Napster Update

As Napster and the Recording Industry Association of America prepare to square off in a San Francisco courtroom on October 2, lawyers for Metallica and Dr. Dre plan to step up their efforts to persuade colleges and universities to block access to the MP3 file-swapping service.
Howard E. King, a lawyer for both Metallica and Dr. Dre, mailed out letters to some 27 schools earlier this month, asking them to "promptly ban access by [their] community to Napster" and to inform him of their respective stances on the issue by September 22 (see "Metallica, Dr. Dre Ask Colleges To Curb Napster Access"). King informed MTV News that while most of the schools, including the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology and the University Of California, responded to his original letter, none agreed to voluntarily ban access to Napster at this time. Some of the schools, including Harvard University, requested additional time to investigate the matter and formulate a policy with regard to student use of Napster. King said that he now plans to send follow-up letters to the same universities in the next couple of weeks to specifically outline some of the legal obligations Metallica and Dre feel the schools have, as well as enumerate the types of copyright infringement his clients claim are being encouraged by Napster. Metallica's Lars Ulrich King said he didn't expect to sue the schools to pressure them to block student access to Napster, a move that seemed to work when lawsuits filed by Dre and Metallica listed several colleges, including Yale University and the University Of Southern California, as co-defendants (see "USC Restricts Napster In Wake Of Metallica Suit"). "We're really going to try and persuade the institutions to [block access to Napster] by appealing to their sense of logic and ethics rather than threatening lawsuits," King told MTV News. "From what I've gathered, the three previous schools were already going to drop Napster anyway, but the suits just sped their decision process up." In the meantime, Metallica and Dr. Dre are currently fending off attempts by Napster to enjoin their lawsuits with the one filed by the RIAA. Legal reps for Napster, Metallica, and Dr. Dre were in New York last week to file procedural briefs before the Judicial Panel For Multi-District Litigation.
The panel is expected to decide in the next few weeks whether to combine all of the pending suits against Napster into one set to be reviewed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Metallica and Dr. Dre's suit against Napster is currently scheduled to go to trial in federal District Court in Los Angeles in October 2001, and King said that while both artists support the RIAA suit, they would prefer their legal actions to be kept separate..

(28th September)

100 Greatest Artists

VH1 is working on a 5 hour show about the 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The show will be broken down into five one hour shows that will air from Monday, November 13 through Friday November 17. The artists were voted on by other hard rock musicians, critics and others "in the know" about hard rock music. Be sure to watch to see where Metallica ends up (#1 we hope)!

(7th September)

Mission Impossible 2 DVD

"Never let it be said that Tom Cruise doesn't get his money's worth. Paramount Home Video has announced that the upcoming DVD release of Cruise's Mission: Impossible 2 (out Nov. 7) will include Metallica's video for the song "I Disappear." The song was one of the big hits from the movie's soundtrack."
(30th August)

 The making of the 'I Disappear' video

With interviews from director of photography Dave Rudd and visual effects artist Nathan McGuiness can be found at the Future Effects website at FutureEffects.com
(16th August)

Timbaland

Timbaland, the renowned hip-hop producer who recently helped craft such hits as Aaliyah's "Try Again" and Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'," is now turning his attention toward alternative rock and has lined up studio time with Beck and Papa Roach. But he has bigger plans in mind, specifically with Metallica. Says the producer, "I really wanna do a song with Metallica. I really like that track they did for the 'Mission: Impossible 2' film." Now THAT would be interesting.
(15th August)
 

Stand Up And Be Heard, Music Fans Unite!

Music Fans Unite is a new campaign to help get the voice of fans on the Internet heard. With all the controversy surrounding Napster and digital music on the Web, they want to make sure that fans like you have a say in the future of music on the Internet. If you want to check them out and sign their petition, go to http://www.musicfans.org/sign.php
(6th August)

Opening Act Confirmed!

"Corrosion of Conformity, author's of great slab's of metal like "Vote With a Bullet" and "Clean My Wounds", have been pulled out of the studio to open for Metallica once again. CoC will be playing at the "bonus shows" in Dallas and Atlanta. You may recall that CoC opened for Metallica during the Poor Touring Me Tour of '96 and '97.

When asked about their opening slot, CoC's drummer Reed Mullin had this to say: - "We were recording our new album, America's Volume Dealer, when we got a call from James. He said You MUST play with Metallica! We said HELL YEAH! We're very excited about these shows in Dallas and Atlanta. This will give us the opportunity to play some new tunes, some old tunes, and, of course, some show tunes."
(3rd August)

More On James' Condition!

According to Atlanta radio station WNNX, which spoke with drummer Lars Ulrich at the venue on Friday, Hetfield slipped a disc during one of the band's off days from its headlining stint on the Summer Sanitarium tour .
"When [James] says he can't make it," Ulrich told WNNX on-air personality Axel, "it's not because he had a beer last night, or it's not because his pinky hurts. I mean, the guy can't make it. [RealAudio] "These are the situations that are unforeseeable," the drummer continued, "and like I said before, when something happens and it's James Hetfield, you just have to understand that it's bad."
"I walked in and spent 15 minutes with him this afternoon, and I've known him for 20 years, and I've never seen him in this kind of shape." Hours before the Atlanta show, Hetfield was reportedly immobilized in his hotel room and despite having received several cortisone shots in his back, the singer-guitarist was physically unable to get up and answer the door to his room when tour personnel came to collect him for the concert.
Management reps for Metallica told MTV News that Hetfield is currently receiving treatment for a bulging disc and a herniated disc by a doctor and specialist in Denver. The frontman is expected to rejoin the band in time for its July 12 concert at Mile High Stadium.
Thank to mtv.com for the story!
(18th July)
 

A Message From A Very Happy Fan!

All I got to say is WOW! or FUCKIN WOW! I went to see METALLICA in spartaky last night and James was unable to be there due to injury. Shit I was disappointed but Lars Jason and Kirk put together a 2 hr. extravaganza FUCKIN WOW! system of a downs lead singer done sanitarium then Jonathan Davis came out and did "one" and they fucked off a little Lars and Kirk playin with Korn on "blind" then Kid rock come out and played with them for about an hr. AWESOME he done nothing else matters,sad but true into American bad ass,turn the page and enter sandman, then top all that off kid rock played w/the boys on jumpin jack flash & fortunate son! But that's not all Jason newsted played frontman on a lot of songs whiplash,for whom the bell tolls, master of puppets and the most interesting was FUEL w/kid rock on the turntables! That was a great night in the Metallica history books all the guys on the tour banned together to give the fans a Metallica show w/all the different guitarist that came out to play with them and the others the fans left saying that fuckin rocked!!!!!!!!!! A VERY HAPPY METALLICA FAN!
Brian M Wagner Corbin,Ky
(10th July)

Lars, New Album Info!

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As Metallica takes another break from its year-long sabbatical to play 14 shows across the United States, the band is already thinking about its new record next year. After releasing four albums in four years, beginning with 1996's ``Load,'' the veteran hard rock band wants to throw the rule book out the window and approach the next one completely differently, drummer Lars Ulrich said.
In a nutshell, it's out with the mainstream rock tunes recorded in laborious detail, and in with an angrier, more streamlined sound. The impetus is the success of the group's hit single ``I Disappear,'' which the group recorded for the ``Mission: Impossible 2'' soundtrack. Ulrich said the single took a week to make, from writing to mixing, and the group wants to replicate that process for an entire album: writing a few songs at a time and recording a few songs at a time.
``It was really an interesting way of doing it because the energy in the song and the energy in the process, I think became very different than the stuff that has been on all our records, so it had a much instinctive and spontaneous feel to it,'' Ulrich told Reuters in a recent interview. The old recording process, he said, revolved around writing 20 songs, letting them age for three months, and then recording 20 drum tracks, followed by 20 guitar tracks and 20 vocal tracks. ``There's a tendency to very easily become very labored and very meticulous ... where you sit and just worry yourself because you have the time, worry yourself about these details for months and months and months,'' Ulrich noted.
The sound will also be different. A lot of the tunes from Load (1996) and Re-Load (1997) were heavily influenced by British blues-based hard rock from the likes of Deep Purple, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. ``I want the next album to be harsher and be a little grittier in the sounds and stuff like that, just to be a little harder hitting.'' But Ulrich ruled out a return to the speed metal days of early albums like ``Kill 'Em All'' and ``Ride the Lightning.'' It's most likely that producer Bob Rock, who has worked with the band since its self-titled 1991 release (aka ``the black album''), will return to the helm, since he also saw the light during the ``I Disappear'' session. Ulrich and singer/guitarist James Hetfield also share production chores. The group is rounded out by guitarist Kirk Hammett and bass player Jason Newsted.
``I Disappear'' recently spent four weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's mainstream rock radio airplay chart, and Metallica is playing it on the road. The tour began in Seattle on June 23 and will wrap July 22 in Chicago. Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 and System of a Down are supporting the group on 11 of the dates. ``The fact that we're still a functioning band, the fact that we still fucking speak to each other, the fact that we get dressed in the same dressing room, the fact that we stay at the same hotel, the fact that we travel together, the fact that we all fucking get along with each other still, the fact that we are a functioning entity that's still somewhat relevant, that's what I concern myself with.'' After the tour ends, Metallica will resume its break, and will ``probably'' get back to work in January, Ulrich said.
(8th July)

Metallica Join Tattoo The Earth Tour

After weeks of rumors, Metallica and the Tattoo The Earth tour made their marriage official on Tuesday, announcing a joint show at New Jersey's Giants Stadium on July 20. Metallica first confirmed that it will meet up with Slipknot, Slayer, Coal Chamber, Sevendust, and the rest of the Tattoo tour on Howard Stern's morning radio show (originating from New York's K-Rock radio). Spokespeople for the Tattoo The Earth tour then confirmed the date, noting that the full Tattoo roster will perform with Metallica capping the bill.
The Tattoo camp had other news on Tuesday, announcing the first ten dates of the tour as well as some additional acts on the bill. As we previously reported, the tour will kick off on July 15 in Portland, Oregon, and the tour announced additional dates through late July. An official spokesperson for the tour said that an announcement regarding the complete Tattoo The Earth tour is expected soon, but noted that the trek is likely to run through mid-August.
The Tattoo camp has also announced that Puya, Downset, and Hatebreed are the latest acts to join the tour, filling out a roster that also includes Slipknot, Slayer, Sevendust, Coal Chamber, Sepultura, Nashville Pussy, (hed) pe, Mudvayne, The Workhorse Movement, Full Devil Jacket, and Famous.
While a complete itinerary has yet to be released, here's what the Tattoo The Earth tour has lined up so far (as always, tour dates are subject to change):
7/15 - Portland, OR @ Portland Meadows
7/18 - Lawrence, KS @ Burcham Park
7/20 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Giants Stadium
7/21 - Scranton, PA @ Montage Mountain
7/22 - Boston, MA @ Suffolk Downs
7/24 - Cleveland, OH @ Nautica
7/27 - Des Moines, IA @ Waterworks Park
7/28 - Somerset, WI @ Floatrite Park
7/29 - Milwaukee, WI @ Rave Complex
7/30 - Pontiac, MI @ Phoenix Plaza
(15th June)

S&M DVD Release Dates!

As some of you may know Metallica are set to release the DVD version of S&M but up until now it's been unclear as to when! Well Metallica Online can confirm that the US release date is 27th June and the UK date is the 12th June.
It's expected running time is approximately 190 minutes and the discs special features will include four multi-angle songs, and exclusive documentary, animated menus and two bonus versions of 'No Leaf Clover'!
To reserve you region 1 copy (USA) click here.
And to reserve you region 2 copy (UK) click here.
(31st May)

Metallica Sends More Names to Napster

This time they did it quietly. When asked a few days ago in a San Francisco comedy club about Metallica's next step in their war with Napster, guitarist Kirk Hammett said, "We're about to deliver another bunch of names to them." Sure enough, on Thursday, lawyers for Metallica sent over -- by computer this time and with no press release or conference -- another 332,293 names, monitored over a one-week period. "The 332,293 distinct users represent 2.2 million copyright violations," said Gayle Fine, spokeswoman for the band's management company, Q Prime. Asked why there was no hoopla surrounding the second delivery of the names, Fine said, "Because we're just trying to get the job done." According to Fine, Napster has not responded to the new batch of names. Asked if the crusade to stop the copyright violations has been effective, Fine said that of the 317,000 names submitted the first time, only about 30,000 have sent "counter notifications" contesting the blockage. "So that's about a ninety percent success rate," she said. "We consider that a success."
(22nd May)

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