In 2011, Metallica & Lou Reed released Lulu, which would become an album that was widely disliked to varying disagrees. It wasn't that it strayed from Metallica's usual sound or anything like that – it was just not that great of an album. At least that's what I think. Kirk Hammett would vehemently disagree with the general assessment of Lulu, as he tells Humo Negro that Lulu is "one of the best things we’ve ever done."
"I think it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. I mean, you can kind of call it a Metallica album, but it’s not really a Metallica album. I think that’s part of the reason why it’s so misunderstood. People were thinking it was gonna be an album of heavy metal songs with Lou Reed, but no — it was a collaboration. It was our two musical entities coming together to build something fresh and new and unique. And the fact that it turned out so unique was, I think, a huge success. And I love it. I still listen to it. I miss Lou; it’s a shame that he’s not with us anymore. But in retrospect, that’s one of the most important albums, I think, I’ve been a part of in my life. So that’s how I feel about it."
In Lou Reed's defense, Lou Reed didn't give one single shit that nobody liked the album, though David Bowie liked it. So who knows and who cares, right? It's all subjective anyway.
