By Zachary Swickey

Slowly but surely details continue to emerge about Metallica’s much-anticipated joint effort with former Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed. Updating their new joint website this morning, the San Fran thrashers have revealed Lulu as the name of the effort. The group appears to be going by “Lou Reed & Metallica” rather than adopting a joint moniker (so far), which is all the rage these days with The Throne.

Due on November 1, it also appears that the effort will be a concept album as explained via the posting:

’Lulu’ was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wededkind’s plays ‘Earth Spirit’ and ‘Pandora’s Box,’ which tell the story of a young abused dancer’s life and relationships and are now collectively known as the ‘Lulu Plays.’ Since their publications in the early 1900’s, the plays have been the inspiration for a silent film, an opera, and countless other creative endeavors.

Apparently, Mr. Reed had initially begun work on a theatrical production in Berlin based on said “Lulu Plays,” but after meeting Metallica at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts held in New York in 2009, the effort segued into a joint venture between the two music powerhouses.

Metallica couldn’t say no to the iconic Reed when he approached them about making an album around the concept. The effort’s ten tracks were recorded over the summer beginning this May at the group’s HQ studios in northern California. Surfaced track titles include “Pumping Blood,” “Mistress Dread” and “Junior Dad.”

No word on whether the new super group plans on hitting the road in support of the effort, but it appears unlikely as Metallica will reportedly reenter the studio later this year – with Rick Rubin once again manning the boards – to begin work on their untitled tenth studio album.

By Zachary Swickey

The classic rock sounds of The Eagles and Steely Dan are what I grew up on. Other than the occasional Enya or Kenny G album (help me!), my dad was constantly playing me songs from his youth. I recall him putting on “Be True to Your School” by the Beach Boys and commenting that his parents must’ve loved that. I even argued that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s solo in “Fade to Black” was the greatest of all time … until my father proved me wrong by playing Eric Clapton’s guest guitar-work on the Stephen Stills solo tune “Come Back Home,” which remains my favorite solo to this day.

This had me wondering, in 40 year’s time what music from today will be considered classic rock? Here are five rock acts that I think won’t be leaving the radio anytime soon.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
There are few rock outfits that people have as much admiration for as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Their spastic funk jams are the perfect happy-go-lucky music for road trips. (Do you think we’ll still have those in the future?) The band dates back to the ‘80s yet remains as relevant as ever today. Songs like “Scar Tissue” and “Under the Bridge” have become automatic sing-a-longs, and even less popular hits like “Zephyr Song” have a great timelessness to them. I anticipate my future children knowing every word to “Can’t Stop” like I do.

Kings of Leon
If the Kings of Leon don’t disband and keep churning out the radio hits we love, then you can count on them still being on the airwaves in 40 years. With the exception of their recent tour cancellation, the guys are masters of the road. If they aren’t in the studio, then they are usually on tour somewhere in the world, which helps them stay in the spotlight. My prediction is “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” will be sung at karaoke bars and danced to by strippers for many more years to come. (Personally, I’d dance to “Crawl.”)

Foo Fighters
Dave Grohl is a living legend of rock – the dude was the drummer for a band that changed the face of music – yet he was still able to pick up a guitar and start another very successful rock band. Similar to the Peppers, people just love the Foo (the two even went on tour together in ‘99). Their music videos always have us grinning and their songs always get us rocking. If their more somber tunes like “My Hero” and “Everlong” are not enough to cement their place in future classic rock radio, “The Pretender” and “Best of You” certainly are.

Tool
Straight-up, there is no band with fans as cult-like as Tool. They move in large droves, donning their Maynard-related (A Perfect Circle, Tool, Puscifer) apparel and scooping up autographed Tool concert posters for several hundred bucks a pop. Tool have essentially become the modern day Pink Floyd with their mysterious personalities and intense live performances that feature dazzling light shows. As big of a fan as I am, even I was sick of hearing “Schism” being played on the radio when the group returned with Lateralus. One of the band’s first hits, “Sober,” is from 1992, but I won’t be surprised when rock fans are still loving it in 2032.

Metallica
I mean this a huge no-brainer. How many metal acts are still around today that can still pack a freakin’ football stadium? Cliché I know, but “Enter Sandman” was the first metal song I ever heard, and I specifically recall asking my friend with delight, “What is this?” I had never heard anything like it, but it immediately captivated me and thus began my affinity for the louder rock music. It goes without saying that Metallica have been the dominant force of rock music for 30 years now. Heck, their name alone makes them sound like a classic rock band. With iconic songs like “Unforgiven” and “One,” even piracy couldn’t stop the force that is Metallica.

Which of your favorite bands have what it takes to go down as classic rock acts? Let us know in the comments.

By Zachary Swickey

Heavy metal juggernauts Metallica have revealed they will celebrate 30 years of thrashing mayhem with a week-long residency at San Fransisco’s historic Fillmore Auditorium. Yes, a band that formerly went by the nickname “Alcoholica” not only survived the ‘80s and ‘90s, but today the group is as relevant as ever.

Of course, that’s something worth celebrating, so Metallica is truly giving back to the fans with the intimate residency that is going down December 5, 7, 9, and 10. The ticket prices are heading back to the ‘80s too, with single tickets priced at only $6 each or a four-pack for the clever price of $19.81 (to spell out it – the year the group was conceived). Making things more special, Metallica promises rare songs, varied set lists, and surprise guests (here’s hoping for Lou Reed). There is a catch, though – in an attempt to give back to the fans (rather than the scalpers), tickets are only available through a reservation system that is exclusively available to members of Metallica’s fan club.

If you’re not a So-Cal resident, Metallica also have another stateside “Big 4” show (with Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax) lined up for September 14 at Yankee Stadium after finally bringing the special metal bill to the West Coast earlier this year.

According to a recent Billboard interview with Rick Rubin, the group is also about to commence work on their 10 studio album, which he will once again be at the helm of. Rubin states the group is about to start writing and he has already had a meeting with Metallica’s most business-savvy member, drummer Lars Ulrich, about what the “focus was going to be this time around.”

“We’ll probably listen to some of the riffs that they’ve been writing,” Rubin says of the process. “Usually I’ll hear something that will sort of indicate the direction and then we’ll talk about it from there.”

As of now, there is no timetable for the group’s new album or for their special Lou Reed collaboration. If you want to catch them before they hit the studio, hopefully you’re a fan club member or have Swiss bank account to pay astronomical Ebay prices for the long sold-out show in New York.

By Zachary Swickey

Two legendary forces of music – mega-selling metal band Metallica and The Velvet Underground’s enigmatic frontman Lou Reed – have quietly congregated at Metallica’s San Francisco studio to record a collaborative album. Rumors have been swirling for a while, and Metallica finally put them to rest with a statement confirming the effort on their website.

“A few months ago our own Kirk Hammet hinted at a new Metallica project that’s ‘not really 100 percent a Metallica record.’ While Kirk jumped the gun a little, we are more than proud to announce that we have just completed recording a full length album that is a collaboration with none other than the legendary Lou Reed.”

Currently untitled, the record will consist of 10 songs created by Reed with Metallica fulfilling arrangement duties. “I knew it from the first day we played together: ‘Oh, man, this is perfection, right in front of me.’” Reed told Rolling Stone. “They’re bringing Metallica, with all that power, and because they’re pretty sophisticated, wherever I go, they’re still with me.

Metallica giddily share Reed’s enthusiasm for the project: “I don’t think we’ve ever felt this free. There’s nothing that’s totally outside of the boundary for us.”

It all started back in October 2009, when Metallica joined Reed on two of his classic tunes for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden. “We knew from then that we were made for each other,” Reed said. Initial plans were to craft an album from Reed’s older material, but he soon changed his mind, suggesting instead that they record a batch of tunes that he had written for a German theater production currently running in Berlin.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield was excited about the demos Reed provided. “It was scary at first, because the music was so open,” he said. “But then I thought, ‘This could go anywhere.’”

The album is already “90 percent” finished according to drummer Lars Ulrich. Tracks revealed include the seven-minute, speed-metal opus “Pumping Blood,” which was done in a single live take, as well as “Mistress Dread,” which showcases Reed’s vocals layered on an unmistakable riff from Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.

Reed, who is currently without a record deal, and Metallica who have fulfilled their contract with Warner Bros, have yet to decide on when their musical collaboration will see the light of day, but in today’s evolving music industry, there is no telling what type of release the album will see.

Excited for the Lou Reed-Metallica collabo? Tell us all about it in the comments!

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.

Read the rest of this post on our Multiplayer blog ...

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.

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.