METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich took part in an hour-long one-on-one conversation with radio host Andy Hall as they revisited the “Master Of Puppets” era, continuing the band’s celebration of the reissue/remaster of that album. Originally broadcast on radio stations around the country, the special, which can be heard below, features songs from the LP and contains exclusive music recorded live at Festival Hall in Osaka, Japan on November 18, 1986.
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Asked if he is personally interested in listening to a recording of METALLICA‘s final show with bassist Cliff Burton, which is included on the super-deluxe, box-set reissue of “Master Of Puppets”, Lars said: “Oh, I have heard it. I mean, obviously, it’s an unusual experience to listen to these songs if one’s head goes to, ‘That’s the last time we played these songs with Cliff.’ But 31 years later now, we’re in a place where it’s okay — we can deal with it. People [ask us], ‘How do you feel?’ I mean, it was a mindfuck at the time, but you sort of have to find a place where you can find a way to move and continue forward with that experience under your belt.
It’s part of that couple of years when you talk about ‘Master Of Puppets’, when you talk about writing it, when you talk about the Ozzy [Osbourne] tour, and you talk about this and that, and when you talk about Jason Newsted, obviously you talk about Cliff. Cliff will be forever part of this experience, and Cliff will forever be part of this band and we’ll always think of him as our brother — that will never stop, and that hasn’t stopped. He’s part of the METALLICA family as we continue to move forward. I don’t know if ‘sad’ is the right word — peculiar or odd to listen to. But a lot of that time still is kind of… When I think back to that time, a lot of it’s a blur.”