Metallica have written and recorded more than 100 songs in their 35-year career. Several of those have gone on to become staples at the group’s concerts.
Is there one that stands above all others as the quintessential live Metallica song?
Lars Ulrich says there is: “Seek & Destroy,” the second-to-last track on their debut album, 1983’s Kill ’Em All.
“The one song we never rehearse is ‘Seek & Destroy,’” Ulrich tells The Ringer. “And that’s one song we always play live.
“So I would say that makes it the quintessential live Metallica song because it’s only ever played live. ‘Seek & Destroy’ is basically in every show, and that’s the song that kind of has the most life. It’s always different, there are different raps, different things. It’s loose; it’s crazy. It’s a little loopy. So to some extent, it is the quintessential live Metallica song.
“It was the show closer for probably around a decade or so, which is pretty crazy.”
In the interview, Ulrich also says Metallica have performed “Master of Puppets” more that any other song.
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“The top ones, obviously: ‘Master of Puppets,’ ‘Creeping Death,’ ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ ‘Fade to Black,’ ‘Seek and Destroy,’” Ulrich says. “Those are probably the top five.”
Below is a clip of Metallica performing “Seek & Destroy” from their Quebec Magnetic DVD, which documents the group’s two shows at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada, October 31 and November 1, 2009.
Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of Guitar Player magazine, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.
