"Lords of Summer" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was first released as a digital single in its demo form on March 19, 2014, with a 12-inch single for it being released as part of Record Store Day Black Friday later that year. In 2016, a re-recorded version was included on the deluxe edition of the band's tenth studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct.

"Lords of Summer"
Single by Metallica
B-side"Live version"
ReleasedMarch 19, 2014
RecordedFebruary and March 2014
StudioMetallica's HQ (San Rafael, California)
GenreThrash metal
Length8:21
LabelBlackened
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)James Hetfield
Producer(s)Greg Fidelman
Metallica singles chronology
"The View"
(2011)
"Lords of Summer"
(2014)
"Hardwired"
(2016)
"Lords of Summer"
Song by Metallica
from the album Hardwired... to Self-Destruct
ReleasedNovember 17, 2016
RecordedMay and June 2015
StudioMetallica's HQ (San Rafael, California)
GenreThrash metal
Length7:10
LabelBlackened
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)

Recording

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In February 2014, Metallica began recording a new song at their HQ studio in San Rafael, California, with the working title "X-Dust", planning to premiere it at a March 16, 2014, show in Bogotá, Colombia. They finished it in March and premiered it at the show with the official song title "Lords of Summer".[1] The band re-recorded the song in May and June 2015 for their tenth studio album, Hardwired... to Self-Destruct (2016),[1] including it with the deluxe edition of the album. It is over a minute shorter in length than the demo and first pass versions.[2]

Content and style

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According to drummer Lars Ulrich, the song was inspired by the band's then upcoming 2014 tour, as he explained in an interview given to Metal Hammer magazine: "It's about being outdoors and festivals and here we are again."[3] Being an uptempo thrash metal song much in the vein of Metallica's earlier works from the 1980s and being self-referential in nature in terms of its lyrical content, the song alludes to a number of now 'classic' tracks from that particular period, most notably "The Four Horsemen" and "No Remorse" (both from 'Kill 'em All', 1983): "Pounding, pounding, no remorse / Lords of summer set on course / Pushing, pushing horsemen ride / Lords of summer undenied".

Release

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The band released the song digitally through the iTunes Store on March 19, 2014, in its demo form.[4] They eventually released the song in a more refined state, dubbed the "First Pass Version", digitally in June.[5] Later that year, they gave the song a physical release for Record Store Day Black Friday as a 12-inch single, with a live version of the song recorded in Rome being used as the B-side. The single was limited to 4,000 copies.[6] A remix of the song by The Glitch Mob was released on May 13, 2015, through YouTube.[7]

Track listing

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Garage demo version
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Lords of Summer" (garage demo version)James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo[8]8:20
First pass version
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Lords of Summer" (first pass version)Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo8:21
Black Friday exclusive vinyl single
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Lords of Summer" (first pass version)Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo8:21
2."Lords of Summer" (live version) (Recorded July 1st, 2014 at Rock in Rome Sonisphere, Rome, Italy)Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo8:48

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ a b Metallica (August 24, 2017). Metallica: X-Dust (The Making of "Lords of Summer") (Documentary). Blackened Recordings. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Metallica - Lords Of Summer". Discogs. 28 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Lords of Summer by Metallica". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Metallica Share Studio Recording of 'Lords of Summer'". Rolling Stone. 19 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Metallica – Lords Of Summer (First Pass Version)". Discogs. 20 June 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "METALLICA To Drop "Lords Of Summer" Vinyl On Black Friday - Metal Injection". 26 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Metallica - Lords Of Summer (The Glitch Mob Remix)". 2015-05-13. Retrieved 2019-02-13 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Lords of Summer - Metallica". Metallica.com.