When Lars Ulrich stripped in front of Kirk Hammett
It was an easy call for Kirk Hammett to join Metallica in 1983. Although he was in Exodus, a pioneering thrash metal band of his own, Metallica was the group that was taking the San Francisco metal scene by storm at the time. After Dave Mustaine was given the boot, Hammett was the first person called in to audition.
”I’d met James and Lars when I was in Exodus,” Hammett told Jaan Uhelszki in 2008. “The more I got to know James, the more I thought he’s just a really cool guy, really clever. We had similar upbringings, and he was a great guitar player who’s into a lot of the same things as I was, musically. It was fun hanging out with him.”
“James liked to wrestle when he was drunk, though. So whenever we were drunk, things would start getting physical,” Hammett said. “I learned early on that if James reached that point where he was just wanting to wrestle, I would make sure there was a bunch of people in between him and I.”
The physicality of Metallica surprised Hammett, especially when he first encountered drummer Lars Ulrich. Although he was a California kid since the age of 16, Ulrich is Danish and spent his formative years living in Europe. That culture clash became immediate when Hammett first met Ulrich.
“The first time I spoke to him was when Exodus played with Metallica,” Hammett recalled. “They had just finished their set, and as I was talking to him, he started taking his stage clothes off, and before I knew it, he was completely naked in front of me. I was just shocked.”
“I said to myself, ‘Oh, he’s European. Europeans do stuff like this.’ But my eyes never left his eyes,” Hammett remembered. “I wasn’t going to step back, check him out or anything like that. But I was slightly shocked and mortified by his undressing.”
As for bassist Cliff Burton, Hammett was impressed and at least slightly intimidated. “He wasn’t going to take shit from anyone, and he always let everyone know that,” Hammett claimed. “It was Cliff who named the album. Originally we were supposed to call the album Metal Up Your Ass.”
“We got a phone call from our manager telling us half the record outlets wouldn’t carry the album if it’s called that because the name was obscene,” Hammett concluded. “Cliff said, ‘You know what? Fuck those fuckers, man, those fucking record outlet people. We should just kill ’em all.’ Someone, I can’t remember who, said, ‘That’s it! That’s what we should call the album.'”
Check out ‘Seek & Destroy’ from Kill ‘Em All down below.
