On November 30, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield sat down for a one-on-one interview with Josie Dye from the 102.1 The Edge radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
On the success of “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”:
Hetfield: “It’s a huge surprise — it really is — ’cause, for us, this is just the next record. And, for some reason, the timing is right. People are needing or wanting this. And, I guess, song-wise, people are identifying with its older-school feel — more guitar harmoinies, things like that, and some of the stuff that I knew was missing from our music. So it’s still a big surprise. When your record people send you an e-mail saying, ‘Hey, you’re No. 1 in all these countries?’ And you’re, like, ‘What?’ Does that mean we’re gonna go play Uganda? What? The tour’s gonna get longer.’ [Laughs]”
