Metallica: This Monster Lives
Read Metallica: This Monster Lives Online
Authors: Joe Berlinger,Greg Milner
Tags: #Music, #Genres & Styles, #Rock
METALLICA:
THIS MONSTER LIVES
THE INSIDE STORY OF
SOME KIND OF MONSTER
JOE BERLINGER
WITH
GREG MILNER
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way.
Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at:
us.macmillanusa.com/piracy
.
FOR
SARAH
AND
MAYA
FOR
JOANNA, JOY,
AND
NEAL
AND FOR
PAT.
WHO ROCKED HARD
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: THE LIVING MONSTER
1. PITCH ’EM ALL
SOME KIND OF NUMBERS
2. GIVE ME FUEL, GIVE ME FIRE,
GIMME SHELTER
3. WEST MEMPHIS AND BEYOND
4. THE WITCH’S SPELL
5. SAFE AND WARM
PHIL’S FIRST DAY
6. NO REMORSE
SOME KIND OF MONSTER
7. EXIT LIGHT
EARLY WARNING
8. ENTER NIGHT
THE ROCK
9. THE BOOTS THAT KICK YOU AROUND
THE UNFORGIVEN
SHOOTING THE MONSTER
THE “FUCK” SCENE
THE LARS DOCTRINE
THE JOINT
EDITING THE MONSTER
TOO MANY BEARS
22. THE END THAT WILL NEVER END
UNLEASHING THE MONSTER
APPENDIX: SOME KIND OF CREDITS (A PARTIAL LIST)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
JOE:
Writing your first book requires the love and support of many people, whom I would like to thank here.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my cowriter, Greg Milner, a wonderful writer who helped me organize and distill more than three chaotic years of my life into a cohesive narrative. I’d also like to thank the members of Metallica: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Robert Trujillo. Without their courage and honesty, there would never have been a film, a book, or any of the experiences you are going to read about. This book also wouldn’t exist without the shared life experiences of my documentary partner, Bruce Sinofsky, a man who has taught me more about friendship than anyone I have ever known.
To Bob Richman, a good friend and a great cinematographer, for contributing most of the wonderful photographs in this book, as well as allowing us to interview him. (Annamaria DiSanto and Niclas Swanlund also contributed some great photos, so thanks.) Thanks as well to the others who were interviewed for this book, including supervising editor David Zieff, production manager Cheryll Stone, Q Prime Management’s Cliff Burnstein and Marc Reiter, album producer Bob Rock, and last but not least, Phil Towle, who not only gave me his time for this book but also gave me the tools to heal my broken spirit at the start of the filmmaking process.
To my trusted lieutenants, Michael Bonfiglio and Rachel Dawson, for their countless hours of reading, suggesting, propping me up, and generally making me look good in all of my endeavors. Michael Emery’s brilliant production sound recording made transcriptions for this book a breeze. John Cunningham and Marc Resnick and everyone else at St. Martin’s Press for keeping their cool as we watched successive deadlines fly by. I also owe a great debt to Andrew Blauner, who helped convince people to trust me to write this book in the first place. Margaret Riley my manager, deserves my gratitude for sticking with me through thick and thin. Special thanks to Jon Kamen, Frank Scherma, Peter Mensch, and Sue Tropio. Thanks also to Richard Hofstetter, Julie O’Neill, Helen Wan, Rob Kenneally, Joe Cohen, Aric Ackerman, Jack Lechner, Sabrina Padwa, and Cathy Shannon.
Filmmaking is a highly collaborative process, so I could never fit into this space the names of all of the amazing individuals (particularly the members of the extended Metallica, Q Prime, and @radical.media families) who helped create
Some Kind of Monster.
But this book would not exist without the film, so please take a look at the end credits of the movie, reproduced at the back of this book. That way, I know everyone who worked on the film will have a few moments of your attention.
Finally my deepest gratitude is reserved for my wife, Loren, and my daughters Sarah and Maya, who put up with countless months spent without a husband and father during the making of
Some Kind of Monster,
only to have the rug pulled out from under them again as I was holed up in a room working on this manuscript. I love you very much.
GREG:
A book like this can only be as good as the film that spawned it. Fortunately for me, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky made a great film. And thank you, Joe, for giving me access to such amazing material, in the form of transcripts, tape logs, outtakes, stories, fond reminiscences of the highs, and dark recollections of the lows.
Thank you, Chuck Klosterman, for keeping me in mind even when I wasn’t around for lunch. Thanks also to Daniel Greenberg and David McCormick for crucial support. And to Julie Taraska for infinite patience.
The enthusiasm my grandfather, Max Primakow, had for this book, despite never having heard (or heard of) Metallica, made it easier to write, and I wish he’d had a chance to read it.
FORWORD BY BRUCE SINOFSKY
When Joe first told me he wanted to write this book, I figured his head must have been too close to Metallica’s Marshall amps, causing something to dislodge in his brain. As we talked about it more, I realized that he was on to something. I suppose my perspective was skewed because as one of the creators of this film, living in the eye of the storm, I may have taken a lot for granted. As I think back on it, I realize that this was a pretty tremendous ride.
The making of
Some Kind of Monster
was an exceptional experience for both of us. What I hope that you, the reader, will take from this book is a sense of the excitement we experienced on every shoot. I was always filled with the joy of the unknown, the anticipation of something special happening at any time. On some of our previous films, we dealt with subject matter that was far darker than the recording of a rock album. There were some days that I dreaded going to work, because we knew that all there was to look forward to was sadness, anger, and desperation. On
Monster,
we knew the stakes were high for Metallica, but I never feared entering their world.
Our relationship with our subjects was different on this film, too. We have often forged deep friendships with the people we film, but this was the first time we’d spent so much time filming people whom we already knew had a genuine appreciation of our work and wanted to be a part of it. After all, it was Metallica who hired us to do this in the first place, so we already knew the process began from a position of trust. It was also a real pleasure to spend so much time watching the creative process of a band I really dig.
In the past, Joe and I had made films about ordinary people whose lives were transformed by extraordinary situations. With
Some Kind of Monster,
we documented people with extraordinary lives undergoing ordinary circumstances. At least that’s how it started. By the time we had finished, we felt we had been through some of the most extraordinary times in the history of Metallica.
Which brings me to what I thought was most amazing about making this movie. Joe and I have been working together for many years, but never before have the lives of our subjects had such a direct impact on our own lives. Certainly, every time we make a film, we are affected by our subjects, but watching Metallica explore their relationships with one another made us do some soul-searching that I don’t think would have happened otherwise. When we first started shooting
Monster,
Joe and I weren’t on the best of terms, but as we observed this band, whose success has surpassed anything we could ever imagine, truly finding themselves, we found our way back to the inexplicable chemistry of our filmmaking partnership. We rediscovered the things that had made us want to work together in the first place.
Most of what I experienced while making
Some Kind of Monster
could never be duplicated by reading about it. But if this book can give you even a taste of the exhilaration we felt throughout the making of this film, you’re in for quite a treat.
PREFACE
05/23/02
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM, HQ RECORDING STUDIO-SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA - DAY
The members of Metallica–JAMES HETFIELD
(singer/guitarist),
LARS ULRICH
(drummer), and
KIRK HAMMETT
(lead guitarist)–sit at a large table with their producer and temporary bassist,
BOB ROCK,
and
PHIL TOWLE,
a “performance-enhancement coach.” Phil is leading a therapy session with the other four.
PHIL (to James):
You say you’re not having any fun with Lars, and that you need Kirk in the room as a buffer. Let’s go back to that. What does that mean?
JAMES:
I don’t know what that means. It means that him and I aren’t anywhere near getting any issues resolved.
PHIL:
That’s what we’re here to do. What is it that you want resolved?
JAMES:
I don’t know. I want to feel some trust. (to
Lars
) I just feel static all the time from you.
PHIL (to James):
What would it take for you to trust him?
JAMES:
I have no idea.
PHIL:
No, what would it look like?
JAMES:
With him? I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it.
LARS (to James):
What does trust mean to you? I would like to know what you keep talking about.
JAMES:
Well, first of all, you never trust someone 100 percent, because that’s just plain unhealthy. But to trust someone with all your thoughts, your feelings, trust that that person is not going to … stomp on your feelings, trust that there’s no manipulation going on to divert the decision-making process. I’ve had a lot of problems being able to let go and trust that someone is going to do what’s right.