Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu cover art revealed

Lou Reed's collaboration with Metallica has already reduced James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett to tears, now in advance of the Lulu album's 31 October release the album's cover art has been revealed.

We quite like it, but can imagine that it will leave some people feeling confused, perhaps even slighty aroused.

"It's not a party record." Lou Reed

According to Guitar World, Reed describes the Lulu album as follows: "A set of extended songs inspired by German expressionist Frank Wedekind's early 20th century plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box (much admired by Freud).

"The plays, originally published in 1904 and set in Germany, Paris and London in the 1890s, whirl between the points of view of Lulu, an inverted-Eve-like cipher-mirror of desire and abuse, and the people who fall desperately in love with her. Then she meets Jack The Ripper..."

In the extensive blurb on the project's official website, Reed adds, "It's not easy. It's not a party record."

No shit.

Chris Vinnicombe worked with us here on the MusicRadar team from the site's initial launch way back in 2007, and also contributed to Guitarist magazine as Features Editor until 2014, as well as Total Guitar magazine, amongst others. These days he can be found at Gibson Guitars, where he is editor-in-chief.