Frontman of Metallica James Hetfield says he and his band Metallica are "average musicians".
In recent talks with Cigar Aficionado Magazine, James Hetfield says “I know individually we’re all really average players. But when you put us together something happens. Something really happens…."
Hetfield also talks how he used to be crippled by stage fright in the early days of Metallica gigs. He admits now the band can't keep the same pace as they used to do. Which is understandable as Pappa Hetfield will be turning 60 this year.
“Early shows were really difficult— I was so shy," Says Hetfield "I didn’t want to talk. I’d have the other guys in the band introduce the songs. Now I feel so comfortable up there, it’s so weird.
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"Sitting down one-on-one with someone is a lot more anxiety ridden than standing up in front of 10,000 people, 20,000 people.
“As we get older, we would love to continue to play all the places we’ve been before but it’s near impossible to keep up the pace we’ve had, say, in the 90s. We would go out for months at a time.
"We are very self-critical and hard on ourselves and have very high standards. So we do take care of all aspects of bringing the best show visually and sonically to the people that enjoy our music and continue to come to see us live.“
The band still have what it takes, they're still Metallica and they're still rockin' and doing what they've been doing for so long deserves respect from fans and musicians alike. They're above average in my opinion.