Metallica’s chart-topping 1996 album Load is coming back to life this summer. Due June 13 from the band’s Blackened Recordings, the project will be available in both remastered and limited-edition deluxe boxed set formats, the latter boasting a wealth of previously unreleased material. Click here to preorder.
The 10-pound deluxe edition includes an astonishing 301 tracks, 245 of which are unreleased, and comprises a three-LP live set recorded during an Aug. 4, 1996, Lollapalooza show in Irvine, Ca., 15 CDs worth of riffs, demos, rough mixes, b-sides and rarities, plus four DVDs collecting live and in-studio footage and television appearances.
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It also includes a 128-page hardcover book, patches, collectible cards, an 11×17 Lollapalooza poster reproduction, guitar and bass picks and two tour laminates.
Although dinged by critics for its more alternative-leaning sound and band members’ newfound short haircuts at the time, Load spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200 upon its release. The single “Until It Sleeps” was a huge hit at both alternative and mainstream rock radio stations and remains in Metallica’s live set lists to this day.
The band is in the mist of their M72 world tour, which rolls into Toronto on Thursday (May 1). The group will also be on hand for Black Sabbath’s final performance on July 5 in Birmingham, England.
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