Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Oldschool Thrash Metal Bands: Metallica (pt. 10)

Death Magnetic debuted at number one in the United States selling 490,000 units with Metallica becoming the first band to have five consecutive studio albums debut at number one in the history of the Billboard 200. After a week of its release, Death Magnetic remained at number one on the Billboard 200, the European album chart, and became the fastest selling album in Australia for 2008.

Death Magnetic remained at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart for three consecutive weeks. Metallica was one of two artists, along with Jack Johnson with the release of the album Sleep Through the Static, to remain on the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks at number one in 2008. Death Magnetic had also remained at number one on Billboard’s Hard Rock, Modern Rock/Alternative and Rock album charts for five consecutive weeks. Internationally, the album reached number one in 32 countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

In November 2008, Metallica came to the end of its record deal with Warner Bros., and the band is now considering its options for the future and, according to Ulrich, one of the band’s options is to release its next album through the internet.

On January 14, 2009, it was announced that Metallica would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009, and that former bassist Jason Newsted (who left the band in 2001), would perform with the band at the ceremony. Initially, it was announced that the matter had been discussed, and that bassist Trujillo had agreed not to play, as he “wanted to see the Black Album band”. However, during the band’s set of “Master of Puppets” and “Enter Sandman”, both Trujillo and Newsted were on stage. Ray Burton, father of the late Cliff Burton, accepted the honor on his behalf. Although he was not to be inducted with them, Metallica also invited Dave Mustaine to take part in the induction ceremony. Mustaine declined however, citing his touring commitments in Europe.

Metallica, along with Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, performed on the same bill for the first time on June 16, 2010 at Bemowo Airport (Warsaw, Poland). It was the first performance of that bands played as a part of Sonisphere Festival series, one of the following (Sofia, Bulgaria, June 22, 2010) was sent via satellite in HD to cinemas. They also went on to play in Bucharest, Romania (June 26, 2010) and then in Istanbul, Turkey (June 27, 2010) also as part of the Sonisphere Festival. On June 28, 2010, Death Magnetic was certified 2X platinum by the RIAA.

The band’s World Magnetic Tour ended on November 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. The band had been touring for over two years in support of Death Magnetic. To go with its final tour dates in Australia and New Zealand, a live limited edition EP of past performances in Australia was released called Six Feet Down Under. The EP was also followed by Six Feet Down Under (Part II), which was released on November 12, 2010. Part 2 contains a further 8 songs recorded during the first two Oceanic Legs of the World Magnetic Tour.

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