'The Ultimate Metallica Show' Recap: Celebrating New Metallica

The question wasn't whether or not we'd play the new Metallica song, "Lux Æterna," on The Ultimate Metallica Show. The question was: How many times would we play it?!

Listen, for a moment, I thought about just jamming the new song over and over for two straight hours, but I figured we could all get a little more creative than that. So, before opening the show with the new track, we actually heard from James Hetfield himself to explain what "Lux Æterna" means to him:

There's no one meaning to it. Everyone has some sense of hope or light in their life. Obviously, music is mine. This song specifically talks about the gathering of people at a concert and [being] able to see the joy and the life and the love that comes out of music and the family and the kinship in that, and a sense of uplifting.

Later in the show, Hetfield also shared the significance of the title of the new album, 72 Seasons:

72 Seasons came out of a book I was reading about childhood, basically. Sorting out childhood as an adult. "Seventy-two seasons" is basically the first 18 years of your life. How do you evolve and grow and mature and develop your own ideas and identity of self after those first 72 seasons? Some things are more difficult than others. Some things you can't unsee; they're with you for the rest of your life. Other things, you're able to rewind the tape and make a new tape in your life. That's the real interesting part for me, is how you're able to address those situations as an adult and mature...sometimes.

In addition to hearing from Hetfield, I turned to the members of the Ultimate Metallica radio family to hear why they're excited for the new song, new album and new world tour. We heard from a lot of stations throughout the show and you can actually hear those audio clips—and check out the show's entire playlist—below.

The Ultimate Metallica Show — Hour 1

"Lux Æterna" — 72 Seasons
"Motorbreath" — Kill 'Em All
"Creeping Death" — Live at Ozzfest, Dallas, Texas, Aug. 9, 2008
"The Outlaw Torn" — Load
"Holier Than Thou" — Cover by OFF!, The Metallica Blacklist Album
"Fade to Black" — Live at Lollapalooza, Chicago, Illinois, July 28, 2022
"I Disappear" — Live at Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado, March 31, 2004

The Ultimate Metallica Show — Hour 2

"Spit Out the Bone" — Hardwired...to Self-Destruct
"Free Speech For the Dumb" / "It's Electric" — Garage Inc.
"The Four Horsemen" — Live at iWireless Center, Moline, Illinois, Nov. 8, 2008
"Frantic" — St. Anger
"Hardwired" — Live at U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aug. 20, 2016
"Disposable Heroes" — Cover by Chimaira, Kerrang! Remastered: Metallica’s Master of Puppets Revisited
"Blackened" — Live at Highmark Stadium, Buffalo, New York, Aug. 11, 2022
"Lux Æterna" — 72 Seasons

Shoutouts From the Ultimate Metallica Radio Family

Why are you excited for new Metallica?

FMX 94.5 (Lubbock, Texas) - Wes Nessman

"It fits right in the pocket between the old and the new stuff..."

Rock 108 KEYJ (Abilene, Texas) - Chaz

"I am super freaking stoked about this Metallica record. I was surprised, much like everybody else..."

96.7 The Eagle (Rockford, Illinois) - Captain Jack

"It's the music. It's the attitude. It's the message. It's the entire package. It's Metallica..."

95 Rock (Grand Junction, Colorado) - Nate Wilde

"It has energy, it's got melody..."

I-Rock 93.5 (Quad Cities, Iowa and Illinois) - Ryan McCredden

"Everybody here in the Quad Cities is excited..."

Sasquatch 92.1 FM (Duluth, Minnesota) - Fox David

"A true return to form for Metallica..."

92.9 WBUF (Buffalo, New York) - Pat McMahon

"They're going back to their roots. I'm super pumped about that..."

96.3 The Blaze (Missoula, Montana) - KC

"All I know is I'm excited for new Metallica and I can't wait to hear more..."

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Hit me up in the Ultimate Metallica app and let me know what you're most excited about when it comes to new Metallica. What do you think of "Lux Æterna"? What song title jumps out at you from the tracklist for 72 Seasons? Did you manage to score tickets to the M72 worldwide tour? Send me a message and let's chat about all of it.