Lords of Summer

"Lords of Summer"
Single by Metallica
B-side	"Live version"
Released	March 19, 2014
Recorded	February and March 2014
Studio	Metallica's HQ (San Rafael, California)
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	8:21
Label	Blackened
Composer(s)	James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Robert Trujillo
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
Released	November 17, 2016
Recorded	May and June 2015
Studio	Metallica's HQ (San Rafael, California)
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	7:10
Label	Blackened
Songwriter(s)	James Hetfield Lars Ulrich Robert Trujillo
Producer(s)	Greg Fidelman James Hetfield Lars Ulrich

"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 .

Recording

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

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

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

Garage demo version

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Lords of Summer" (garage demo version)	James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo [8]	8:20

First pass version

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Lords of Summer" (first pass version)	Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo	8:21

Black Friday exclusive vinyl single

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Lords of Summer" (first pass version)	Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo	8:21
2.	"Lords of Summer" (live version) (Recorded July 1st, 2014 at Rock in Rome Sonisphere, Rome, Italy)	Hetfield, Ulrich, Trujillo	8:48

Personnel

• James Hetfield – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Kirk Hammett – lead guitar
• Robert Trujillo – bass guitar
• Lars Ulrich – drums

References

1. 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.