Robert Trujillo revealed that an ’80s Ozzy Osbourne song inspired Metallica’s “You Must Burn!,” which appeared on their most recent record 72 Seasons.
The bassist spoke in depth about the Metallica track during the latest episode of The Metallica Report podcast, where he shared that Osbourne’s 1981 hit “Believer” influenced its sound.
“With ‘You Must Burn!,’ as I recall with that middle section — it’s an evil groove, kind of nasty and it has a swagger to it — I remember working on it away from Metallica,” the bassist said, adding that he felt like it would sound great in a Metallica song.
“The inspiration came from ‘Believer’… it’s that type of sliding into it and having this power groove in this moment. I didn’t know what song it would live in, you never know. But the idea that it could exist in a Metallica song was there.”
Ozzy Osbourne, ‘Believer’
Trujillo explained that Metallica typically share their ideas with each other during a group jam session. Someone will present an idea and the others will try to play to it — he noted that it’s a particularly positive sign if Lars Ulrich or James Hetfield start playing to the idea because then it has a better chance of being turned into a song.
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“I just remember James and I started messing around with [the “You Must Burn!” idea] and adding his stamp on it, then my stamp and back and forth. Then it became a part of that song,” Trujillo recalled.
“What was really cool about it, at least for me, was that James had written a vocal part for me… This was actually a melodic vocal part with lyrics, weaving through this riff that I had helped create along with James… That was a special moment. So I tapped into my inner Ozzy and threw that in there.”
Metallica, ‘You Must Burn!’
Trujillo played in Osbourne’s solo band from 1996 until he was recruited by Metallica in 2003 to take the place of Jason Newsted.
Check out the full podcast episode below.
Robert Trujillo Reveals Which ’80s Ozzy Song Inspired Metallica’s ‘You Must Burn!’
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Gallery Credit: Rob Carroll
