James Hetfield Calls Metallica's "St. Anger" "A Purge"

Metallica frontman James Hetfield says he now regards 2003's St. Anger as "more of a statement than Metallica music that [the band enjoys] playing live," adding, "It was more of a purge, just getting that shit out of me, as a catalyst for the next chapter of Metallica." So we can assume the making of the group's forthcoming LP is totally different? Definitely. "With St. Anger, it became so open-minded that it became unfocused. This time around, there's a lot of 'Sorry, it's not good enough.' We're aiming for excellence." Drummer Lars Ulrich expressed similar sentiments recently when discussing the new record's sound. The album is expected to drop early next year.

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

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