With over 150 songs and eleven albums to choose from in their long, illustrious career, Metallica certainly have no shortage of options when it comes to playing at their live events. Which is why asking the members of the band to choose their favorite songs to play live is such a surprisingly difficult one.
“It depends on the gig, it depends how I’m feeling sometimes,” lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and band co-founder James Hetfield revealed in a recent episode of The Metallica Report. “I love playing those [new] songs. Shadows Follow is kind of the next one that I really enjoy.
“It’s just a forward moving, pushing song and it’s not your typical song. You need to pay attention to it because there’s little things here and there you’ve got to remember. It’s just bouncy and pushes. I like that a lot.”
Robert Trujillo, Metallica’s bassist since 2003, concurred with Hetfield’s first choice. “Shadows Follow is a lot of fun to play because it’s great balance between backup vocals that are throughout the song and that’s always a challenge for me. It just sort of grooves and it was a lot of twists and turns that I like.”
Trujillo added, “The other song for me is You Must Burn. That’s a fun song. James and I have sort of a nice harmonized vocal moment in that one too.”
Of course, Hetfield and Trujillo aren’t ones to neglect the older songs from their repertoire, including one of the most well-known ballads in the band’s history from their 1992 self-titled album — and one that gets fans emotional in a different kind of way.
“Nothing Else Matters is always a song that I enjoy playing,” Hetfield said. “I see people – they’re hugging each other, they’re crying… whatever. It’s a very different emotion in the show from just lose your mind and mosh and go crazy.
“It’s like that, but [that energy] goes inward. So I love seeing that. I like seeing peoples vulnerability to emotion during that song.”
Trujillo’s favorite old school Metallica songs include ones from even further back than Nothing Else Matters. The bassist cites two integral instrumentals from the band’s formative years and decades before Trujillo joined up.
“I’ve been enjoying The Call of Ktulu. I feel like I kind of found my stride with this classic song and it’s the ultimate statement to Cliff Burton — both Orion and The Call of Ktulu— so I’ve enjoyed that song live.”
What do you think of James Hetfield and Robert Trujillo’s favorite Metallica songs to play live? What are you favorite Metallica songs to hear played live? Let us know in the comments.
