Leading up to the release of their latest studio album, 72 Seasons, this Friday, April 14, Metallica is kicking the media machine into high gear, offering up some extra insight into their forthcoming release before its arrival.
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One revelation that fans will certainly appreciate about Metallica's upcoming record, 72 Seasons, came when frontman James Hetfield admitted to the band's official 'So What!' blog that it was not his first choice for the album’s title.
72 Seasons, the band has already explained, is a reference to the first 18 years of life when we as humans, "evolve and grow and mature and develop [our] own ideas and identity of self." In his latest explanation, Hetfield says "'72 seasons' as a concept, that's been digested from somewhere else. Meaning it was a concept — it was the '72 seasons of sorrow,' and I dropped the 'sorrow' part off because the first 18 years of life aren't all sorrow. And we tend to just focus on that in our adult life, like, 'I need to fix all the s*** that was wrong when I was a kid.' There was great stuff as well, so '72 seasons,' everyone's got their version of what their 72 seasons were and what they mean to them now."
Experiencing parenthood himself, he adds, helped process those differences. "Having kids definitely helps you understand your childhood and what your parents went through," he adds. "More the latter. You know, me being a parent, like, 'Come on, guys, give me a break. I'm just a human.' But when you're a kid, you look up to your parents as gods. They can do no wrong, and whatever they say is what's supposed to be. Then, when you get older, you go, 'Man, I'm sorry I put you guys up on a pedestal, made you gods, and blamed you for this and that, or wished differently, but you were just humans too. You were doing your best, and you were working with the tools of your parents.'"
"It goes back generationally, and as a parent, really, what I want to do is maybe do it a little better than my parents did," he admits to interviewer Steffan Chirazi. "That's really what I want to ask of myself. There's an inheritance of whatever they brought… you inherit some of those things. There're some I need to work on, there're some I need to completely forget, and there're some I need to find. Everyone's had a childhood. Most people I've met have had a childhood. Whether it's good or bad, we can decide later on in life. You can't change your childhood, but you can change your concept of it and what it means to you now... It's interesting to contemplate, you know. 'Am I who I am just because of all that? Can I change? Can I not change? Am I capable of changing? Is this just ingrained, is it in the stars? I read my astrology thing for today, and this is just how it is?' I don't know. Nobody knows, and I certainly don't, either. I know the parts of me that I'd like to change take work, and it's hard work."
James also admits that the title, 72 Seasons was not his first choice, and was outvoted in the end, although he acknowledges it's "more chewable" now than his original idea revolving around the battle between light and dark. "I wanted this album called 'Lux Æterna' because that summed up all the songs for me, kind of an eternal light that was always inside of us that maybe is just now coming out. And I was outvoted, which is great. '72 Seasons' is definitely more chewable. You get to figure out what it is. You get to dig into it and chew on it a little more."
The album's artwork however, he says, "came out of 'Lux Æterna.' Yellow, for me, is light... It's a source of goodness. So against the black, it really pops. It is light."
Metallica also began their 4-night Jimmy Kimmel Live! "Metallica Week" residency on Monday (4/10) performing the lead single and James' preferred title, "Lux Æterna," while also giving some insight behind the new project.
During their chat, James, Robert, Kirk, and Lars had plenty to talk about, discussing their excitement to be sharing new brand music with longtime followers and all new fans after four decades -- helped in no small part by the band’s 1986 hit "Master Of Puppets" being featured in Netflix’s Stranger Things -- as well as the very first records each member had ever purchased, and more.
72 Seasons is set to hit shelves and streaming services on April 14 (preorders available now) with a world tour kicking off soon after on April 27.
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Plus, don't miss Metallica performing at this year's Power Trip festival in the California desert October 6-8 with AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, and more. Tickets and further details HERE.
While you're in a headbanging mood -- follow more of Audacy's all-new stations like Ripchord, Masters Of Metal, IndustriALT, Don't Metal In My Affairs, Venom, Arena Rock, Wake Up and Rock, and The Roots of Rock for those who crave the early days.
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