Lars Ulrich: ‘Some Kind of Monster’ Was a ‘Mind F—‘

Most Metallica fans were alternately bewildered and excited by their fly-on-the-wall, 2004-released docudrama 'Some Kind of Monster,' which showed the post-Jason Newsted era band as they worked on 'St. Anger' and their interpersonal conflicts while attending group therapy sessions. Frontman James Hetfield made a leap in his battle with alcoholism by entering rehab smack dab in the middle of the 'Anger' sessions. It was a polarizing and captivating look at the band, as it showed 'Tallica, warts and all. While it was thrilling to see the band's most private moments, it almost revealed too much. It was filled with uncomfortable and awkward moments, as though you were eavesdropping during private therapy meetings.

Drummer Lars Ulrich recently commented on 'Some Kind of Monster,' saying that it has come back to bite him in the ass repeatedly -- and at the hands of Oasis' Noel Gallagher, no less. The drummer expressed a note of regret about making the film, saying, "Every time I see Noel Gallagher he quotes lines from that movie back to me. That thing has taken on a life of its own. I had to live that s--- for three f---ing years! The whole thing was a mind f---. I am aware a lot of other musicians seem to have lived a lot of those moments. They weren't necessarily stupid enough to film them like we were and share them with the rest of the world."

For me, I always thought that Ulrich was the band's 'bad guy,' a not-too-harmful villain and foil to Hetfield's fun-loving, partying, ultra-masculine, dude persona, since the singer/guitarist likes tattoos, fast cars and lots of brews -- pre-sobriety, of course. Then, in the middle of the film, my sympathies shifted, when Ulrich was trying to work on 'Anger' songs and Hetfield told him he wasn't allowed to and had to stop, since James was leaving because he had to go do family stuff, which was part of his recovery efforts.

See what I mean? The film had fans thinking deeply about how Metallica functions as a unit, as archetypes and as individuals, and left critics wondering if the biggest rock band in the world was brave or just not thinking when they let the cameras in.

OK, so with 'Some Kind of Monster' in the rear view window, Ulrich did say that Metallica are in a much better place nowadays, with the follow-up to 'Death Magnetic' on the horizon. Ulrich said, "It would surprise me if it'd be a year before we start making a new album. There's a good chance the turnaround would be less than it's been on previous cycles."