01. Death Magnetic
02. That Was Just Your Life
03. The End of the Line
04. Broken, Beat & Scarred
05. The Day That Never Comes
06. All Nightmare Long
07. Cyanide
08. The Unforgiven III
09. The Judas Kiss
10. Suicide & Redemption
11. My Apocalypse

METALLICA: 'Death Magnetic' Track Listing Revealed? [Blabbermouth]

I kind of figured the cover art for the metal grandaddies' Death Magnetic was going to be lousy, but I was hoping that I'd be able to say "well, at least it's better than Load." They're really going for this "negative Internet attention is just as good as positive Internet attention" thing, eh?

METALLICA: 'Death Magnetic' Cover Artwork Revealed [Blabbermouth]

Ulrich said he's definitely noticed an upswing in Metallica's popularity since its songs started appearing in games, particularly with one part of the target audience.

"Dad's a little cooler than he was yesterday," Ulrich said. "I now have a 7-year-old whose favorite band is Mountain, and a 9-year-old who's into Black Sabbath and Danzig" — all veterans of the "GH" series. "It's a great way for kids to be exposed to stuff that transcends generations."

I don't know about you, but for some reason that wistful quote about Lars' kids thinking their dad is lacking in cred gives me an uneasy feeling about a next-generation sequel to Some Kind Of Monster being made in, say, 10 years or so. (Or maybe a reality show. At this point, it's the same difference, right?)

Video-game news: Metallica's 'Guitar Hero' album [AP]

To be fair to the hapless quartet, it's probably hard to come up with an album title that doesn't make Metallica seem even more ridiculous than they already are. But I still think any of these would sound more promising than Death Magnetic:

• Management Firm Of Puppets

• Kamikrazy!

• Locked, Stock And Ready To Rock

• Psycho Anal Eyes

• The Quietus

• Sex Cauldron

• This %^%# Doesn't NEED A Title!!

• Illegal Deathload

• Contract Killers

• Songs For Torben

Metallica: New Album Title Revealed [Blabbermouth]

While we occasionally enjoy reading the various comments, rumors, speculation, reviews, gossip and all the good that the internet brings, rarely do we feel the desire/need to respond to the "blogosphere" . . . hey, everyone is entitled to have their thoughts and opinions, right? However, once we re-surfaced on Tuesday after a few weeks on tour in Europe, we were informed that someone at Q Prime (our managers) had made the error of asking a few publications to take down reviews of the rough mixes from the new record that were posted on their sites. Our response was "WHY?!!! Why take down mostly positive reviews of the new material and prevent people from getting psyched about the next record. . . that makes no sense to us!"" So after a few rounds of managerial ear spank and sentencing everyone at Q Prime to 20 push-ups each, we figured why not take matters into our own hands and just post the links here on our site. Kerrang, Metal Hammer, The Quietus.



You see, we have maintained an "in the press" section here on Metallica.com for many years now, posting links to reviews of shows, album and DVD releases, and various other tidbits we've come across while surfing around. Some good, some not so good, but we put 'em all up . . . sort of the same way we treat our message boards on this site . . . welcoming all feedback.



So in the spirit of keeping this section current, we've put as many of the reviews of the rough mixes of the new record up here as we could find. If we missed any, let us know . . . and in the meantime, we're always adding, so peruse at your leisure.

Good to know Metallica doesn't believe that describing a song to others qualifies as copyright infringement.

Reviews... [Metallica via Bored Of Dictators]
Related: Metallica Play Internet Cops [Blinded By The Hype]

The not entirely negative coverage of the album exists only in the Google archive, because Metallica, through a third party (possibly our buddy, the Web Sheriff?) asked for the post to be removed.

The story behind the removal of the article runs as follows: Metallica held an album listening party for selected music journalists in London this Wednesday past. One of the writers was kind enough to write a piece about the album which, if you were lucky enough to read it before it was taken down, was full of praise about a return to form. At no point was the writer ask[ed] to sign a non-disclosure agreement. The Quietus and other websites ran pieces on the album, but were quickly contacted by Metallica's management via a third party and told to remove the articles. The Quietus kept our article up the longest and, as no non-disclosure agreement had been signed, [was] not prepared to remove it merely due to the demands of Metallica's management. We only eventually removed the article earlier today to protect the professional interests of the writer concerned (the piece was written anonymously). Seems Metallica's fear of the internet shows no sign of abating.

Understandably, the Quietus made an effort not to have their writer blackballed in the future, but if you're planning on inviting bloggers to anything, it seems reasonable to expect some immediate coverage. Sure, Metallica are making an effort to suppress anything but full and total adulation for their new material, but after St. Anger, is that a reasonable expectation? And to repeat, they invited a blogger to a listening party, without having the sense to have that blogger sign a non-disclosure agreement. What was the expected result?

Metallica Album Preview Cover-up? [Blinded By The Hype]

One of my favorite guitar solos in the world is from Metallica's "Hero of the Day." Clapton's got a bunch of songs where he's really playing blues but he's playing it over these chordal changes, like "Old Love" and "Wonderful Tonight." It's not really about the solo — when I hear Prince at the end of "Let's Go Crazy," I get it. But for me, it's more about the way the harmony and the melodic movement of the chords support the guitar-playing. People respond to chords. I mean, Jimi Hendrix was a songwriter.

I'm enough of a candy-ass that I've always had a soft spot for "Hero Of The Day," though "King Nothing" is probably my favorite mid-'90s Metallica original. Still, I can't figure out how anyone who puts as much stock in the six-string as Mr. Mayer does would immediately think of "Hero Of The Day" when asked what his favorite "guitar moments" were. Did it just come up on his iPod? Maybe it reminds him of his adolescence, a wonderful time before technology had corrupted the ability of young people to create.

The fact that you could record a song tonight greatly dements the creative process. The fact that if you wanted to right now, you and your friends could get together, do a photo shoot. Within 20 minutes you could have a band name, a photo shoot, a Website, a logo. The first time I ever got a four-track recorder I didn't write a song. I did like as many-part harmony to "Star Spangled Banner" vocally as I could do, because you just want to experience the technology. So I think that's part of it too. I'm trying to be compassionate about it and not say oh, these fuckin' kids, you know? But it is.

Those kids with their video games and their photographs, Web sites and logos. Things were different in me and John's day, let me tell you. The mid-'90s weren't about technology and image, they were about soul.

Metallica - Hero Of The Day [YouTube]
Secrets of the Guitar Heroes: John Mayer [Rolling Stone]

Some of you might be old enough to remember people complaining about how the music just didn't sound right on any format but vinyl (including a creepy character accused of rape on a episode of 90210), and of course, there are those who complain about any file format that isn't completely lossless. Also, there's John Mellencamp.

Last year, Amazon and iTunes made concessions to upgrade the quality of their download tracks.

Some artists want the bar raised even higher. Metallica announced last week that its upcoming untitled album, in addition to being released on CD, will be available as a higher-quality digital download ($12) and on audiophile vinyl in a limited-edition $125 boxed set. It's due this fall....

John Mellencamp's upcoming Life, Death, Love and Freedom CD, due July 15, will come with, at no extra charge, a high-definition DVD stereo version that will play in most DVD players. Producer T Bone Burnett and his engineering team developed the DVD music technology because they grew exasperated about the state of digital music. Listening to the high-res disc, "I could hear the music the way it was intended to be heard," Mellencamp said in a statement.

Neil Young recently announced that the first volume of his long-awaited archives project would arrive this fall on 10 Blu-ray Discs. The rocker, who has long decried the sound of CD and digital recording as brittle, says, "Previous technology required unacceptable quality compromises." In addition to HD video, Blu-ray Disc players support the playback of high-resolution music beyond a CD's dynamic range.

I'm sorry, but it's clear that the majority of consumers couldn't care less about the specifics of how their music sounds. The first thing they are concerned about is price ("128kbps MP3 files? A bit of a downer, but it's their entire discography in one torrent!"). Someone willing to question the intentions of, let's say, Metallica might believe that selling albums in increasingly expensive formats is more of a revenue-based move than an artistic one. I'm sure the new Mudcrutch album rings true and beautiful on audiophile vinyl, but it feels better for the bottom line when you pay $30 for it instead of $10. Even if the higher-quality option is at no additional cost, as in the case of the Mellencamp disc, any format that requires people to listen somewhere besides their car or a MP3 player of some sort is going to be immediately marginalized.

But, hey, maybe the reason I want to purchase fewer discs this year isn't that the albums themselves are bad, they're just pressed that way.

Musicians push for better sound online and on disc [USA Today]

To be frank, if the band just went with the entirety of Kill 'Em All, that would be fine by me, but that seems somewhat unlikely. If it's down to just one track (outside of the obvious "Seek and Destroy"), how about "Jump In The Fire"?

I don't know much about "Guitar Hero," but Ride The Lightning seems the most smashing-colored-buttons-on-a-plastic-guitar-ready of the albums I've willing to think about, given that it contains both "Creeping Death" and "For Whom The Bell Tolls," However, may I suggest the title track, a subtle discussion of the ethical dilemmas surrounding the death penalty?

Thinking of a track to choose from Master Of Puppets made me think about how strange this whole Metallica/video game idea is. Puppets might be the greatest metal album of all time, and Metallica certainly crossed over to a much larger audience afterwards. But when these albums were coming out on vinyl and having a Metallica concert shirt was like joining a bad-ass club of outsiders, I'm not sure the idea of sort of playing these songs by yourself while staring a television was conceivable. The dissolution of Metallica's bad-ass aesthetic (I should have never watched Some Kind Of Monster, that's for sure) will seem complete whenever this thing comes out. Anyhow, here's "Damage, Inc.".

In retrospect, I should have seen the sea change coming with And Justice For All: the guitars sound a little thinner, and the entire disc leans toward an ambition to move beyond just being the greatest metal band in the world, an ambition that would eventually make anything past the self-titled album difficult/impossible to enjoy. Then again, could any band have sustained the energy it must have taken to make those first three albums? After all, there's modern art to buy and therapy sessions to attend. I'm sure that "One" will be included from And Justice..., but I'll cross my fingers for "Harvester of Sorrow" as well.

Of course, the game will probably just consist of tracks from Reload and the new disc, because Metallica clearly has it out for me at this point.

Activision Plans 'Guitar Hero: Metallica' [The Street]

According to Bloomberg.com, Edgar Bronfman Jr., CEO of the Warner Music Group, of which Warner Bros. Records is a division, declined to comment on the status of contract negotiations with the band during a quarterly conference call earlier this month. The new Metallica album is the band's last under its current contract with the label, which dates back to 1984 when the quartet first signed with Warner subsidiary Elektra Records.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich told us that finishing out its recording contract was a liberating experience for the band: "It's awesome. I mean, to be out of your record contract, it's exciting just because of, what are the new — and that's not anything disrespectful about the great bunch of people up at Warner Bros. Records. But it's just exciting to be able to communicate directly with your fans, and having the opportunities to do it, you know. I think that's really exciting."

Maybe the band will make money off the Mission: Metallica model now, but at some point, will the most crazed members of its fanbase tire of being milked for cash? Lars seems to have forgotten that the reason the band signed with Elektra ages ago wasn't to connect with the fans, it was to get paid—and if no one's willing to cough up cash for their new material, clearly the best place to be is at a major label.

Metallica's Future With Warner Music Unclear [KBS]

And if you're one of those people who think you should be able to check out stuff for free, you'll still get to hear some riffs and look at some photos. (But not as many as the fans that cough up the cash!)

So what if you want to buy the album through Mission: Metallica but don't think those Platinum prices are worth it? Don't worry, Metallica's still looking out for you. Mission: Metallica members can order the MP3s (360k!) for only $11.99. And the physical CD? It's yours, along with the MP3s, for twenty bucks. No shipping and handling, because shipping and handling is for asshole bands who don't respect their fans.

Sadly, some fans are assholes too, and throwing the awesome shit up on YouTube. When these guys start talking about how much the new album sucks, tell them you won't know until street date. (At midnight!)

Only hardcore fans should be aware of lyrics like "Suicide / I've already died / You're just the funeral I've been waiting for!"

Mission: Metallica
MISSION METALLICA - New Song Previews (Edit) [YouTube]

We sort of promised ourselves that unlike all the records we made in the '90s, [which] were just completely stressed-out and just nutty, that we were gonna try and have a little more sane environment — and we've actually, surprising mostly to ourselves, been able to keep to that," Ulrich said. "We've pretty much finished the music now, so all the next level stuff is just starting to go down."

..."These are long songs ... we're talking seven-minute, eight-minute, nine-minute nutty-ass songs," Ulrich revealed. "We don't make them long or short on purpose; you just kind of do what feels natural. We're not really gonna edit them, (so) we're gonna lose another one at some point in the next month or so and probably end up with 10."

Ulrich described the material as "definitely pretty all over the place. There's a lot of variation, a lot of fast, slow, melodic ... kind of hardcore, nutty super-fast speed stuff. It's a little more like how some of the earlier records were a little more dynamic within the songs."

Here's Metallica rocking out with Flea - a double-bass attack that's undoubtedly a tip of the hat to the Ned's Atomic Dustbin reunion.

Make sure to catch Hetfield stick his ass to the audience while throwing horns at the end. If you listen hard, you can almost hear Ulrich scream "dude, your nuts!" Or "you're," it's hard to tell.

Ulrich Promises 'Dynamic' New Metallica Album [Billboard]
Metallica at the Wiltern - Fight Fire With Fire (w/ Flea)

Just wanted to write a quick note to clear up this whole "Open letter to Metallica" fiasco......For the record, I never "wrote" anything to Metallica. I was asked by a journalist, at the end of a long interview (abut the Foo Fighters) to give a quick message to Metallica in the studio. So, I rattled that quote off the top of my head. No biggie, right? Somehow it became my "open letter" to the band, and now it's been picked up by everyone from Blabbermouth to Rolling Stone (as if anyone really cares!). Now, it's true that I've been a loyal fan of this band for 25 years, and I can't wait to hear the new shit, but an "open letter" to the band?!!?? Nah. Not my style. I'd rather just text 'em......

Ah, Dave. If you're so friendly with them, wouldn't they invite you over for listening sessions? Or at least to be the second drummer on their version of "Fight Fire With Fire" that had an extra bass-playing appendage in Flea, so as to max out the number of extra people on stage?

Hey Everybody, [foofighters.com; HT Absolute Punk]
Metallica at the Wiltern - Fight Fire With Fire (w/ Flea) [YouTube]
Earlier: Dave Grohl To Metallica: "Please Don't Make Another Shitty Record. Also, I'm Available!

OZZY OSBOURNE
METALLICA
SERJ TANKIAN
HELLYEAH
JONATHAN DAVIS
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY
SHADOWS FALL
APOCALYPTICA
IN THIS MOMENT
All-Star Tribute To "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott

Second Stage:
SEVENDUST
DEVILDRIVER
KINGDOM OF SORROW
SOILENT GREEN
WITCHCRAFT
GOATWHORE

Texas (Third) Stage:
THE SWORD
DROWNING POOL
RIGOR MORTIS

So wait, does the show's setting mean that Pizza Hut is now the most metal of the mass-produced pizza chains? For some reason I thought that prize belonged to Little Caesar's.

OZZFEST RETURNS AS ONE-DAY STADIUM SPECTACULAR ON AUGUST 9 IN DALLAS, TX WITH OZZY OSBOURNE AND METALLICA TOP AND CUTTING-EDGE ACTS TO IGNITE THREE STAGES [Ozzfest.com]

The saddest part of the trailer—even sadder than acknowledging two videos from Reload—is how the band announces their catalog has sold more than any group except the Beatles: "Not a bad band to follow!" Sorry, but wouldn't have it been a lot more badass if they said "watch out, you dead British fucks!" instead?

This is just the beginning of the journey to the new album...check it out and grow with us as we hope this site becomes a daily part of your life. Shortly after you've had a chance to surf around, roll a few videos, and see what it's all about, we're going to step it up another notch, get that platinum thing going we told you about and in general, bring it the fuck on!

"Grow with us as we bring it the fuck on" sums up the band's dilemma pretty nicely.

Mission: Metallica
Mission: Metallica Trailer [Youtube via Blabbermouth]]

Dear METALLICA,

Hey, it's Dave! Remember me? Yeah, I'm the guy that's been listening to your band faithfully since 1983. I bought your first album 'Kill 'Em All' from a mailorder catalogue called Under The Rainbow, I think. Actually I can't remember. It was 1983 for Christsakes! But that album changed my life and I've been listening to your albums ever since (even 'St Anger'!).

I can't wait to hear the new shit, and no matter what you guys do I'll always be first one at the shop waiting to hear it. I'm sure you'll come out and blow everybody's fuckin' minds, because you're fuckin' METALLICA!

Good luck. And don't release it until it's kick-ass.

Yours, Dave Grohl.

P.S. Are you finished recording the drums yet?

I'm not really sure who he's trying to mess with here, but that P.S. sounds kinda... ominous. Watch out, Lars—you know that Dave Grohl thinks he's THE BEST, THE BEST, THE BEST... right?

DAVE GROHL's "Open Letter" To METALLICA [Blabbermouth]

Metallica
The Offspring
Raconteurs
Rise Against
Bad Religion
Pennywise
The Bravery
Scars On Broadway
Seether
Flogging Molly
Atreyu
MGMT
Flobots
Ludo

Pennywise actually played the 1999 show along with Metallica too. Orgy, Smashmouth, Sugar Ray, Eve 6 and Limp Bizkit were probably not invited this time, so feel proud, dudes!

KROQ [Official site]
METALLICA To Co-Headline KROQ-FM's 'Weenie Roast' This Month [Blabbermouth]

We have FLACs and MP3s for sale. It was never about downloading per se. We have the Vault where you can download shows from twenty years ago for free, full-on and it's been there for years. You can download recent shows days after they happen for cost. Back in the day there was a much bigger question about "on whose terms?" We said, "Wait a minute, it should be about the artist." Then all hell broke loose and we sat on the sidelines for a while. We've always been fiercely independent and controlling; sometimes to a fault. That's why we exist and why all these people show up.

You know, this is our last record under contract with Warner, so we're looking at how we can embrace everything...We want to be as free a players as possible. We've been observing Radiohead and Trent Reznor and in twenty-seven years or however long it takes for the next record, we'll be looking forward to everything in terms of possibilities with the Internet.

Phrases like "twenty-seven years" and "a chance to re-invent the wheel again" would imply that Metallica still has no idea how to refind that mass-cult pleasing muse. But for a forty-something drummer to admit that the state of metal shows "a resurgence way deeper and more penetrating into the fourteen-year-old mindset?" You have to love the guy.

Oh wait, no you don't.

Lars Ulrich: "We've Always Been Fiercely Independent and Controlling" [Rolling Stone]

Zeppelin just confirmed for Bonnaroo. They can't officially announce until after the London gig so pass it on! Also Metallica is confirmed on the bill too!

Of all the venues in all the nifty 50... Bonnaroo? Really? Guess it is shaping up to be the closet thing we have to a classic rock festival in this country, unless the band was going to start hitting state fairs. So get those camping supplies in order now, kids! Led Zeppelin takes America and its hippies! And so does Metallica, if you can still manage to care.

The somberly unplugged take on this track is making me wonder if Rick Rubin really is trying to give these guys the Johnny Cash makeover on their forthcoming album, claims of it being a return to Master Of Puppets-era form be damned. Also, is it just me, or does everyone sort of forget the plot right after the first verse?

03 - I'm Only Happy When It Rains [YouTube]

Christmas albums always bring out the laziest in designers, and sure enough this cover's combo of drawing, color scheme, layout, and font is ugly as sin. Visually it has little to do with Metallica, if slightly more to do with Christmas. (Is Santa's suit blue because he's really evil Rock Santa?) But it's so goofy looking that the damn thing is actually kinda likeable. Sadly there's no "fugly album cover (that makes us kind of happy) of the year" race. Maybe next year?

ARTIST: Metallica
SONG: "The Prince"
FIRST APPEARANCE: As the B-side to the One single, 1988; later appeared on Garage Inc.
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: Metallica has recorded dozens of cover songs, and while this Diamond Head homage wasn't the group's best remake moment, it did serve as a British-rock primer for several impressionable younguns (some of whom had no doubt never ever heard of the band until they picked up this cassingle).

Metallica - The Prince [MP3, link expired]

- Metallica, now old enough to enter the "credibility-restoring Rick Rubin album" phase of its career, swears that its next album is going to be influenced by Master Of Puppets. [NME]
- OutKast's Andre 3000 will be in the next Will Ferrell vehicle, which finds the fish-out-of-water comedian on the basketball court. [SOHH]
- Tommy Lee is starting a clothing line for kids. No word on whether temporary stomach tattoos are part of the deal. [Blabbermouth.net]

- Justin Timberlake's "My Love" continues its reign atop Billboard's Hot 100. Please, please let it stay there long enough to hold off Fergie's "Supersonic" rip-off. [Billboard]
- Whitney Houston may be facing foreclosure on her $6 million New Jersey estate; web site editors around the world attempt to make "Didn't We Almost Have It All" jokes, fail miserably. [People]
- Metallica prepares to release its music-video retrospective, All Things Considered, We Probably Should Have Stuck With Our Anti-MTV Stance. [antiMUSIC]

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton's passing, and to pay tribute to his amazing talent, we're posting this clip from Metallica's "Cliff 'Em All" home video with two of his bass solos—including one from his second-ever show with the band.

Cliff Burton - Bass Solo [Cliff 'Em All] [YouTube]