KIRK HAMMETT Mentioned: ‘Lulu’ Is One Of ‘Most Important Albums’ He Has Ever Been A Part Of

Kirk Hammett has once again defended “Lulu”, Metallica’s controversial collaborative disc with Lou Reed, calling it “probably the most essential albums” he has ever been part of.

“Lulu” polarized followers around the globe and earned METALLICA among the most scathing reviews of its career. The effort featured the late THE VELVET UNDERGROUND frontman’s spoken-word poetry and lyrics combined with the band’s musical assault for a jarring expertise that did not sound like anything METALLICA had ever attempted before.

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More than 5 years since its release, “Lulu” has only sold round 35,000 copies in the US, in line with Nielsen SoundScan.

Talking to Chile’s HumoNegro.com, Kirk stated about “Lulu” (see video under): “I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. I mean, you can kind of call it a METALLICA album, but it’s not really a METALLICA album. I think that’s part of the reason why it’s so misunderstood. People were thinking it was gonna be an album of heavy metal songs with Lou Reed, but no — it was a collaboration. It was our two musical entities coming together to build something fresh and new and unique. And the fact that it turned out so unique was, I think, a huge success. And I love it. I still listen to it. I miss Lou; it’s a shame that he’s not with us anymore. But in retrospect, that’s one of the most important albums, I think, I’ve been a part of in my life. So that’s how I feel about it.”

The collaboration between METALLICA and Reed was sparked by their performance collectively of Reed’s “Sweet Jane” and “White Light/White Heat” at the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009.

The tracks have been all written by Reed with extensive arrangement contributions by METALLICA.

Only two tracks on the album are below 5 minutes in length, while two are more than 11 minutes long and the closing cut, “Junior Dad”, clocks in at 19 minutes.

Reed died in October 2013 at the age of 71, 5 months after he had a life-saving liver transplant, according to his wife, Laurie Anderson.