James Hetfield Reveals The Two Metallica Songs He Still Finds ‘Difficult’ To Play Live

Metallica have been bulldozing stadiums on the M72 World Tour, night after night, like time doesn’t apply to them.

Even James Hetfield has his limits though, and he’s just admitted there are two Metallica songs that still make him sweat a little before showtime.

Speaking on The Metallica Report podcast, Hetfield named the tracks he finds “difficult” to play live, while reflecting on what the band has learned from years on the road with the current tour cycle.

The two Metallica songs Hetfield finds ‘difficult’

Hetfield explained that every band member has their own list of songs that feel like a physical test, and for him, two classics still stand out:

“We all have our own certain songs that are a little difficult. ‘Moth Into Flame,’ ‘Master of Puppets,’ those are two that are, ‘Wow,’ those are a little difficult,” the frontman shared. “I’m sure Lars [Ulrich] has his list, we all have our list. But we push through and we help each other with it.”

‘Master of Puppets’ is basically an endurance run disguised as a thrash anthem and ‘Moth Into Flame’ is tight, fast, and relentless, especially when you’re trying to keep it razor sharp in front of a stadium crowd.

M72 tour

Hetfield also spoke about how age has become a factor in how he approaches touring.

The key, he says, is taking care of themselves and pacing the schedule so they can keep playing “fast heavy metal music” without burning out.

Metallica have deliberately limited the number of shows per year, allowing for breaks to recover and reset between tour legs, which is part of why the M72 run has been able to stretch across multiple years.

Hetfield also highlighted the circular stage Metallica have used on the M72 tour, set in the middle of the stadium. He said it’s helped him connect more directly with the crowd because there’s effectively a much larger ‘front row’ than a traditional end stage setup.

“I guess it’s a testament of being human and aging, as you’re supposed to and having some sense of, ‘My body can take this but it can’t take this,’” he continued.