Metallica – Fight Fire with Fire (live at the Wiltern in May of 2008 w/ Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Former RIP Magazine editor Lonn Friend shares a great read and look back at his time spent with Metallica, chronicling the genesis of what would become “The Black Album.” Friend posted the following article via his Myspace page, as it originally appeared in the Metallica fan magazine “So What.”

link

Somewhere during the dozen or so interviews I’ve done over the past decade and a half plus since the mightiest band on Planet Rock delivered the aural asteroid that altered the rotation of modern music, I am inevitably asked this question: Did the guys have any idea what they were doing? Or to put it more succinctly, were they aware during the production process that Black would be the Arthur C. Kubrick-ian Monolith that it was? That it is. That it shall forever be. The answer is an unequivocal…wait, not so fast. Some historical reference is required. Who the f*ck am I to wax whimsical, logical, pathological or mystical on the four horsemen of the metal apocalypse? Read on, my brothers and only friends.

Relevant links:

Lonn Friend’s great memoir “Life on Planet Rock.”

A commercial for the first issue of RIP Magazine in 1987.

A RIP Magazine commercial featuring Axl and Slash.

Metallica – Creeping Death (live at the Wiltern, May 2008)