Melvins has made a career of doing whatever the hell they want musically. So it's no surprise that Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne is a fan of Metallica's much-maligned 2011 collaboration with Lou Reed, Lulu.
In an interview with New Noise Magazine, Osborne discussed why he thinks Lulu is the best Metallica album and why it should've been a rallying cry for more bands to do whatever they want.
"Those guys got taken to task for it, and I think it's their best record, easily the weirdest one," said Osborne. "Metallica should be leading the way. They should be planting the flag in their own spot and making people rally around that.
"Don't let people tell you what to do. That's a terrible idea. It doesn't work because then you're assuming that you know what they want. There's no way you can know that. All you can do is make music that you like, and they obviously liked that thing with Lou Reed, and they're at a point now in their career that they could do whatever they want. They're playing stadiums. What's going to happen? They're gonna go down to 10,000 seaters? I think they'd be OK."
Is Lulu really the best Metallica record? I guess it's technically up for debate, but personally I'd give it a hard "no." On the flip side of that, I can see what Osborne is talking about, in terms of Lulu being a rallying cry for artists to maybe get a little weird with things. If Metallica could risk their legacy on something they wanted to do, you can too!
Except unlike Metallica, sinking your band might be the difference between continuing on and breaking on. At this point Metallica is eternal, regardless of what their recorded output as sounded like. Dudes haven't had to do anything since The Black Album.
Anyway, Melvins on tour with Boris at one of the dates below and get your tickets here.
8/24 Los Angeles, CA Belasco Theater
8/25 Pomona, CA The Glass House
8/26 Fresno, CA Strummer’s
8/27 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
8/28 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
8/29 Petaluma, CA Mystic Theatre
8/31 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
9/1 Seattle, WA The Showbox
9/2 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Spokane
9/3 Bozeman, MT The ELM
9/5 Fargo, ND The Hall at Fargo Brewing Company
9/6 Minneapolis, MN Varsity Theater
9/7 Milwaukee, WI The Rave II
9/8 Chicago, IL Metro
9/9 St. Louis, MO Red Flag
9/11 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
9/12 Grand Rapids, MI The Pyramid Scheme
9/13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
9/14 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
9/15 Pittsburgh, PA Roxian
9/16 Maspeth, NY Desertfest NYC
9/18 Albany, NY Empire Live
9/19 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
9/20 Bethlehem, PA MusicFest Café
9/21 Philadelphia, PA Brooklyn Bowl
9/22 Washington, DC The Howard Theatre
9/23 Virginia Beach, VA Elevation 27
9/24 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
9/26 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl
9/27 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
9/28 Savannah, GA District Live
9/29 Birmingham, AL Saturn
9/30 New Orleans, LA Tipitina’s
10/2 Houston, TX Warehouse Live – Studio
10/3 Austin, TX Mohawk
10/4 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
10/5 Oklahoma City, OK Beer City Music Hall
10/6 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
10/7 Lawrence, KS The Bottleneck
10/9 Denver, CO Summit
10/11 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theater
10/13 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
10/14 San Diego, CA House of Blues
