Checking in with Rick Rubin and Metallica

Rick Rubin is very hot right now (when wasn't he though?) and hopefully he can rub off on a stale Metallica. Blabbermouth has the latest:

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone magazine that Rubin said that he wants to make the group sound "like the METALLICA that made them METALLICA without going backward" — and that he's doing it by challenging old habits.

"He's questioning what key we should play in," Ulrich told Rolling Stone. "We've played in E flat since the beginning of the '90s. Nobody questioned it. All of a sudden, Rick is going, 'Maybe the stuff has more energy and Hetfield's voice sounds better in E.' He's forced us to rethink big-picture stuff, something we haven't done in years."

The new Metallica album should be out by the end of the year, making 2007 the most rocking year of the 21st century. CONTACT: Leave me a Houston or Texas media news tip | COMMENT: Click to leave your thoughts on this post here