Live Music! Stranger Things! Puppetry?

With Metallica (James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett & Robert Trujillo) looking to get the word out about the band’s 11th studio album, 72 Seasons (which dropped on Friday, check out our review here), you knew that they weren’t going to go small. And if you’re going to go big, then being the “house band” for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! all week is an impressive way to go (and a first for the late-night talk show). Because if we’re being honest, we really don’t want to think about the “wacky shenanigans” that Jimmy Fallon would’ve tried to put them through over on NBC’s The Tonight Show. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Jimmy Kimmel didn’t get a chance to have a little fun with the band while also getting a chance to speak some one-on-one time with the foursome on the couch. Here’s a look at how the week went down:

In the first clip, Hetfield, Ulrich, Hammett & Trujillo sit down with Kimmel to discuss how Stranger Things 4 impacted “Master of Puppets,” their cover song competition for high school & college marching bands, having kids of their own who are musicians, how touring has been going, the first albums that each of them bought, and more. And since we already mentioned puppets, the second clip finds the band heading to The Bob Baker Marionette Theater to see how good they are at being “masters of puppets”:

Fun, informative, and a great way to get to know the band on a very personal level. And yet… we can’t shake this feeling that most of you are here for the music. Well, Metallica definitely didn’t disappoint – offering a mix of old and new, all of it amped up by the band’s never-say-die intensity. What follows is a look at the band performing “Lux Æterna” (from the new album),” “Holier Than Thou,” “Master of Puppets,” and “If Darkness Had a Son” (from the new album).