The 2 CD / 2 Vinyl set is the Grammy® Award winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s first studio album since 2008′s multi-platinum Death Magnetic. Hardwired…To Self-Destruct is available for pre-order at www.Metallica.com in various configurations including: CD, Vinyl, Digital, Deluxe, and Deluxe Deluxe Versions. The album is produced by Greg Fidelman, who engineered and mixed Death Magnetic.
“Has it really been eight years? Doesn’t feel like it! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink,” said Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. “We’re obviously beyond psyched to share new tunes with all our friends out there. We’ve been rockin’ along in the studio with Greg on and off for the last 18 months firing up the creative engines again. Putting new music out there, getting in your faces once again and all that comes with it is what we love to do more than anything else, so strap yourselves in … INCOMING!“
Lars explained to me recently why new music from Metallica can take longer than other bands: “One thing I can tell you when you make a record at home, which I’ve realized in the last month or so, is that when you go away to a studio and make a record, you have to leave Sunday night at 10 p.m. ’cause the Arctic Monkeys are setting up, you know, at 10 a.m. Monday morning. Makes you finish what you’re doing. We don’t have the luxury of that. We have open-ended recording time at our own studio.”
“Hardwired,” the first track to be released from the forthcoming album was played for the first time earlier today during a live remote broadcast from Metallica’s HQ in the Bay Area. During an interview with Minneapolis rock station 93X discussing the band’s performance at U.S. Bank Stadium on Aug 20th, Lars Ulrich stunned 93X’s Pablo by unleashing the incendiary song for the first time, much to the surprise (and delight) of the station, as well as fans around the world. “Hardwired” will be delivered as an instant download to fans who preorder the album. The music video was also released yesterday.
Metallica will perform Saturday (Aug 20th) at U.S. Bank Stadium – the new home of the Minnesota Vikings. The band’s performance will be the first rock concert at the venue and tickets sold out in less than 10 minutes. Fans can tune in from home via a Pandora live stream beginning at 10 pm EST at http://pdora.co/metallicalive. Individual songs from the concert will also spin on Pandora. To listen, log in to your Pandora account or create a new one for free if you live in U.S., Australia or New Zealand. Fans outside of those countries can access the live stream at www.livemetallica.com.
Additionally, in celebration of Saturday’s performance, the band will be launching the official Metallica Pop-Up Store in Minneapolis this weekend. The store will have exclusive show merchandise and items not available anywhere else (including inside the stadium) as well as a wide selection of classic Metallica merch. The Metallica Pop-Up Store will be located at 401 2nd Ave North and open today, Aug 19th from 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM and Saturday, Aug 20th from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Here is the track listing:
Disc One
01. Hardwired
02. Atlas, Rise!
03. Now That We’re Dead
04. Moth Into Flame
05. Am I Savage?
06. Halo On Fire
Disc Two
01. Confusion
02. Dream No More
03. ManUNkind
04. Here Comes Revenge
05. Murder One
06. Spit Out The Bone
Disc Three (Deluxe Edition Only)
01. Lords Of Summer
02. Riff Charge (Riff Origins)
03. N.W.O.B.H.M. A.T.M. (Riff Origins)
04. Tin Shot (Riff Origins)
05. Plow (Riff Origins)
06. Sawblade (Riff Origins)
07. RIP (Riff Origins)
08. Lima (Riff Origins)
09. 91 (Riff Origins)
10. MTO (Riff Origins)
11. RL72 (Riff Origins)
12. Frankenstein (Riff Origins)
13. CHI (Riff Origins)
14. X Dust (Riff Origins)
Stay tuned for more details on Hardwired…To Self-Destruct in the coming weeks.
Erna co-wrote the song with former Nixons frontman Zac Maloy, now a Nashville songsmith who has worked with artists like Halestorm, Otep, 3 Doors Down, Skillet, Scott Stapp, Black Stone Cherry, Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood. Erna said about the song’s lyrics, “I try to write generalized enough for people to be able to translate these lyrics and thoughts to their own lives.“He told us a while back why he prefers to leave the subject matter of his songs ambiguous: “I’ve learned from the past, sometimes being open to the public and giving them a little bit too much information has come back to bite me in the ass. And then rumors start and gossip starts and then — there’s just some things that I’m not so sure that I can share with the public anymore, you know.”
Hometown Life will arrive on Sep 30th and follows up Erna’s 2010 solo debut, Avalon. Erna used largely the same group of musicians with whom he recorded Avalon on Hometown Life. His father Salvatore Erna also appears on the album, playing trumpet on a song called “Turn It Up.”
Erna plans to tour behind Hometown Life. Godsmack, meanwhile, will return to the studio in early 2017.
RIP James Woolley (via Facebook)
Very sorry to hear this news from The Pulse Of Radio. Nine Inch Nails main man Trent Reznor has paid tribute to former NIN keyboardist James Woolley, who died earlier this week at the age of 49. Woolley was a member of the band’s touring lineup from 1991 to 1994, performing with the group at its legendary 1994 Woodstock set and appearing in the videos for “Wish” and “March Of The Pigs.”Reznor told Rolling Stone, “Terrible news regarding James. I hadn’t crossed paths with him for some time, but always thought of him fondly. He was a fun character to be around, a solid musician and a genuinely good guy. Those of us from that era of the band have been sharing ‘James’ stories . . . lots of laughs and love and sadness. Wishing his family the very best.”
Woolley died on Monday (Aug 15th) from neck-related injuries after falling off a ladder while retrieving music equipment in his studio. His death was announced online by his ex-wife, Kate Van Buren, with whom he had three children. Van Buren wrote, “James worked hard and played hard with NIN. He brought coolness to playing keyboards, which isn’t as easy to do as playing guitar or drums.”
Woolley was a member of the live NIN unit during the recording of 1992′s Broken EP and 1994′s The Downward Spiral album, although he isn’t credited on either album. He also appeared in Nine Inch Nails’ 1997 concert film Closure, which documented the 1994/95 Downward Spiral tour. He was replaced in Dec 1994 by Charlie Clouser, although he did share a Best Metal Performance Grammy for Nine Inch Nails’ “Happiness In Slavery” off the Woodstock ’94 compilation. After leaving NIN, he worked with Judas Priest singer Rob Halford on his Two project as well as a solo endeavor called Void. He was also a member of Chicago industrial band Die Warzau. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Hey lady, put your cellphone down!
OK, I get it and you should too! Pulse says Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis has joined Disturbed‘s David Draiman and Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor in expressing his distaste over seeing fans on their camera phones during his band’s concerts.
Speaking with Journal de Montreal, Kiedis said, “The problem today, is the cameras during concerts. This keeps you from living in the moment. It is not important to have these pictures in megabytes. It is better to have them in your heart and your memory. We try to create an environment which is going to encourage them to keep their (camera phones) in their pockets and to look at us directly.”
Disturbed’s Draiman berated a woman at a show in Dallas last spring for texting through the band’s show, while Corey Taylor slapped a phone out of the hands of a fan in the front row during a recent Slipknot performance.
The Chili Peppers recently released their 11th studio album, The Getaway, which features the chart-topping single “Dark Necessities.” The band will tour North America in support of the disc in early 2017.