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METALLICA's 'Beyond Magnetic' Cracks U.S. Top 40

December 21, 2011

METALLICA's four-song digital EP called "Beyond Magnetic" sold 36,000 copies in its first week of release to debut at position No. 32 on The Billboard 200 chart. The effort consists of the quartet of previously unheard tracks that the band unveiled in concert earlier in the month during its 30th-anniversary celebration. All four tunes — "Hate Train", "Just A Bullet Away", "Hell And Back" and "Rebel Of Babylon" — were recorded during the sessions for the band's 2008 "Death Magnetic" album but left off the final track list.

The tracks were released exclusively through iTunes in North America, and through iTunes and other digital retailers internationally.

The studio versions of all four songs — all rough mixes — were sent to METALLICA fan club members one at a time, after each song was performed live during each of the band's four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Commented METALLICA: "During the 'Death Magnetic' album sessions in 2007 and 2008, we originally recorded 14 songs. When it came time to pick the songs for the final album, we decided on 10 songs that you've all come to know over the last three years. Some of you may have heard bits and pieces of those other songs on 'Mission Metallica' (remember 'Mission Metallica'?!) or heard rumors about them during the recording process, and wondered, 'What ever happened to those other four songs???.' We kept them in the vault and decided to pull them just for this special celebration, so here are the four leftover tracks from the 'Death Magnetic' sessions. They are ROUGH mixes, unfinished to their original degree of mixing from March '08. These four songs were released as gift to our closest fans, the members of our fan club, to enjoy. Now they're being made available to you."

"Beyond Magnetic" track listing:

01. Hate Train
02. Just A Bullet Away
03. Hell And Back
04. Rebel Of Babylon

The 30th-anniversary shows featured METALLICA playing songs from deep in their catalog, while welcoming guests like BLACK SABBATH's Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, Kid Rock, Lou Reed, JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford, ALICE IN CHAINS' Jerry Cantrell, former bassist Jason Newsted and many others to the stage.

The final show on December 10 featured a performance by the very earliest lineup of the group.

Drummer Lars Ulrich also hinted that the band will make an announcement in January about a special interactive fan event in June of 2012.

"Death Magnetic" was officially certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 28, 2010 for shipments in the United States in excess of two million copies.

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