In 2010 Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett calls the Canadian power trio the "high priests of conceptual metal" in describing their influence. As it happens, that reverence also extends to his bandmates — especially between late low end legend Cliff Burton and bass god Geddy Lee.
As part of a Q&A event to mark Metallica's 40th Anniversary celebrations last December, Hammett shared a memory of how Lee came to see a Canadian performance from the young thrash outfit early on in their career — and how starstruck Burton was upon learning the Rush vocalist/bassist was in the crowd.
"Geddy Lee showed up at one of our shows on the Ride the Lightning tour," Hammett recalled. "We played Toronto, and all of a sudden we got a message backstage that Geddy Lee was in the audience. And Cliff Burton just freaked out."
Hammett remembered how his bandmate "started pacing, he started smoking pot, and he was, like, 'Oh my God! Geddy! Geddy Lee!' He could not settle down; he was so nervous and just happy at the same time that Geddy Lee was there."
The guitarist added that this behaviour was common in the presence of other prolific bassists, sharing, "And then [another time] [photographer Ross Halfin] tells him that Geezer Butler [of Black Sabbath] is out there one night. Same thing — he starts pacing around, super nervous, grab[s] a beer."
A rumour that Lee was in the running to produce what would become Metallica's revered third album Master of Puppets was confirmed by the man himself in 2015, telling VICE, "It's sort of true. There was some discussion with Lars, back in the day, about working with them. This was before Master of Puppets came out, I think? There was talk, you know. I was friends with their management and I met Lars back in England. I remember going to see them here in Toronto when they played at the Masonic Temple. That's when the original bass player was still happening. You know, before that tragedy. And, you know, we talked about it and I liked their band a lot at that time. But it just never came together."
You can watch Hammett's Q&A appearance below. While we'll never get to hear what a Rush/Metallica team-up sounds like, we did recently learn what "Enter Sandman" would sound like if written by Slipknot. Perhaps Lee will share further details on the missed chance to work with the metal legends in his forthcoming memoirs.
As part of a Q&A event to mark Metallica's 40th Anniversary celebrations last December, Hammett shared a memory of how Lee came to see a Canadian performance from the young thrash outfit early on in their career — and how starstruck Burton was upon learning the Rush vocalist/bassist was in the crowd.
"Geddy Lee showed up at one of our shows on the Ride the Lightning tour," Hammett recalled. "We played Toronto, and all of a sudden we got a message backstage that Geddy Lee was in the audience. And Cliff Burton just freaked out."
Hammett remembered how his bandmate "started pacing, he started smoking pot, and he was, like, 'Oh my God! Geddy! Geddy Lee!' He could not settle down; he was so nervous and just happy at the same time that Geddy Lee was there."
The guitarist added that this behaviour was common in the presence of other prolific bassists, sharing, "And then [another time] [photographer Ross Halfin] tells him that Geezer Butler [of Black Sabbath] is out there one night. Same thing — he starts pacing around, super nervous, grab[s] a beer."
A rumour that Lee was in the running to produce what would become Metallica's revered third album Master of Puppets was confirmed by the man himself in 2015, telling VICE, "It's sort of true. There was some discussion with Lars, back in the day, about working with them. This was before Master of Puppets came out, I think? There was talk, you know. I was friends with their management and I met Lars back in England. I remember going to see them here in Toronto when they played at the Masonic Temple. That's when the original bass player was still happening. You know, before that tragedy. And, you know, we talked about it and I liked their band a lot at that time. But it just never came together."
You can watch Hammett's Q&A appearance below. While we'll never get to hear what a Rush/Metallica team-up sounds like, we did recently learn what "Enter Sandman" would sound like if written by Slipknot. Perhaps Lee will share further details on the missed chance to work with the metal legends in his forthcoming memoirs.
