John Carpenter reveals his favourite Metallica song
Throughout film history, there have been countless artists who never got their due recognition within their lifetimes because of misguided contemporary critical receptions. Although John Carpenter had to deal with similar critical attacks when he first released films like The Thing, the world has finally come around to appreciate his genius. Regarded as one of the most important American directors of the 20th century, Carpenter’s filmography is just as entertaining as it is intellectually fascinating.
Alongside cinema, music has always been a major interest for Carpenter, who has used it to elevate his cinematic projects. In multiple interviews, the Halloween director revealed that he was first inspired to pursue music by his father, who was a music teacher. In fact, his musical discoveries also played a significant role in the development of his artistic sensibilities. The most famous example of this is his discovery of The Beatles in college, which irreversibly expanded his view of the world.
Carpenter is also a huge fan of heavy metal, which perfectly mirrors his approach to some of his own experiments within the horror genre. While his taste in music is definitely diverse and eclectic, one band will always be among his all-time favourites, and that is Metallica. Although the beloved metal outfit have gone through several evolutions, Carpenter claimed that he has supported them through all of it and is a fan of their complete oeuvre.
While naming his three favourite Metallica albums of all time, Carpenter unhesitatingly answered: “Three would be: Metallica – The Black Album, Load, and Reload. Right in a row”. When asked about his opinion on their artistic deviations, he replied: “Yeah, I know they don’t think it’s pure. But I love it; I thought it was great… [Metallica] are metal. Even when they took a detour, went down the Load/Reload road, I was with them.”
Despite his love for multiple Metallica albums, there’s one song Carpenter considers to be superior to the rest. He told Metal Injection: “Well, the best Metallica song is probably ‘Enter Sandman’. It’s classic. Yeah, I’m a guitar riff guy, but that goes way back there. Even in the ’50s, they were doing that stuff. The Stones were doing riffs, on and on. So I embrace all rock except when it gets into the more modern stuff. I’m not a rap fan. And anyway, we’ll leave all that alone.”
When Carpenter was planning his 1994 supernatural flick In the Mouth of Madness, he initially wanted to use ‘Enter Sandman’ for the opening credits, but he never managed to get the rights to the film. Eventually, he composed his own song for the segment with the help of The Kinks’ Dave Davies and Jim Lang, which many fans claim to be a far better choice than ‘Enter Sandman’ could have ever been.
Check it out below.
