Rock History

2010 – I got a message from my cousin Bob today telling me about the new issue of So What, which is Metallica’s fan club magazine. Bob told me that there was a piece in the mag with James Hetfield talking about his tattoos. What surprised the hell out of both of us was that James recently got himself a straight edge tattoo… yeah, you read the right, a straight edge tattoo. Here’s a couple interesting excerpts from the interview. Thanks to Bob for scanning and sending this over to me. -Tim DCXX

SO WHAT: (Caught by a tattoo)… that’s a new one, right? Sorry-

James: Straight edge? Yeah.

SO WHAT: You’re not getting away with the last comment, incidentally. We’ll have to go back to that. But anyways, the straight edge X.

James: Right. Well, straight edge, this was certainly a design of my own. You know, the old straight edge tattoo, it’s just like a big X on your hand. No drinking, and I don’t drink. It’s like when you go into the clubs, they put and X on your hand…

The Beatles... Hey Jude

2010 – RIAA, say Beatles still on top! Utilizing Nielsen SoundScan data, which dates to 1991, Guns N’ Roses have totaled 24,914,000 albums sold in the U.S. 1991′s “Use Your Illusion 2″ leads with 5,587,000 units, followed closely by “Use Your Illusion 1,” at 5,502,000.

In that span, Metallica has sold 52,271,000 albums in the U.S., led by 1991′s “Metallica” with sales to date of 15,525,000.

According to the Recording Industry of America (RIAA), whose data encompasses the bands’ entire careers, Metallica leads Guns N’ Roses, 59 to 43.5 million. Among all artists, Metallica ranks 18th, Guns N’ Roses 30th.

It does help Metallica that the band has released more albums. The band has placed 14 titles on the Billboard 200, compared to G N’ R’s eight.

As for why the bands’ totals are so much closer using RIAA data as opposed to SoundScan’s, Guns N’ Roses’ opus “Appetite for Destruction” was released in 1987, four years before the advent of SoundScan information. Since 1991, the set has sold 5,008,000 copies. The RIAA, however, has certified the album with sales of 18 million dating to its release.

How does the RIAA stack up the U.S.’ top-selling rock groups of all-time? The list looks like this:

Rank, Artist, Certified Units (in millions)
1, the Beatles, 170
2, Led Zeppelin, 111.5
3, Eagles, 100
4, Pink Floyd, 74.5
5, AC/DC, 71
6, Aerosmith, 66.5
7, the Rolling Stones, 66
8, Metallica, 59
9, Van Halen, 56.5
10, U2, 51.5
11, Fleetwood Mac, 48.5
12, Journey, 47
13, Guns N’ Roses, 43.5
14, Santana, 43
15, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, 41

2009 – The official Roadrunner Records web site has been updated with top-album picks for 2008 from a number of artists that are signed to the label, including members of MACHINE HEAD, MEGADETH, DEVILDRIVER, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and TRIVIUM. A few of the selections follow below. The entire list can be found at this location.

Shawn Drover (MEGADETH)

01. CYNIC – Traced in Air
02. TESTAMENT – The Information Damnation
03. MESHUGGAH – Obzen
04. CHILDREN OF BODOM – Blooddrunk
05. OPETH – Watershed
06. EVERGREY – Torn
07. BLOTTED SCIENCE – The Machinations of Dementia
08. AIRBOURNE – Runnin’ Wild
09. INTO ETERNITY – The Incurable Tragedy
10. BRAIN DRILL – Apocalyptic Feasting

Frédéric Leclercq (DRAGONFORCE)

01. GUNS N’ ROSES – Chinese Democracy
02. DISTURBED – Indestructible
03. SLIPKNOT – All Hope Is Gone
04. CYNIC – Traced in Air
05. CRADLE OF FILTH – Godspeed on the Devil’s Thunder
06. ULTRA VOMIT – Objectif Thunes
07. SEBASTIEN TELLIER – Sexuality
08. ALICE COOPER – Along Came a Spider
09. MOTLEY CRUE – Saints of Los Angeles
10. METALLICA – Death Magnetic

Matt Heafy (TRIVIUM)

01. COLDPLAY – Viva La Vida
02. COLDPLAY – Prospekt’s March
03. MAXIMUM THE HORMONE – Tsume Tsume Tsume
04. LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – Mozart’s Requiem
05. GOJIRA – The Way Of All Flesh
06. AMON AMARTH – Twilight of the Thunder God
07. SLIPKNOT – All Hope Is Gone
08. OPETH – Watershed
09. METALLICA – Death Magnetic
10. TRIVIUM – Shogun

Robb Flynn (MACHINE HEAD)

01. ALL SHALL PERISH – Awaken The Dreamers
02. METALLICA – Death Magnetic
03. TRIVIUM – Shogun
04. WINDS OF PLAGUE – Decimate The Weak
05. LIL WAYNE – The Carter III
06. LA COKA NOSTRA – A Brand You Can Trust
07. SLIPKNOT – All Hope Is Gone
08. WHITECHAPEL – This Is Exile
09. MESHUGGAH – Bleed
10. BLEEDING THROUGH – Sister Charlatan

Joel Stroetzel (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

01. KINGS OF LEON – Only by the Night
02. RYAN ADAMS AND THE CARDINALS – Cardinology
03. RADIOHEAD – In Rainbows
04. TOMMY EMMANUEL – Center Stage
05. ALL THAT REMAINS – Overcome
06. NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS – Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
07. Augustana – Can’t Love (Can’t Hurt
08. IN FLAMES – A Sense of Purpose
09. NADA SURF – Lucky
10. RAY LAMONTAGNE – Gossip in the Grain

Paolo Gregoletto (TRIVIUM)

01. METALLICA – Death Magnetic
02. MACHINE HEAD – The Blackening Special Edition
03. COLDPLAY – Viva La Vida
04. GOJIRA – The Way of All Flesh
05. SLIPKNOT – All Hope Is Gone
06. AMON AMARTH – Twilight of the Thunder God
07. PROTEST THE HERO – Fortress
08. AC/DC – Black Ice
09. OPETH – Watershed
10. TRIVIUM – Shogun

Max Cavalera (SOULFLY; CAVALERA CONSPIRACY; SEPULTURA)

01. BAD BRAINS – Build a Nation
02. DISFEAR – Live the Storm
03. GOJIRA – The Way of All Flesh
04. GOGOL BORDELLO – Gypsy Punks
05. TURBO TRIO – Turbo Trio
06. INCITE – Divided We Fail
07. AGNOSTIC FRONT – Warriors
08. AMON AMARTH – Twilight of the Thunder God
09. AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED – Insect Warfare
10. HIRAX – The New Age of Terror

Justin Foley (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

01. CYNIC – Traced in Air
02. MESHUGGAH – Obzen
03. CULT OF LUNA – Eternal Kingdom
04. SIGUR ROS – Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
05. GOJIRA – The Way Of All Flesh
06. MOGWAI – The Hawk Is Howling
07. NINE INCH NAILS – The Slip
08. UNDEROATH – Lost In The Sound Of Separation

Michael Spretizer (DEVILDRIVER)

01. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE – Walking With Strangers
02. AMON AMARTH – Twilight of the Thunder God
03. MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE – If
04. ALL THAT REMAINS – Overcome
05. GOJIRA – The Way of All Flesh
06. IN FLAMES – A Sense of Purpose
07. CHILDREN OF BODOM – Blood Drunk
08. OPETH – Watershed
09. RAUNCHY – Wasteland Discotheque
10. TESTAMENT – The Formation of Damnation

Jonathan Miller (DEVILDRIVER)

01. IN THIS MOMENT – Dream
02. GUNS N’ ROSES – Chinese Democracy
03. SLIPKNOT – All Hope Is Gone
04. SHINY TOY GUNS – Seasons of Poison
05. ENYA – …And Winter Came
06. ALL THAT REMAINS – Overcome
07. METALLICA – Death Magnetic
08. ALL SHALL PERISH – Awaken The Dreamers
09. MUDVAYNE – The New Game
10. TRIVIUM – Shogun

2008 – Behold, the video for AC/DC’s “Rock N’ Roll Train.” It has all the ingredients of an AC/DC video: Angus Young in a schoolboy outfit, fire, sweat and Brian Johnson wearing a vest, with footage of train crashes added for thematic continuity. “Rock N’ Roll Train” is the first single from the band’s upcoming Black Ice, due out in Wal-Marts on October 21st. The album will be followed by a tour, with AC/DC implementing the new paperless ticketing technology for select seats. The paperless tickets will “help ensure fan club members and fans purchasing designated seats will be able to secure tickets at face value,” Ticketmaster said in a statement. Both Tom Waits and Metallica have embraced the new ticketing program, which requires buyers to show identification when arriving at the venue.

2008 – In just a three-day sales window, Metallica’s “Death Magnetic” skates close to the half million mark and will lead The Billboard 200 when Nielsen SoundScan releases its charts tomorrow morning (Sept. 17).

The band’s first studio album since 2003 moved 490,000 copies in its abbreviated frame, scheduled off-cycle on a Friday to accommodate a worldwide release date.

It marks the biggest number the chart has seen since five weeks ago, when the Jonas Brothers’ “A Little Bit Longer” scaled the list with 525,000 copies with a traditional Tuesday release date.

The total for Metallica’s first Warner Bros. album after spending its career with Elektra outdistances the opening sum of its last studio set, “St. Anger,” which sold 418,000 copies in a similarly shorter-than-normal window.

Originally set for a Tuesday release, “Anger” was rush released to an off-cycle Thursday start amid concerns over Internet leaks. The last Metallica album to stage a larger opener than “Magnetic” was 1996′s “Load,” which rolled 680,000 units in its first frame.

2008 – Metallica started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with their ninth album ‘Death Magnetic’.

2008 – Metallica have just premiered the video for their single “The Day That Never Comes” on their MySpace page. The epic clip was directed by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg and filmed this past July in southern California.

On working with the acclaimed filmmaker, Hetfield explained to MTV.com, “That’s the beauty, I think, of writing vague but powerful lyrics — that someone like a movie director can interpret it in his own way and obviously, someone creative is able to take the metaphors and apply them to whatever he needs in his own life.” Go Watch The Video

The band have also just unveiled another song from their upcoming album Death Magnetic. The hard-charging track, “Cyanide” is now available for sale on iTunes.

The leak: Seems some diehard fans got their hands on the album early and it’s all good with Lars. Blabbermouth has a little on that: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has commented on the premature release of the band’s new album, “Death Magnetic”, via a French record store. A shop in Paris reportedly sold a number of copies of the CD this morning well ahead of its official September 12 worldwide release date with illegal “Death Magnetic” MP3 files making their way online by this afternoon.

During a guest appearance earlier today on “The Woody Show” on the San Francisco, California radio station Live 105 (KITS 105.3 FM), Ulrich stated about the French leak, “Listen, we’re ten days from release. I mean, from here, we’re golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn’t quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody’s happy. It’s 2008 and it’s part of how it is these days, so it’s fine. We’re happy.”

2008 – PR reports: Metallica have just released the first single off their upcoming album, Death Magnetic.

The epic track is entitled “The Day That Never Comes” and it’s now available through iTunes and is streaming on the band’s site.

The band recently filmed a video for the track with Danish film director Thomas Vinterberg which will premiere soon. Check out the track which is now streaming on – Metallica.com

2008 – Metallica: As fans around the world await a follow up to 2003′s St. Anger, Metallica is eyeing September as the release date for their new opus. The band has been working with producer Rick Rubin, and in various interviews, they have dropped hints that the new material harkens back to their thrashier sound from the ’80s. Speaking to BBC 6 Music recently, drummer Lars Ulrich said, “We’re just finishing up a record, we’ve got six weeks left and it should be out in September. That’s the idea right now.”

Metallica is playing a number of European dates and festivals this summer, but so far, their only U.S. date is an appearance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, TN on June 13.

2006 – Boston Metallica wannabes Godsmack top the U.S. album charts with their fourth album, cleverly titled IV.

2006 – During its second annual benefit concert at the Music Box/Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, the MusiCares MAP Fund, a non-profit organization aimed at helping music industry professionals with addiction recovery treatment, present Metallica.