James Hetfield Quotes

In between 15 and 20 - probably at around 17 - my interests switched from hard rock to punk rock. And then by 20 they were circling out of punk rock back into Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, the stuff that I didn't get to when I was younger.

My mum and dad used to listen to a lot of R&B and soul, so this was the way I grew up. Hip-hop, of course. But then as I grew older, I started listening to everything.

It's not very often that I like new bands.

I was a metalhead and then I was into the rap and then I was a metalhead again.

I've had so many hot, cheesy, corny loves of music in my life. I had a very intense Billy Joel period. So once you've really Joeled it up - there's some good periods of Joel; it's not all hot cheese. But I can't judge anyone else for their cheese. I've deep-sea dived in the Gouda.

If you got in my truck, you were listening to country music, and that's the way it was for a long time. I'm a little more open to other sources of music now, a lot more. But for the formative years, I was just very into country.

I had phases of listening to rap and trap, and then I had phases where I'd listen to post-hardcore, rap, grunge, metal... all that. I had different time periods of listening to different music. And now it all clashes together.

I was enamored with music at a very young age. Everything started with kundiman, then evolved to Carpenters, Barbra Streisand, Barry Manilow, and eventually classic rock music.

But I feel like I developed my own love for hip-hop and rap music by myself. Just growing up and hearing new things. As you grow up, you begin to listen to new music that this kid is listening to, then you begin to like your own music, and start discovering it yourself.

Obviously I got known for some other songs early on, and some of those were rock'n'roll songs. Some of them were melodic pop songs. And I've done lots of different things, as you know, but every so often I get drawn back.

They have all different names for music. I think the music I'm going to change the style with is going to be really, really big-years and years after I'm gone.

I think that Yes' music is kind of on its own out there, and it goes through different chapters, and that involves different people. I don't think it's a case of 'any year is better than any other.' They can all co-exist quite comfortably.

Growing up, I didn't really like folk music - I wasn't a fan of Bob Dylan. I grew up mostly listening to rap and hip-hop; it was this new form of music.

But a lot of the old fans are listening to a lot of the younger music. So I gotta keep moving forward, and they'll move forward too.

Whatever I write has to evolve around my taste in music at that moment, because that always changes.

Depending on which day, and how I am feeling on that day, I have a different favorite song on the album. One day it might be 'Karma', and other days it is 'Stay For A While'

I think it's healthy for bands to discover new, older stuff.

I picked up the guitar at 12 yrs old - basically, my mother and father bought it for me for Christmas. I played one at my friend's house; when I say played it, I just played around with it at my friend's house. It just struck me as something I really wanted.

Music in general is looking for something new overall.

Younger people are discovering my work, even though my reggae is not like theirs.

If you looked at my iPod, you would get a trip out of all the different music, from the real heavy metal to bluegrass to classical.

Being with Prince and the New Power Generation, I was very influenced by those sounds, and now I'm more than ready to show that side of me with confidence.

One of the very few things that I actually read about myself on blogs that got to me was people saying, 'Ne-Yo doesn't do R&B music anymore.' Just because I stepped off the porch to explore doesn't mean I don't live in that house anymore.

When I first started singing, I didn't know which direction to take - I sang rock & roll and all kinds of things.

I personally wouldn't want my second album to sound like my first; it might sound very rocky or hard rock - and that wouldn't be melancholy. So if people think my music is melancholic, then so be it. It's meant to be uplifting, and I'm just basically saying what needs to be said.