metallica tour 1997

© 2003 - www.chmetal.info

Every Metallica album ranked from worst to best

From game-changing debut Kill 'Em All to the emotionally-charged 72 Seasons, this is every studio album by metal's biggest band, ranked

As impressive as Metallica already were when they came screeching out of the Bay Area in the early 80s, few could have possibly predicted the journey that their story would eventually take them on. From the early drama of Dave Mustaine's dismissal to the gutting tragedy of losing Cliff Burton ; from the shocking change in direction as the 90s dawned and eventual rise to the very top of the heavy metal tree; through breakdowns, fights, feuds, blockbuster movies and boundary-pushing experiments, theirs is a career like no other.

With most recent LP 72 Seasons now firmly bedded into their considerable back catalogue, we decided to rank every single Metallica studio album from worst to best. In the interest of keeping things straightforward and fair, we didn't include the S&M live albums or their classic covers album Garage Inc , nor their bold but divisive Lulu experiment with Lou Reed. Here, then, is how Metallica's main discography stacks up.

11. St Anger (2003)

Is it predictable that St Anger is rock bottom of another list like this? Yup. Is it still justified? Sadly, still yup. Metallica’s most hated album is far from the complete write-off many would have you believe; Frantic and the title track still go hard, songs like Invisible Kid and cult fan fave Dirty Window could have been world class with more work and the countrified re-dub of All Within My Hands the band have experimented with in recent years shows there’s a decent little song hiding under there. Of course, none of that can cover for compositions that feel messy and disjointed and one of the most infamously disastrous production jobs in metal history. Artistically, St Anger is an interesting chapter in Metallica’s career at least: a raw, ugly cry from a band on the edge. Musically? This just ain’t it, no matter how you try to paint it. 

10. Reload (1997)

When Reload hits the mark, it does so in style. Fuel might be basic as hell, but it remains a wonderfully simple, full-throttle burst of heavy metal adrenaline; The Memory Remains packs not just one but two of Metallica’s most earwormy moments (both its iconic chorus and Marianne Faithfull’s ‘Da da da daaa da, da daaaa ’ refrain); The Unforgiven II is a more than worthy sequel to its predecessor and an outstanding power ballad in its own right. That all said, Metallica’s confidence in their leftover material at this time was just a tad too optimistic, because Load ’s sequel is packing way too much filler. James Hetfield’s wonderful lyrical streak was at least still in full flow, but even he wasn’t enough to save Reload from feeling largely unnecessary. 

9. Death Magnetic (2008)

Critics were delighted with Metallica’s return to more traditional heavy metal fare (and solos!) when Death Magnetic arrived five years after the spectacular misfire of St Anger . In the cold light of day, it’s undoubtedly superior to its predecessor, featuring some full-on metal bangers ( That Was Just Your Life , Cyanide ) and two genuinely great power ballads in The Day That Never Comes and the severely underrated The Unforgiven III . Unfortunately, Death Magnetic as a whole is held back by two pressing issues. Firstly, while a clear improvement on St Anger , the production is really poor, Lars' drums still sounding like they were recorded using kitchen utensils. Secondly, and not for the first or last time, many of the songs just go too long . The End Of The Line , All Nightmare Long and The Judas Kiss are all solid tracks pulled down by meandering riff repetition, while forgettable instrumental Suicide & Redemption feels particularly self-indulgent at a whopping ten minutes. Decent, but far from a classic.

8. Hardwired...To Self-Destruct (2016)

Hardwired…To Self-Destruct was both a refreshing reminder of Metallica’s ability to pen top-tier metal hits and frustrating further evidence of the problems that come with their now trademark lack of self-restraint. The first half of the record in particular is filled with killer material, from the pulsating thrash assault of Hardwired and Moth Into Flame to the groovy, Load -ish power of Now That We’re Dead and epic, anthemic closing moments of Halo On Fire . The second half, however, is a big letdown, the likes of Confusion , Am I Savage, ManUNkind and Murder One largely plodding and toothless (a particular shame given the latter’s status as a tribute to the legendary Lemmy Kilmister). Luckily, Spit Out The Bone turns up right at the end to finish things on a big high. What a rager.

7. 72 Seasons (2023)

For the third time in a row, Metallica put out an album that was solid as hell and packing plenty of great moments, but a little bogged down by a lack of incisive editing and at least a couple of tracks that just didn’t quite measure up. What can’t be in any doubt, however, is that 72 Seasons is the best- sounding Metallica album in over 25 years, the likes of its rollocking title track, the triumphant Lux Æterna and majestic album-closer Inamorata sounding truly stadium-sized under the bedded-in fingers of Greg Fidelman. Papa Het’s voice also has no right sounding this good this far into his career, the band’s talismanic frontman bellowing like a vengeful mountain god during the pounding If Darkness Had A Son . A couple of minutes snipped off here and there and a little more ambition on the musical side of things and this could have been special. As it is, 72 Seasons is still pretty damn decent.

Metal Hammer Newsletter

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!

6. Load (1996)

Throwing caution to the wind following the absurd success of The Black Album and confirming that their thrash metal days were well and truly behind them (at least for now), Load saw Metallica dip their toes into everything from grunge to alt-rock to country. The result is a deeply fascinating record that unquestionably features some of the Four Horsemen’s most boldly realised leaps of faith; both the emotional Bleeding Me and album-closing epic The Outlaw Torn remain deservedly thought of as two of the most compelling compositions of the band’s entire career. There are missteps for sure, and it’s a little too long overall, but for many, Load remains the point where Metallica were still truly blazing their own trail and letting ambition guide their creative impulses. It also features some of Hetfield’s most impactful lyrics, his introspective self-dissection reaching a new level of insight and raw vulnerability.

5. Kill 'Em All (1983)

Metallica would become far more layered and sophisticated in their songwriting as the 80s wore on, but even four-plus decades later, there’s still something so primal and satisfying about Kill ‘Em All ’s snotty, ‘fuck-you’ attitude and relentless, proto-thrash assault. Smashing together Messrs Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton and Hammett’s love of punk rock fury and NWOBHM might with the subtlety of a brick to the groin (with some not inconsiderable help from a certain Mr Mustaine), the quartet kickstarted a movement and produced one of heavy metal’s all-time great debut albums in the process. It’s easy to overlook just how stacked with classic ‘Tallica cuts Kill ‘Em All is, too: Hit The Lights, The Four Horsemen , Motorbreath, Whiplash , Seek & Destroy …plenty of bands could release all that, call it a day and consider their career a job well done. Incredibly, Metallica were only just getting started.

4. ...And Justice For All (1988)

Depending who you ask, …Justice is for all intents and purposes the last of Metallica’s 'thrash' records, but sees the band turning their backs on the short, sharp shock stylings they had embraced with their debut in favour of the more epic fare that had become their bread-and-butter. The loss of bassist Cliff Burton can be felt keenly, not least in the controversial decision to completely flatten the mix of newcomer Jason Newsted’s contributions, but also in the subtle shifts away from more classical-leaning compositions that Burton had contributed to the band’s sound. 

In its place is an almost prog-like approach to song structure, Metallica effectively crafting their own metallic symphonies with even the more straight-ahead fare of Blackened, …And Justice For All and The Frayed Ends Of Sanity having multiple movements and segments.  Fans might still clamour for Justice For Jason, but … AJFA shows just how hard Metallica were fighting to reinvent themselves and push their artistry to new levels, towering ballad One awarding them a level of MTV-friendly success that few of their contemporaries have ever been able to match, certainly never surpass. 

3. The Black Album (1991)

Responding to the overly-ornate compositions of their previous album, Metallica ground their sound into its essential dust on The Black Album , producing one of the best-selling records of all-time in the process. The band didn’t lose their thrash entirely – Through The Never and Holier Than Thou have the same bulldozer-through-a-China-shop power that Master Of Puppets used so excellently, while the likes of Sad But True, Enter Sandman and Wherever I May Roam deliver an enormity and instantly gratifying sound that better suited the arenas they were now playing. 

Even with that, the band also found a whole new universe of depth and artistry with huge ballads like The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters , the latter even setting the stage for the band’s orchestral S&M thanks to some sublime arrangements by Michael Kamen. Naysayers might point to The Black Album as the point where Metallica stopped being Our Band, but therein lies the rub: Metallica were always too ambitious, too commercial and just too damn big to be satisfied with being the biggest fish in a small pond. 

2. Ride The Lightning (1984)

There’s still a youthful rawness to …Lightning that captures the sparks flying between a youthful Hetfield, Ulrich, Burton and Hammett, the band already extricating themselves from their peers by sheer dint of having the finest songs and most ambitious compositions around. The album’s title-track is effectively a dry-run for the epic grandeur the band would ride so thoroughly on follow-up Master Of Puppets , while For Whom The Bell Tolls and Creeping Death awarded Metallica their first genuine arena-sized anthems. There are also moments of respite and reflection; Fade To Black ’s anti-suicide ballad might have ruffled feathers with the full-speed-or-nothin’ brigade, but the song’s beautiful composition, reflective lyrics and undeniable breakout headbangable moments showed that they had plenty to say and weren’t afraid to take chances on themselves. 

1. Master Of Puppets (1986)

If you drilled down into the atomic structure of heavy metal, the genre’s evolution and its watershed moments, you’d probably find Master Of Puppets embedded at the core. Black Sabbath might have kickstarted the genre almost 16 years earlier, but Metallica codified metal with their third studio album in ways that are evident in the sheer mind-bending number of bands who have professed an undying love for the album over the subsequent decades. 

Thrash gone cinematic, Master… refined and reinforced everything Metallica had done with their second album but bigger, better, harder and yes, more metal . From the delirious rampage of Battery to the tooth-gnashing militaristic blows of Disposable Heroes and careening violence of Damage Inc. to the iconic title-track, Metallica never again sounded as all-conquering as they would on Master Of Puppets , slower efforts like The Thing That Should Not Be introducing a sludgy dynamism that showed the band’s toolkit was varied.

Again wetting their beaks with ballad Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Metallica were carrying themselves away from being anybody’s back-up to instead be absolute champions in their own right. A tour with Ozzy Osbourne helped cement them as metal’s Hot New Things and even the tragedy of the crash that took bassist Cliff Burton couldn’t slow the unstoppable machine the band had set into motion by writing an album so undeniably massive and untouchable that it basically created a division between themselves and just about every other metal hopeful at that point. A serious contender for the greatest metal album of all time, it’s no overstatement that the spirit of Master echoes in everything from Machine Head’s The Blackening to Gojira’s Magma and just about any other grandiose, epic metal effort put to tape. You can all rest easy: the Master is here. 

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site. 

• Rich Hobson

“Dua Lipa and all the big pop stars are awesome, but how many times can you sing about a lover not being good enough?” Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes critiques pop music, names the artist he thinks represents what a “pop star should be”

“I ended up thinking I knew it all, and it was my responsibility to tell everybody what they were doing wrong”: How close did Devin Townsend come to forming a cult in 1998?

Watch The Dillinger Escape Plan play first show in seven years

Most Popular

Watch: METALLICA Battles Heavy Rain At Opening Concert Of 2024 Leg Of 'M72' Tour

METALLICA kicked off the 2024 leg of its "M72" tour Friday night (May 24) at Olympiastadion in Munich, Germany.

In support of METALLICA 's latest album, "72 Seasons" , the band has been playing two-night, no-repeat shows in each city— first in Europe , then in North America and now back in Europe — as part of the "M72" tour. Each concert sees METALLICA performing on a massive ring-shaped stage, with the Snake Pit in the center, and four drum sets which are equally spaced out around the circular stage so drummer Lars Ulrich can get closer to the audience at various points in the show.

In Munich, METALLICA opened the show with "Whiplash " and continued with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Of Wolf And Man" . The band also performed classic tracks like "The Memory Remains" , "Fade To Black" , "Nothing Else Matters" and "Master Of Puppets" , as well as three songs from "72 Seasons" : "Lux Æterna" , "Too Far Gone?" and "Shadows Follow" .

The setlist was as follows:

01. Whiplash 02. For Whom The Bell Tolls 03. Of Wolf And Man 04. The Memory Remains 05. Lux Æterna 06. Too Far Gone? 07. Fade To Black 08. Shadows Follow 09. Orion 10. Nothing Else Matters 11. Sad But True 12. The Day That Never Comes 13. Hardwired 14. Fuel 15. Seek & Destroy 16. Master Of Puppets

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield spoke about his mindset going into the 2024 leg of "M72" , telling "The Metallica Report" :  "What I'm going into is unknown. I know how big the stage is. I know we have breaks here and there. I know what we're walking into. When we first started with this, with the 'M72' stage, in the round in the stadium, from between setting up cones, walking around thinking, 'Oh, this is how big the stage is gonna be.' 'Oh, this is cool.' 'This'll be great.' 'This is too skinny,' and this and that. And then, between that time and then actually seeing it built, where it's kind of too late, 'Oh shit, this thing is so big.' The anxiety level was off the charts at the beginning of the 'M72' tour. Like, how are we gonna cover this stage? And, of course, my ego saying, 'Well, the other guys don't have to sing. They don't have to run over there. They don't have to do all this. And no one knows the woes I have and all the worries.' But as soon as I share them with the other guys, they're, like, 'Yeah, but I got this and I got this.' It's like, 'Oh, okay. Okay. I want mine back. That's okay.' So it's a known. We know what we're up against and we know what shape we need to be in. And it's just fun. Now it's just fun. We broke that stage in. It's well trodden on and it's worked fantastically. And so we just get to step back into it and do what we do best."

Asked if there have been any modifications to the "M72" stage at all since the 2023 shows, Hetfield said: "There have been a few things here and there that have changed — extra microphones, whatever monitors that we need. And that's typical on any stage, though. The lighting tends to show things that you don't see before: 'Yeah, we need to drape that off' or whatever it may be, just things to make it better. Just like anything we do, you wanna improve on it. So that that was the first couple months of the first touring with the 'M72' stage."

Regarding how he prepares for a METALLICA tour, especially when it comes to performing around 32 songs at each stop on the ongoing "M72" trek, Hetfield said: "Obviously, before heading out on tour, sitting there, trying to remember the myriad of pretty awesome songs we have, and then just trusting that once we get together, it's, like, 'Oh, yeah.' It's muscle memory. But, yeah, over the last month, I will say that the normal thing happens where I start to doubt myself. I start to feel insecure that, 'Whoa, we're old. We can't do this,' and blah, blah, blah, all that bullshit that everyone tells themselves before they go into something that they care about and is important. So having the nightmares of, 'I'm the only one who cares about what we're doing here. Where is everybody?' I show up at the gig. Everyone's goofing off or there's 200 people backstage. And where's my stuff? Where's the setlist? What songs are we doing? And then typical things like the guitar neck is made of rubber, and there's only two strings on it. And where's my roadie? And the guitar cord won't let me get to the microphone. You know, silly stuff like that that has to happen, and I don't freak out over it. All you do is you practice and that comes back pretty quickly."

After Munich, METALLICA will continue touring throughout Europe for the first part of summer, with stops in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, France and Poland, among others. Another round of North American dates will begin on August 2 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with stops in Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and Edmonton. METALLICA will close out the 2024 touring season with four shows in Mexico City at the end of September.

According to Billboard , METALLICA 's production travels in 87 trucks — 45 for the band and its setup, plus two groups of 21 each for the steel stage and towers. There are 130 people in the band's crew, plus 40 steelworkers, local hires and truck drivers.

METALLICA 's manager Cliff Burnstein told Billboard that between 80% and 90% of fans at each concert attend both shows.

The "M72" tour launched in late April 2023 in Amsterdam.

Opening acts include FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH , ICE NINE KILLS , MAMMOTH WVH , PANTERA , ARCHITECTS , GRETA VAN FLEET and VOLBEAT .

A portion of proceeds from the shows go to METALLICA 's All Within My Hands foundation, which seeks to assist and enrich the lives of members of the communities who have supported the band and combat food insecurity; provides disaster relief; and bestows scholarships.

@metallica The #M72 World Tour returns!!! Night 1 of our #NoRepeatWeekend in Munich has finished! We’ll be back on Sunday with a completely different setlist. #Metallica #M72Munich #MetOnTour #DunlopPicks Posted by AND HAWAII FOR ALL on  Friday, May 24, 2024

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).

• Statistics Stats
• You are here:
• March 7, 1997 Setlist

Metallica Setlist at CoreStates Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

• Edit setlist songs
• Edit venue & date
• Edit set times
• Add to festival
• Report setlist

Tour: Poor Touring Me Tour statistics Add setlist

• So What ( Anti-Nowhere League  cover) ( Preceded by "Bad Seed" jam ) Play Video
• Creeping Death Play Video
• Sad but True Play Video
• Ain't My Bitch Play Video
• Hero of the Day Play Video
• King Nothing Play Video
• One Play Video
• Wasting My Hate Play Video
• Bass/Guitar Solos ( including "My Friend of Misery" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" ) Play Video
• Nothing Else Matters Play Video
• Until It Sleeps Play Video
• For Whom the Bell Tolls Play Video
• Wherever I May Roam Play Video
• Fade to Black Play Video
• Ride the Lightning / No Remorse / Hit the Lights / The Four Horsemen / Seek & Destroy / Fight Fire With Fire Play Video
• Last Caress ( Misfits  cover) ( preceded by "Mission Impossible", "Damage, Inc.", and "Sweat Leaf" jam ) Play Video
• Master of Puppets ( Short Version ) Play Video
• Enter Sandman Play Video
• Am I Evil? ( Diamond Head  cover) ( Half, no intro; preceded by "Raining Blood" jam ) Play Video
• Motorbreath Play Video

Edits and Comments

15 activities (last edit by kaz_usa , 29 Aug 2020, 05:26 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Ain't My Bitch
• Hero of the Day
• King Nothing
• Until It Sleeps
• Wasting My Hate
• Enter Sandman
• Nothing Else Matters
• Sad but True
• Wherever I May Roam
• Creeping Death
• Fade to Black
• For Whom the Bell Tolls
• Am I Evil? by Diamond Head
• Last Caress by Misfits
• So What by Anti-Nowhere League
• Motorbreath
• Master of Puppets
• Ride the Lightning / No Remorse / Hit the Lights / The Four Horsemen / Seek & Destroy / Fight Fire With Fire
• Bass/Guitar Solos

Complete Album stats

More from Metallica

• More Setlists
• Artist Statistics
• Add setlist

Related News

Metallica Live Debut Longest Song They've Ever Rocked

Grammy Winners on Tour 2024

Setlist History: Metallica Plays Antarctica

Setlist.fm's Top 10 Tours of 2023

Corestates center.

• Metallica This Setlist Add time Add time
• Corrosion of Conformity Add time Add time

Metallica Gig Timeline

• Mar 04 1997 Fleet Center Boston, MA, USA Add time Add time
• Mar 05 1997 Fleet Center Boston, MA, USA Add time Add time
• Mar 07 1997 CoreStates Center This Setlist Philadelphia, PA, USA Add time Add time
• Mar 08 1997 CoreStates Center Philadelphia, PA, USA Add time Add time
• Mar 10 1997 Madison Square Garden New York, NY, USA Add time Add time

32 people were there

• baldwillis44
• Dfiliaggi710
• DontBeThatGuy
• emmittrule22
• Ftquigley13
• medisintool
• PhillyProgHead
• VinnyViktorr
• yomontecarlo

Share or embed this setlist

Use this setlist for your event review and get all updates automatically!

<div style="text-align: center;" class="setlistImage"><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/1997/corestates-center-philadelphia-pa-6bd6da2e.html" title="Metallica Setlist CoreStates Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA 1997, Poor Touring Me" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=6bd6da2e" alt="Metallica Setlist CoreStates Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA 1997, Poor Touring Me" style="border: 0;" /></a> <div><a href="https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=6bd6da2e&amp;step=song">Edit this setlist</a> | <a href="https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/metallica-3bd680c8.html">More Metallica setlists</a></div></div>

Last.fm Event Review

[url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/metallica/1997/corestates-center-philadelphia-pa-6bd6da2e.html][img]https://www.setlist.fm/widgets/setlist-image-v1?id=6bd6da2e[/img][/url] [url=https://www.setlist.fm/edit?setlist=6bd6da2e&amp;step=song]Edit this setlist[/url] | [url=https://www.setlist.fm/setlists/metallica-3bd680c8.html]More Metallica setlists[/url]

Tour Update

Marquee memories: quarters of change.

• Quarters of Change
• Jun 9, 2024
• Jun 8, 2024
• Jun 7, 2024
• Jun 6, 2024
• Jun 5, 2024
• Jun 4, 2024
• FAQ | Help | About
• Terms of Service
• Ad Choices | Privacy Policy
• Feature requests
• Songtexte.com

Watch Metallica Play ‘72 Seasons’ Epic ‘Inamorata’ Live for the First Time

Metallica performed their epic track “Inamorata” for the first time at their tour stop in Munich, Germany last night (May 26).

The song, from 2023 album 72 Seasons , featured in a 16-track set that also included two tour debuts. Videos and the full set list can be seen below.

“This song we have never ever played live before,” frontman James Hetfield told the crowd before “Inamorata” – their longest-ever piece, which runs to 11 minutes and 10 seconds on the LP. He added: “In our band we don’t recognize the word ‘mistake.’ Because there are no mistakes – there’s just unique moments that happen, alright? That’s what we need to tell ourselves. …… This is one of my favorites, alright? So I’m gonna like it!”

READ MORE: James Hetfield Has Been Writing ‘Lots of Music’ Since the Last Metallica Tour

The band also delivered “Hit the Lights” from Kill ‘Em All , which has been a less frequent feature on recent tours, along with their cover of Budgie’s “Breadfan,” which they’ve been playing live since the late ‘80s but – again – hasn’t showed up as often as the years have passed.

The current leg of Metallica’s M72 World Tour continues across Europe until July 14 before the band kick off another round of North American shows on Aug. 2.

Watch Metallica Play “Inamorata” For the First Time

Subscribe to Loudwire on Youtube

Metallica Setlist — May 27, 2024

via setlist.fm

1. “Creeping Death”

2. “Harvester of Sorrow”

3. “Hit the Lights”

4. “Ride the Lightning”

5. “72 Seasons”

6. “If Darkness Had a Son”

7. “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”

8. “Inamorata”

9. “The Call of Ktulu”

10. “No Leaf Clover”

11. “Wherever I May Roam”

12. “Moth Into Flame”

13. “Fight Fire With Fire”

14. “Breadfan”

16. “Enter Sandman”

Source: Watch Metallica Play ‘72 Seasons’ Epic ‘Inamorata’ Live for the First Time

Primary Nav Tour Upcoming Dates Past Dates News News In The Press ...And On Top Of That Band Timeline History Metallica Music Releases Songs & Lyrics Media Videos Photos Podcast Fan Club Sign Up News So What! Contests Videos Photos Forums Local Chapters Shop New & Featured Collaborations Sale Clearance Gift Certificates Media Return to Media Reissues Vinyl Digital Downloads Live Metallica CDs CDs DVDs Books Apparel Return to Apparel Shirts Pants & Shorts Outerwear Headwear Footwear Kids & Babies Accessories Return to Accessories Stickers, Patches & Buttons Puzzles, Games & Figures Wall Art Picks, Sticks & Straps Vinyl Care Jewelry Drinkware Bags & Backpacks Dog Lovers Collections Return to Collections 72 Seasons All Within My Hands Fifth Member™ Blackened Whiskey Probity UK Shop Metallica Black Box

Our history

Your browser's Javascript functionality is turned off. Please turn it on so that you can experience the full capabilities of this site.

So said a wise man somewhere once. Either that or I read it on a fortune cookie last week after take-out from NaNa’s Kitchen; regardless the phrase is accurate, because history will always be relevant to your future, providing you pay attention. It is therefore fitting that as I take a brief look back at the year which was 2019, and peek into this new decade, we also acknowledge the exciting perpetual motion in the “2010s” which has got Metallica charging into a fourth decade.

Since 2010, Metallica has released (another) major motion picture, Through The Never (2013); played every continent this wonderful planet has to offer (from Africa to Antarctica and all the other bits in and around); released an album with Lou Reed, Lulu (2011), which remains ahead of its time (it is on track for “discovery” and “revelation” in approximately eight years’ time – mark your calendars); hosted its own Orion Festival (twice, 2012 and 2013); and released a massive studio album, Hardwired…to Self-Destruct (2016). The success and popularity of the album went on to propel their most successful tour in decades, WorldWired, with attendance records being broken in multiple stadiums and arenas worldwide.

East Coast metal merchant Jon Zazula pitched the band on an album deal with his indie label Megaforce Records and 1983 found them traveling to New York in a stolen U-Haul to record their first album. Shortly after arriving in New York in April 1983, Mustaine was replaced by Exodus shredder Kirk Hammett and the boys hit the studio for the first time. The resulting debut album, Kill ‘Em All, exploded onto the scene later that year brandishing punk-encrusted, crunchy metal riffery, the likes of “The Four Horsemen,” “Whiplash” and “Seek and Destroy” that were hailed as instant classics.

The stellar reception in the metal community allowed them to quickly make their second album Ride The Lightning with producer Flemming Rassmussen in Copenhagen at Sweet Silence Studios during the summer of 1984. With their writing chemistry maturing at an alarming rate of knots, classic compositions such as “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Fade To Black” sat proudly with the aggression of “Fight Fire With Fire” and “Creeping Death.” Q Prime Management and Elektra Records both moved quickly to take the band on by the Fall of ’84, and with the road getting busier and more international, the bands’ stature rapidly grew.

In late 1985, the Rassmussen/Sweet Silence combination provided the underpinning for Master Of Puppets, the band’s third album, which was mixed in LA with Michael Wagener and released in March 1986. “Battery,” the title track and epic instrumental “Orion” were among the astounding compositions, and having secured a support slot with Ozzy Osbourne, Master of Puppets hit the top 30 album charts and expanded their fan base beyond comprehension. It was some ascent. Metallica appeared unstoppable.

On tour in Sweden, during an overnight drive the bands' tour bus skidded out of control and flipped, killing Cliff Burton. His influence on the musical growth of the band had been enormous, combining the DIY philosophies of jamming and experimenting with an acute knowledge of musical theory. Faced with having to find a new path after 40+ auditions they tapped Jason Newsted from Flotsam & Jetsam to take over bass duties. The quartet immediately jumped into a tour and then quickly recorded an EP of cover tunes titled The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited (the band literally did the dirty work in Ulrich's garage, which they helped refit into a small studio space by hand themselves!).

The band recorded their fourth full-length album, ...And Justice For All, first with Rassmussen again taking the helm (this time at One On One Studios in LA) after some initial work with Mike Clink (of Appetite for Destruction fame) didn’t work out. Released in August 1988, the album reached #6 on the US charts, while the band was busy blowing headliners Van Halen off the stage during the Monsters Of Rock tour before embarking upon their first headline worldwide arena tour. Metallica also made their very first music video for “One,” a dark, monochromatic, violent, emotional piece which underscored Metallica’s thorough uniqueness.

In 1991, Metallica released their self-titled album – better known by fans as The Black Album. New producer Bob Rock focused the band on a fuller sound with simpler arrangements, and it went straight to number one all over the world…and didn’t really leave for a couple of years, selling in excess of 16 million copies worldwide, spawning several legitimate singles, and earning various industry accolades, including a Grammy, MTV and American Music Awards. “Enter Sandman” remains one of their signature anthems, whilst their first full foray into something more balladic, “Nothing Else Matters,” empathized with the heartstrings of millions. The tour that accompanied it was equally gargantuan, close to 300 shows in three years, and pushing the band to limits they didn’t know they could reach. It also featured the famous joint-headline stadium tour with Guns N’ Roses and yielded the first-ever official live album Live Shit: Binge & Purge, a road-case-shaped box-set containing all manner of intimate tour ephemera from riders to faxes.

Aside from 1994’s 51 date Shit Hits the Sheds tour, time was spent regrouping and recovering from the relentlessness of their recent past, as well as writing the next Metallica album. Load was released in June 1996, and heralded a deeper exploration of the band’s musical style. Loose, powerful and a confident step away from The Black Album, Load sold five million-plus copies; so many strong songs were written, that a second album, Reload, came in 1997. The tour was a menagerie of technologic feats and tricks amidst cracking live performances across a massive stage-set, all of which was captured on the DVD release Cunning Stunts.

1998 saw the band collect their covers from the two previous Garage Days sessions and various b-sides as well as slamming down 11 brand new covers with the subsequent Garage, Inc. double disc release a reminder of their musical lives and loves. That insatiable search for new pastures led them to 1999’s San Francisco Symphony project with conductor/composer Michael Kamen pulling the metaphoric strings, resulting in the release later that same year of the double disc S&M. Recorded over two nights at the Berkeley Community Theater, the live shows and album saw Metallica further adding to their musical legacy and reputation for always seeking new challenges and refusing to rest on past creative achievements.

The year 2000 kicked off with a short arena tour in the Midwest and the summer brought the US stadium headlining tour Summer Sanitarium. 2001 was set aside to begin work on a new original studio album, but the year started with yet another major change as Jason Newsted and the band parted ways in January. The remaining three members worked on new music with producer Bob Rock filing in on bass until in the middle of 2001 when Hetfield arrived at a crossroads in his life, which meant he needed to step away and rehabilitate on several levels.

2004 saw the Madly In Anger With The World tour present its in-the-round two hour thirty minute self on over 80 dates in the US alone, Some Kind of Monster saw its theatrical release start rolling across the world in July, and as the final show was played in San Jose on November 29, 2004, it was realized that the band had once again found itself touring and working for the better part of two and half years. Thus 2005 was a designated “re-charge” year, and it remained as such, save for two gigs with the Rolling Stones at AT&T Park in November.

The break saw Metallica once again re-evaluate their creative options, and thus in early 2006 they decided to make the new album with a new producer, Rick Rubin, who encouraged the band to go back to their early roots. Live shows continued to offer both release and building blocks for the writing process, new territories such as South Africa being visited, but the writing process was in full-swing, and with engineer Greg Fidelman doing day-to-day sessions as Rubin oversaw everything, Death Magnetic was released on September 12, 2008. A more organically made album, it was the perfect fusion of Metallica’s early past and their increasingly experimental future, and the popular response was huge, the album smashing album charts at number one everywhere.

The subsequent tour saw Metallica start in October 2008 and end deep in 2010 with shorter stretches and longer breaks between dates meaning burn-out was never an issue. Amidst the World Magnetic dates came a live DVD Orgullo, Pasión y Gloria: Tres Noches en la Ciudad de México (directed by Wayne Isham) plus a French-only DVD from the Roman amphitheater in Nimes, France, titled Français Pour Une Nuit.

Oh yes, and in April 2009 there was also the small matter of being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame with the band bringing all their friends, family and long-time supporters with them to Cleveland, Ohio to celebrate. Later that year they continued the celebration at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary show on October 30, 2009 at Madison Square Garden performing collaborations with fellow Hall of Famers Lou Reed, Ozzy Osbourne and Ray Davies of The Kinks.

On June 16, 2010, Warsaw, Poland saw the first of several monumental Big 4 shows featuring Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax... the fabled Big 4 of thrash, and a live DVD, Blu-ray and box-set titled The Big 4: Live From Sofia, Bulgaria was released. On November 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia Metallica played the last show of the World Magnetic tour.

2011 saw them seduced into a collaboration with one of the legendary Godfathers of punk and alternative music, Lou Reed (who had pushed for such a thing since the Hall of Fame gig in '09) on an album project based around writing by Frank Wedekind about a 19th century French prostitute named Lulu, which was then reinterpreted by Reed. He, in turn, built a series of song frameworks and invited Metallica to come in and fill the space spontaneously. Thus work began in late April at HQ and the subsequent album, Lulu, was released on October 31, 2011. While not well received, it once again served notice that Metallica does what Metallica wants and needs for its own creative spirit.

As Lulu was being released, new adventures were being enjoyed in the unchartered waters of the Middle East and India before a jaunt through Europe performing short TV show sets with Reed in November… leaving MORE than enough time to plan four nights at The Fillmore (December 5,7,9 and 10) celebrating their 30th Anniversary. The band re-learned their entire canon of material backwards and drafted a menagerie of special guests from Diamond Head to Danzig to Rob Halford to Dave Mustaine and plenty in between. Shows were for fan club members only with the decidedly 1981 ticket price of $6 followed closely by the release of four previously unavailable tracks from the Death Magnetic sessions as the Beyond Magnetic EP, first through iTunes and then on CD and vinyl.

2012 saw the band casually announce that they were producing their own live music festival, Orion Music + More on June 23rd and 24th in Atlantic City, a visionary mixture of genres and the band member’s own cultural tastes reflected over two days. Further, they were to headline each night, the first seeing a full performance of Ride the Lightning and the second, a full performance of The Black Album. Complete with each member curating a theme area (James hosted custom vehicles, Lars showed movies in a “cinema” and hosted guests, Rob hosted skateboarding and Kirk displayed his horror collection via a crypt) and a Metallica museum, it was an extraordinarily ambitious project which was to see one more year in Detroit before going on hiatus, perhaps to be re-launched down the road.

Deciding that they wanted to push the creative boat out even further, the guys went full-throttle on a film project idea first drafted a couple of years earlier. An elaborate stage was built, featuring elements from all the band’s previous tours, and the band rehearsed the live portion of the shoot over a sold-out eight night run in Mexico City during the summer of 2012, followed quickly by filming shows in Edmonton and Vancouver. Towards the end of 2012, Metallica also announced the creation of their own label, Blackened Records, which subsequently issued its first release, a live DVD titled Quebec Magnetic and shot on the World Magnetic tour in Quebec City.

May 2013 saw Metallica begin what would become a regular engagement with the San Francisco Giants baseball team, staging a Metallica night where Metallica-themed activities and events occurred during a Giants game (including Hetfield and Hammett playing the national anthem live for the first time in their careers). The road was hit in earnest, including the bands’ first-ever shows in China before the finished film Metallica Through The Never was released in IMAX theaters on September 27th. An ambitious weave of concert footage with a post-apocalyptic narrative outside the gig itself, starring Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spiderman 2, Chronicle) and directed by Nimród Antal, it was a unique, peerless piece. Yet whilst critically praised for its exciting (and visionary) approach, it failed to smash the box-office druing its theatrical run.

Not that Metallica sat around waiting for the numbers. The road had already been enjoying a more expansive exploration for most of the year, with visits to several continents leaving them close to completing shows on all seven as 2013 drew to a close. The final one? Antarctica. Un-played by any band. Until December 8, 2013, when the band performed at the Carlini Base under a custom-built Geo-dome in front of a small group of Coca-Cola contest winners and the community scientists. This made them the first band to play on all seven continents in the same calendar year. That… is how to close out a year!

2014 saw Metallica continuing to work on a series of ideas for the forthcoming album whilst also continuing to seek new challenges. They performed “One” with Chinese pianist Lang Lang at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, and they also accepted an invitation to play the world famous Glastonbury Festival, another first. The result was, unsurprisingly, an overwhelmingly positive experience. The band also continued touring with their Metallica By Request tour, where fans were invited to request songs to be performed live at South American shows and the by now standard European summer run.

2015 saw Metallica complete the Third Annual Metallica Night with the San Francisco Giants, inaugurate a similar fun time with the San Jose Sharks and honor the Golden State Warriors by performing the National Anthem prior to Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Oakland, CA. They also headlined the first Rock in Rio festival in the US, held in Las Vegas, NV, continued to play European summer shows, headlined Lollapalooza in Chicago as well as closed down and opened arenas in Quebec City. In between the few live dates, the band was quietly hammering away on new music at HQ.

As 2016 kicked off, the boys continued working hard to finish up Album #10. In between days at the studio, they found the time to have an intimate (?!?!) little gig for 40,000+ people at San Francisco's AT&T Park on the night before the Super Bowl. They also dove into the deepest archives to unearth rare and unheard material for the beginning of a campaign to remaster and reissue the catalog. Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning were re-released just in time for Record Store Day which saw the band embracing their roots and not only playing a quick gig at Rasputin Music in Berkeley, CA, but throwing an after party for dozens of old friends at the original MetalliMansion in El Cerrito, CA. Record Store Day also saw the release of Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, Metallica! on CD, a live recording of the band's performance at Le Batalcan in 2003 with proceeds from sales donated to victims of the Parisian attacks in Fall of 2015. Like clockwork, the band spent a night down at AT&T Park for the Fourth Annual Metallica Night with the San Francisco Giants partaking in all the festivities that fans have grown to expect.

Come summertime, the HQ studio was positively screaming with the authentic intent of a new album being delivered. Producer Greg Fidelman was in to help the process hit full speed and, rather than wait until 2017, the release of Hardwired…To Self-Destruct was pushed up to November 18th. Lead track “Hardwired” saw a surprise debut and became the chosen blast of molten metal aimed squarely at the public on August 18th. Two days later, the band opened the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis with a sell-out stormer where the new album artwork (photographed by Herring + Herring and designed by Turner Duckworth) was revealed.

From then on time seemed to become a blur. Promotional tours taking in the US, UK, Germany, and Canada arrived in early winter, featuring several special Fifth Member fan club shows in places such as Manhattan’s Webster Hall and London’s House of Vans blistering paint. The album itself was received with enormous acclaim, both from fans and critics. It was number one in 57 countries and was the third biggest album of 2016 in the US behind only Drake and Beyoncé.

After concluding 2016 with a hometown show at the historic Fox Theater in Oakland, the band spent much of 2017 taking the WorldWired Tour across the globe. After warming up in Asia, Denmark, and Latin America, the boys hit the U.S. and Canada for their first proper North American tour since 2009 and their first stadium tour since 2003. When all was said and done, the North American leg of the WorldWired Tour drew over a million fans and landed Metallica among the top drawing touring acts of 2017. Following the North American Tour, WorldWired continued by rolling out an all new live production inside European arenas debuting in Copenhagen in the fall.

The year wasn’t solely dedicated to touring, though! February saw the band team up with Lady Gaga on a performance of “Moth Into Flame” that was so electric, James’ microphone was fried (that’s what happened, right?!). The band’s remaster campaign continued as Master of Puppets was released as an outrageously comprehensive box set in November. Following the launch of All Within My Hands, the band’s charitable foundation, the year was capped off with several philanthropic initiatives including the Band Together Bay Area benefit concert which helped raise $17 million for victims of Northern Californian wildfires. The foundation also teamed up with Starbucks and Spotify to participate in their Give Good Campaign for the holidays.