METALLICA'S ULRICH HAILS NOISY U.K. FANS. LEAVES STALET TRIBUTE OFF ALBUM!

METALLICA star LARS ULRICH has hailed the band's British followers the most vocal - because they get shouting practice at soccer games. The drummer claims his U.K. fans are much louder than their American counterparts because they spend a lot of time in the nation's soccer stadiums. He says, "In England they sing along to everything. Whether it's football, Metallica or a political rally, the British always make noise."

Meanwhile, METALLICA frontman JAMES HETFIELD penned a touching musical tribute to tragic ALICE IN CHAINS star LAYNE STALEY - but decided it wasn't good enough for the band's new album DEATH MAGNETIC. The frontman admits he didn't really know the late star, who died from a drug overdose in 2002, but his tragic demise inspired him to write many of the dark tracks on Metallica's new album.

And one track, Shine, was written all about Staley. Hetfield tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I know (Alice In Chains star) Jerry Cantrell quite well and learned about Layne through him... I could see some of the things Jerry went through to keep that band together.

"I started writing a song around a Layne Staley type - a rock 'n' roll martyr magnetised by death. Why did he choose that path, someone with such talent?"

Metallica recorded Death Magnetic with a photograph of Staley taped to the wall of their studio control room.