NME are reporting that Jason Newsted will rejoin Metallica when the band is inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4th April.

Newsted left the band in 2001 but had spent 14 years with the band since the death of their original bassist, Cliff Burton. According to the report, the band don’t want politics to mar the ceremony as they did with the Blondie induction in 2006.

"Jason Newsted will be there, and he will be playing with us at one point," guitarist Kirk Hammett said. "We went as a band when Black Sabbath was being inducted, and at that time Blondie was also being inducted that night. And there was so many politics and so much drama that, you know, we collectively said to each other, ‘We don’t want any of that,’ because it kind of, it puts a really bad, sour note on the whole celebration itself."

Having spent so long with the band, it’s great that Newsted can come back and be part of the celebration. After all, he was part of the biggest band in the world as their fame crested and peaked. I think he deserves it, and I’ll be looking out for footage of that performance when it hits the web!

The Hall of Fame induction takes place on 4th April in Cleveland, and the band are to receive their induction from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield give the inside scoop on some classic Metallica tunes in a brilliant interview with Guitar World.

I don’t know about you, but I love hearing the stories behind classic music, and this doesn’t disappoint – guitar-heads will love the chatter about hot-rodded Marshall amps, and any self-respecting Metallica fan will want to hear Hetfield talking about how they converted Dave Mustaine’s Mechanix into their classic Four Horsemen.

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There are two things in my mind as I approach my Death Magnetic review. One is that such a record cannot be compared to a classic (Master Of Puppets) that has been part of our lives for over twenty years.

The second thing is guilt. Yes, guilt. After the critical roasting they got for St Anger, Metallica went back to their roots. Is it even remotely right for us fans to insist on ‘more of the same’ from a band? Surely artistic growth alone suggests that Metallica should have been allowed to shape their musical style instead of returning to the sound that launched them?

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After being unintentionally outed by retailer Music Dispatch, Metallica have officially announced the track listing for Death Magnetic, due out in September.

But if an over-enthusiastic retailer is what it takes to get the low-down on the highly anticipated Death Magnetic, then shouldn’t we all just be grateful?

The song titles are suitably foreboding, and could easily hark back to the golden era of thrash that we’ve all been hoping for. Titles after the jump…

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Metallica continue to drip-feed information about their Death Magnetic album, signifying that they’re working non-stop to get fans excited about this release. And it’s working.

Today they released the album artwork (above) which features a coffin and notably the classic Metallica logo rather than the modern version that graced the Load albums. We just wish we had schoolbags again to etch that logo into an old canvas bag…ahhh.

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More interesting news from the Metallica front – the band are going to release a special edition box set of their forthcoming Death Magnetic album packaged in a coffin.

According to the Metallica website, in addition to the full CD, the box set will include:

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Can you feel the fervour building up around the new Metallica album? The band has just announced the title of its ninth studio album, Death Magnetic.

As you can see from the picture, the album cover is expected to be stark white with the album title and the ‘M’ from the Metallica logo forming a pattern around it. Does anyone else remember scrawling these letters on schoolbags and books?

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What the crap? According to Blabbermouth, Dave Grohl has penned an open letter to Metallica, urging them not to release their new album until it’s ready.

I have to say – I don’t understand it. I keep thinking “What’s Dave’s motivation for writing an open letter to Metallica?” I mean, baiting Metallica is huge. And Foo Fighters don’t have anything new coming out at the moment, do they?

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Welcome, gentle Metalhead, to a whistlestop tour of Metallica’s long and winding career. The band who brought Thrash to the world. Four guys who delivered some of the most iconic metal albums of the 1980’s (and early 90’s).

Think of this as the ‘Behind The Music’ with a difference – this is the untold story of Metallica. Because it’s the untrue story of Metallica.

Find out how Metallica formed, how Dave Mustaine got literally ‘ejected’ from the band and find out the real story behind the Metallica v Napster court case.

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I heard on the grapevine that Metallica are plotting a new album for sometime in 2008.

Big yawn. Didn’t Metallica play themselves out of musical relevance years ago? I haven’t bought a new Metallica album since Load, and I never properly warmed to that one. Then they took a little sabbatical to sue their fans for copyright infringement. That was clever. Even fans who hadn’t downloaded copies of their albums balked at the thought of being taken to the cleaners by Hetfield and Ulrich. Read more & comment »