talking about 2017 and the new album. So it’s interesting.
What went through your mind when you finally saw the box sets?
I haven’t actually held a real one in my hands yet. James and I each did an unboxing video – and I promised not to tell anybody this – but there were no real records in any of the sleeves. But the first thing I thought was, “Holy shit, there’s a lot of stuff in here.” The second thought I had was that the book in there was really cool.