Metalheads of the world, rejoice! Today is the day that one of the greatest metal bands of all time — and certainly the greatest to arise in the past 25 years — has finally gotten its due. Bay Area legends Metallica are headlining the new class of Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

The band's first full-length — Kill 'Em All, released on then-tiny indie Megaforce Records in 1983 — came out just over 25 years ago, which means they've been inducted in the first year of their eligibility. There, they'll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of such sonic standards as Jimi Hendrix, Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Madonna and (er) Michael Jackson.

MTV has long kept close tabs on the band, and I just screened a fair amount of their interview footage throughout the '80s, particularly 1986, when bassist Cliff Burton was killed in a tour-bus accident. In one interview, drummer Lars Ulrich makes fun of bands that wear eyeliner (I wonder if 23-year-old Lars ever thought he'd make a video like the one for "Until It Sleeps"); in another, the band talks about the hazing process for then-new bassist Jason Newsted, which the band discussed ad nauseum in their therapeutic flick, "Some Kind of Monster." The guys also humbly discussed their newfound success.

We sat down with them around the time they first cracked the Top 30 and earned a gold record in 1986 with their classic Master of Puppets. Reaching such heights on the charts was a coup for the quartet, as they crawled out of the American metal metal underground without a fancy image, major radio support or a music video to play on, er, MTV.

Despite that success, guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett remained calm while discussing their new status. And Ulrich discussed the future of Metallica during a phone interview with a radio DJ in Babylon, Long Island — in the somehow-perfect setting of a wood-paneled room covered with posters of assorted metal bands. Enjoy!

That didn't stop Metallica co-founder Lars Ulrich from getting a bit secretive about it when one of our MTV News reporters asked him about it recently.

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And the difference, it seems, is bassist Robert Trujillo.

Not only does Trujillo sometimes play referee between frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, he also pitches in with his own ideas, coming through in the clutch when the band gets stuck during the songwriting and recording process. Hetfield praised Rob's skills when we asked him what it was like working with the band's newest member on Death Magnetic, which hits stores September 12.

"If someone had said 10, 15 years ago that this dude was going to be in my band, I would have said no way," Hetfield said. "In the studio — and no offense towards Jason — but Rob has already contributed more to this record than [Jason Newsted] did in 14 years. A lot of it did have to do with our fear of losing some kind of control, no doubt about that. But Rob has slipped in somehow easier."

Perhaps the real difference for Metallica isn't Trujillo's presence but the former bassist's absence. Check out the full story here.

If you recall, they did the same thing last time for St. Anger, saying it was to get ahead of pirated copies hitting stores before the official release date. According to Billboard, the group's label gave no reason for the switch in release tactics, but you can be sure that whatever the rationale is, it totally rocks.

We have plenty more Metallica news on tap for you — and an entire week's worth of stories in the works — plus an exclusive look at the video for the album's first single, "The Day That Never Comes." Stay tuned!

Yesterday afternoon I drove an hour north of Los Angeles into the desert to the set of Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes" video shoot. The location is designed to look like someplace in the Middle East, and when we arrived, the crew was filming a scene wherein U.S. Marines were apparently negotiating a situation involving a Middle Eastern man, his burka-clad wife and a broken-down Yugo.

This was day one of a two-day epic video shoot that, according to James Hetfield, has to do with humanity and forgiveness. From what I witnessed, it looks more like a short film than a video, and it's certainly timely given the current global situation. However, both James and Lars were adamant that they are not making a political statement about the war but instead trying to bring together people of different political views and religions, and focus on humanity. Regardless, the video has action, soldiers, explosions, wounded men and a helicopter.

Reading the treatment reminded me a little bit of Metallica's first video, "One." After watching some of the filming, we got a chance to talk to the band. They had just flown in from San Francisco moments earlier and were a little late getting to the set after their driver took a wrong turn in the desert.

We talked about working with Rick Rubin, their updated sound, an upcoming Metallica video game, the 20th anniversary of their album "And Justice for All," recording and touring with "new" bassist Robert Trujillo, and much, much more. And they had nothing but great things to say about Robert. In fact, James Hetfield went as far as saying that "Rob had contributed more to this record than Jason [Newsted] had in 15 years."

After the 40-minute interview concluded, Lars put on his shorts and running shoes to get a little exercise before heading over to the stage. As I was walking back to my car, Lars ran by, so I decided to jog along with him for a bit. But he is in much better shape than I, so within minutes he pulled ahead and left me in the dust.

Be sure to check back for articles on many of the topics we covered in the interview.

On Saturday, just before the band's set at Bonnaroo, the image changed for the last time, providing fans with the answer they'd been waiting for. It seems that Metallica have named their next record Death Magnetic, which, let's face it, is not that much of a step up from St. Anger.

Last month, drummer Lars Ulrich told MTV News that the record will contain 14 tracks, which he described as "long songs, maybe seven-, eight-, nine-minute, nutty-ass songs."

He added that the material is "pretty all over the place: a lot of variation, a lot of fast, slow, melodic, hardcore, nutty, super-fast speed stuff. It's more like some of the earlier records, which were a little more dynamic within the songs. And on those records, there were a lot of long songs that were — without sounding too corny — journeys. You'd go here and then you'd go over here and then this, and then that would happen. It feels like kind of a lot of that stuff."

Death Magnetic was produced by Rick Rubin (Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers), marking the first time in a long time that the band hasn't utilized the talents of Bob Rock.