Then Ulrich hand-delivered a list of 317,377 internet users who, it was claimed, had illegally traded Metallica MP3s via popular internet file-share website Napster, to the company’s San Mateo headquarters. The previous summer they had completed a gruelling three-month tour and recorded S&M, an ambitious collaborative project with celebrated classical composer Michael Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra that presented a selection of their best-known recordings rearranged in an orchestral setting. The album that followed was an opportunity for them to exhibit their new-found sensitivity.Īt the turn of the millennium, Metallica were hoping to enjoy a little well-earned rest and recuperation.

Frontman James Hetfield entered into an eight-month programme of rehab (“a nice little cocoon”, as he would call it), the band enlisted the assistance of a ‘performance therapist’ (“positive energy is so important” Kirk Hammett enthused) and the group were brought back together, closer than ever. Newsted's leaving had a surprisingly profound effect on the rest of the band members. Having been frozen out of the group creatively and treated as little more than a stand-in despite his 14-year tenure, he quit the band amid hushed allegations of bullying and mistreatment ('He was never really fully accepted into the band', said drummer Lars Ulrich, 'in a way he sacrificed himself – or had to be sacrificed – in order for us to be able to move to the place we’re at now.') It all began with the departure of beleaguered bassist Jason Newsted. Metallica's camp was flooded with turmoil. That's a hell of a lot of pressure for a band member to bear – and impossible to bear indefinitely.

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